Are there any books on your shelves that you keep putting off reading?

The Nightwatch is excellent.

@ThreeKneeRepeater i had both The Poisonwood Bible and Half of a Yellow Sun on my shelves for years and finally read them on holiday this summer - would highly recommend them. I still have Americanah, a couple of Barbara Kingsolver’s and 3 Sarah Water’s books (including The Night Watch) on my shelves.

Cloud Atlas might be my oldest book that’s waiting to be read. I have a hardback copy so it’s been there for 18 years, occasionally picked up then put straight back down. One day….

Some of the books I have on my shelves that are unread are there because I quite enjoy the anticipation of reading them. But having said that, it then pisses me off if I see them in the library or in the charity shop, because I have left them too long and they are no longer so desirable because everyone else has read them.
Notable examples of this ar The Poisonwood Bible, The Night Watch and Half of a Yellow Sun. All on my shelves.
I really need to crack on with some of these. But then again I can’t pass a library without going in, and so it starts again.

However I am reading one book that must have been on my shelf unread for at least 15 years. The Hobbit, and I'm loving it. Sometimes you just have to be in the right place for certain books.

I read War and Peace after having it on my shelf for 20 years. I'm very glad i didn't read it until my 40s, I wouldn't have appreciated it in my 20s.

I clicked on the thread to say exactly this.

@MargotMoon I thought little fires was very mediocre. Have not read anything else by Celeste Ng as that book has put me off.

I enjoyed Eleanor Oliphant, far more than I thought I would, but like all books not to everyone's taste.

I have a shelf of TBR books that I just put off from starting...
Some classics such as Dracula, Wuthering Heights, Anna Karenina, One hundred years of solitude...

Others are bios which are not really my thing but I like the people.

A few books by Kristen Hannah, loved her book The nightingale but cannot get into the others for some reason. Also some by Isabel Allende which I really must read but I feel I need more time for her books.

However I am reading one book that must have been on my shelf unread for at least 15 years. The Hobbit, and I'm loving it. Sometimes you just have to be in the right place for certain books.

@MargotMoon I loved Little Fires and everything else by Celeste Ng.

@Woodsparrow I don't think the GoT books will spoil the TV series for you. The first book is so similar, it's uncanny, but then they increasingly part ways. I read all the books but lost interest in the TV show part way through season 3. The books get longer and more unwieldy as they go along with gazillions of characters and new lands introduced that go nowhere. Feels like there was no editing. I was bed bound with pneumonia for a few months so I wasn't in a hurry! Otherwise not sure I would have had the patience. I'm not selling it am I?

I can't get into the Essex Serpent. I might try it again. I feel like it should be my kind of thing.

I had two, A Little Life and Wolf Hall, the latter of which I tried to read many years ago but determined to try again.

I’ve finally made myself start A Little Life and very into it now, so glad I finally did.

I've started countless book and not liked them, so I've read the ending just to see what happens.

Jonathan Strange was written by my childhood friend. I've not read it.

Girl, Woman, Other sits there and stares balefully at me. Maybe one day...

I loved All the Light We Cannot See.

Shuggie Bain has been on my bedside for a couple of years now ...

I can't do Le Carre at all. My husband loves him but I find him really dry.

Terry Pratchett The Shepherd's Crown. I can't bear the thought that when I finish it there'll be no more to read. So it sits, unread.

Ok so no joke:

How to stop procrastinating.

I've had it 2 years

Yes, one in particular- Joan Didion's Year if Magical Thinking. I'm a widow, and a friend thought I'd like it. I can't bring myself to read it.

The Man Who Died Twice by Richard Osman.

DH bought me that and the first one in that series last Christmas. I read the first. Wasn't that enamoured and can't really be bothered to read the second one. Not really my cup of tea.

I bought The Night Manager as I'd really loved the TV series but I managed about 10 pages before I gave up, It's still sitting on the bookshelf looking at me.

Oh, All the Light We Cannot See. I got it from my mum but I literally read the first page and was like, "I caaaaaaaaan't..." And now it just sits on my shelf mocking me.

I looked at Essex Serpent in the Kindle store and was like "Woman, do not buy another book in a genre you don't really read." So I haven't. Yet. Maybe I would love it... 🤔

I have quite a few. So a few years ago, I decided I wouldn't buy any books for a year and just read stuff that I had previously bought and never read. It was the most miserable year of my reading life!! There was a reason I'd left those books unread (am not sure of the reason I bought them in the first place though). So I ditched the guilt, donated to the charity shop/friends/wherever and got in with reading for pleasure again 😊

I couldn't get into Wolf Hall either despite a few attempts. I then saw all three books in a bundle on Audible and I listened to the first two and thoroughly enjoyed them. Usually I prefer the actual book, but that was one occasion when I preferred the audiobook

Me too! On the plan for this winter though 🤞

I have lots, including Girl A, All the Light we Cannot See, Milkman, Essex Serpent, Girl, Woman, Other.
The problem is I see them in charity shops and buy them, but then pop into the library and find half a dozen books which need to be read first.

I really liked Little Fires Everywhere and loved the TV series too. Read the book first though imo

Little Fires Everywhere. Is it really worth my time!? Opinions welcome!

Olive Kitteridge and others in that series are actually really good!

Agree re most Hilary Mantel though, I just can't get to grips with her style.

Shuggie Bain is a horribly depressing book. Don't bother.