The Books That Remain Unread

[spockwhat]

Well, my annual New Year's resolution is to finally read Ulysses. This year, I didn't even bother. I know I'll probably never read it, so why bother to pretend I will? There are too many other great books out there to read!

Personally, I feel that's a wise choice, but then, I'm no fan of James Joyce.
I understand he's a brilliant and important author, but frankly, I get bored to tears reading his books. I was forced to drag myself through "The Portrait of An Artist as a Young Man" in university.

[Miss Scarlet]

I bought the whole Twilight series in nice hardcover books. I began reading Twilight & liked it so far, but then got my Nook & got wrapped up in reading Nook books.
My goal is to read the Twilight books this summer, but it means abandoning my Nook.

[Florimel]

I am a thriller, adventure, fantasy book reader at this time, though my twenties and thirties were clouded with romances which I discovered through the Georgette Heyer series smuggled in from Canada when I was in college. Anyway, I have actually read two books from the list: Ayn Rand, The Fountainhead, when I was 12 (it was one of Mom's Book of the Month club purchases) and Heinlein's Stranger in a Strange Land, which was later made into a movie. Heinlein was a great favorite in our home when I was a child and though I can't remember the name of it, his story of a young girl who inadvertently travels across the universe has always stuck with me.

Anyway, if someone tells me I have to read a book because it is a classic, I tend to get sick to my stomach.

Arielflies, are you sure that Stranger in a Strange Land was made into a movie? I've been hoping for that for decades. I found a film by that name at imdb.com, but it was not the same story. I've read almost everything by Heinlein; I think he was pretty hard to convince about movies being made from his novels because he didn't want them ruined. He was right about what they did to Starship Troopers, and the same for Asimov's I, Robot. I'd still like to see Stranger done right, though, and I've done a lot of casting in my mind.

I've read about 7 or 8 from that list, some of them more than once. It also gave me some ideas to check out. I'm wait listed for a digital copy of Cloud Atlas from the library and hope to have it soon.

I'd love some opinions on whether the Fifty Shades trilogy worth reading.

[Gutmutter]

I LOVED Cloud Atlas - one of my all-time favorite books. Very curious to see how they translated that into a movie coming out later this month.

[burntbrat]

The only book I've read on that list is Stranger in a Strange Land and honestly, I have very little desire to read any of the others. As for my own bookshelf, the books that remain unread (but I swear I will read them one day) are: Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell - I started it but couldn't get into it. I hope the whole book isn't that long. Now my daughter is trying to read it and is having the same problem. The Wreck of the River of Stars - Again, I started this one but had to put it down when I wasn't immediately engrossed. But I knew what I was getting into with this one. I've read Michael Flynn's Eifelheim and it was great, but it took a lot of brain power to read (and I'm a lazy reader). A funny thing about this book is that it was out of print for a bit and was on my wish list, so my husband bought a paperback for a gross amount of money (I'm not sure how much, but I think it was $75!) thinking it was something special. The last one is The Way of Kings. It's a big book. I need time to read it. I think I'll wait until Christmas break

[beerbelly]

I was forced to drag myself through "The Portrait of An Artist as a Young Man" in university.

Me too! It was so boring! Snore. I never got through 'Confederacy of Dunces' even though my boyfriend at the time loved it as did others.