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lucythedragon
"What we have here is the top 106 books most often marked as "unread" by LibraryThing’s users. As in, they sit on the shelf to make you look smart or well-rounded. Bold the ones you've read, underline the ones you read for school, italicize the ones you started but didn't finish. Here's the twist: add (*) beside the ones you liked and would (or did) read again or recommend. Even if you read 'em for school in the first place." Parenthesis are for ones that are actually sitting on your shelf, unread.
( the list )
There are some on this list that I want to read, but haven't yet. I read excerpts from Guns, Germs, and Steel for my anthropology class last semester, and it was amazingly cool, and I want to read the whole thing when I have time. I have a bunch of friends who liked Freakonomics, but I just don't think I care enough. Also, I rarely read a book I don't like. Even most of the ones I didn't star, I didn't hate them, I just wouldn't reread them, necessarily. I also debated on a few of them whether to say I read them for school or not, when they were books I'd wanted to read, and we were told, "pick a book, any book, with literary merit, and write about it." I chose to mark those as ones I read for fun, because they were. These were 1984, Brave New World, and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, I believe.
I also only read To the Lighthouse because when we asked my lit teacher in high school (whom we all adored, and I still do) what her favorite book was, that was what she said. I think I would have liked it more if I had analyzed it with her. As it was, I was kind of bored, and I felt like we never quite got to the point. I liked things about it, but I was disappointed, overall. And I liked Mrs. Dalloway, so I don't know.
I never read Beloved, but I read Jazz for high school instead. Does that count? I loved Jazz. I would read more Morrison, if I didn't have such a long list to read already.
This summer, I also plan to read a boatload of Sherlock Holmes, which was not on the list, but maybe should have been? Also, why was Neil Gaiman on the list so much? He's awesome, and not stuffy at all. Why would you buy him and then not read him?
Also, Angels and Demons on this list gave me a vicious pleasure, because I thought that Da Vinci Code was a good storyline, but a totally sub-par writing style, and I wouldn't read Dan Brown again, and I hate that he got so famous by being so mediocre. So the idea that people bought one of his books and just didn't read it makes me happy. Kind of ditto with Silmarillion , because I think of Tolkien like I do the Bible. They've both got some great stories, and some great poetry mixed in, the style is very pretty at times. But reading the whole thing, start to finish, is just exhausting, and it's not really enjoyable, to my mind. I know people who have read everything Tolkien's written, and I'm happy for you, but personally, I would rather read someone more accessible. He's one of the few people I read for fun that I might have enjoyed more had I read him for school and expected to have to work a bit for my entertainment. So basically, I am totally in solidarity with those people who bought the Silmarillion and the Hobbit, and then never read them. I probably wouldn't either, unless I was very bored.
Okay, back to work. It's my last day, I should probably try to be productive.
lucythedragon"What we have here is the top 106 books most often marked as "unread" by LibraryThing’s users. As in, they sit on the shelf to make you look smart or well-rounded. Bold the ones you've read, underline the ones you read for school, italicize the ones you started but didn't finish. Here's the twist: add (*) beside the ones you liked and would (or did) read again or recommend. Even if you read 'em for school in the first place." Parenthesis are for ones that are actually sitting on your shelf, unread.
( the list )
There are some on this list that I want to read, but haven't yet. I read excerpts from Guns, Germs, and Steel for my anthropology class last semester, and it was amazingly cool, and I want to read the whole thing when I have time. I have a bunch of friends who liked Freakonomics, but I just don't think I care enough. Also, I rarely read a book I don't like. Even most of the ones I didn't star, I didn't hate them, I just wouldn't reread them, necessarily. I also debated on a few of them whether to say I read them for school or not, when they were books I'd wanted to read, and we were told, "pick a book, any book, with literary merit, and write about it." I chose to mark those as ones I read for fun, because they were. These were 1984, Brave New World, and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, I believe.
I also only read To the Lighthouse because when we asked my lit teacher in high school (whom we all adored, and I still do) what her favorite book was, that was what she said. I think I would have liked it more if I had analyzed it with her. As it was, I was kind of bored, and I felt like we never quite got to the point. I liked things about it, but I was disappointed, overall. And I liked Mrs. Dalloway, so I don't know.
I never read Beloved, but I read Jazz for high school instead. Does that count? I loved Jazz. I would read more Morrison, if I didn't have such a long list to read already.
This summer, I also plan to read a boatload of Sherlock Holmes, which was not on the list, but maybe should have been? Also, why was Neil Gaiman on the list so much? He's awesome, and not stuffy at all. Why would you buy him and then not read him?
Also, Angels and Demons on this list gave me a vicious pleasure, because I thought that Da Vinci Code was a good storyline, but a totally sub-par writing style, and I wouldn't read Dan Brown again, and I hate that he got so famous by being so mediocre. So the idea that people bought one of his books and just didn't read it makes me happy. Kind of ditto with Silmarillion , because I think of Tolkien like I do the Bible. They've both got some great stories, and some great poetry mixed in, the style is very pretty at times. But reading the whole thing, start to finish, is just exhausting, and it's not really enjoyable, to my mind. I know people who have read everything Tolkien's written, and I'm happy for you, but personally, I would rather read someone more accessible. He's one of the few people I read for fun that I might have enjoyed more had I read him for school and expected to have to work a bit for my entertainment. So basically, I am totally in solidarity with those people who bought the Silmarillion and the Hobbit, and then never read them. I probably wouldn't either, unless I was very bored.
Okay, back to work. It's my last day, I should probably try to be productive.
