Which book do you think you should have read, but never have? (Do tell, and you could win a bundle of books worth £100)

[JaneMumsnet]

Hello,

In the run up to our first Bookfest event on 25 June (do take a look - we've got a fabulous line-up including Maggie O'Farrell, Meera Syal, Howard Jacobson, Andy Stanton and Liz Pichon, with a programme for all the family), we'll be running a survey on books and reading, and would love your help drawing up one or two of the questions.

1. Is there a book that you feel that you should have read but somehow missed out on? A classic that you've watched on TV but never perused in print? Which are the big tomes you are certain everyone around you has read, but you somehow missed out on or school or have never got round to tackling?

1. Is there a classic you are ashamed to admit you haven't read, to the extent that you might pretend that you have?

1. And - more broadly - is there an author whose greatest book or body of work has completely passed you by?

Do let us know - and all posters who tell us about the book or author who got away on this thread will be entered into a prize draw: one MNer will win a bundle of books worth £100.

Thanks as ever,

MNHQ

I've not read Dr Zhivago, I just cheated and watched it on Tele! Also I have to confess I've not read anything by George Orwell but I suppose the biggest one I missed out on reading was Harry Potter though I intend to make up for that when my little one is old enough

I haven't read any Jane Austen- although I have loved the tv adaptations, films and even another book 'the Jane Austen book club', but still haven't read the books they are based on. I don't think I would pretend to have read a book I haven't, it would be so easy to get caught out. There is nothing better than discussing a loved book with someone who has read it- and I think it could be quite obvious if they hadn't and were simply pretending. Tv and film adaptations are often quite different from the books.
I've had 'White Teeth' on my bookshelf forever but never get round to picking it up, despite always having a book on the go so there's no excuse really! I remember how much hype it got and not sure if that's what's putting me off.
I love Dorothy Koomson but haven't read many of her earlier books, something I should rectify but the titles of them seem more sicky sweet than her later novels.

1. For me it's all works by Dickens. I have watched the adaptations of Oliver Twist and Great Expectations and really enjoyed them but I have not read the books.

2. Lord of the Rings. Every single time I attempt to read it I fall asleep and never make it to even half way through. I have tried to read it 3 times and never made it. I loved the movie adaptations but I just can't get through the book.

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.

I've tried and tried, honest. But the early pages just never grabbed me enough - which has left me feeling guilty, as it's supposed to be such an' important' book.

The Dead Russians.

Henry James.

There are so many books on my TBR list alone that I feel I need to read and so many more that people are constantly recommending that I get stuck into.

One of those books is Outlander, having seen the TV show I'm eager to read the books but judging by the size of it I'm thinking it could take me a while.

Another one of those big books is the Lord of The Rings, it has been sat on my bookshelf for what feels like forever, I have a feeling my eldest daughter is going to beat me to it when it comes to that novel!

1. I have never got round to reading Love In the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez.
2. I don't think I would be ashamed to admit the titles of any classics I haven't read so wouldn't even be tempted to lie - and if I was would be too afraid of getting caught out to do so!
3. Anthony Powell - the thought of tackling the 12 novel sequence of A Dance to the Music of Time is a little daunting.

To kill a hummingbird I know it's a classic but have nevrr got round to it.

Anna Karenina:) love the story but never get around to it :(

I've read most things... including most of the classics and a whole lot of Shakespeare, Dickens, Austin and the Brontes.... but to date haven't read any Steinbeck or any Chaucer! I wish I'd read Of Mice & Men - but there's still time! I love the screenplays of all the classics ... but there's nothing quite like reading the books.

I've been meaning to read Madame Bovary for 27 years now! I recently read Jill Alexander Essbaum's fabulous Hausfrau which apparently is a modern day Mme Bovary .... Maybe one day soon.
I am purposely avoiding reading the final book in the chronicles of Narnia- The Last Battle. My sister warned me that it is excruciatingly sad, and once you have read it, you can't unread it... One day I will read it, but I'm steeling myself up for it first.

To Kill a mocking bird, I will get round to it one day.

War and Peace.......aiming to tackle it over the summer.....(primary teacher) Hoping 6 weeks will be long enough 😜

For me it has to be I, Claudius by Robert Graves. I've had it in my bookcase since university...some 15+ years ago! Oh dear....

I feel like I should have read the 50 Shades of Grey trilogy.. When anyone mentions them I just smile and pretend.. Funny how life used to be about maintaining the boundaries and now I feel ashamed because I haven't read soft porn novels.. Or any Sylvia Day..

Mind you, used to love Jilly Cooper and counting the days til her forthcoming book is due out.. Think called Mount (what better title I ask myself?!)

Rachel x

Great Expectations - have tried three times - but always give up!

Really Valski?

I consider it a badge of honour NOT to have read any of 50 Shades ...

although I did enjoy Jilly Cooper when I was a teenager.

Also ashamed of not having read any Steinbeck, Anthony Powell or Proust.

I feel I really should have read White Teeth but every time I think about giving a go I read the blurb and think, maybe some other time. Ditto Wolf Hall.

I've never read ANYTHING by Dickens. I'd don't know quite how this has happened. Hopefully I'll get round to remedying this eventually. Tolkien, on the other hand, I'm happy to never read. I just couldn't be bothered with all the Middle Earth business. I'm not really a science fiction fan but I feel I should have read some Philip K Dick and H G Wells books by now, but it hasn't happened.

It did take me several attempts to get past the first chapter of Cloud Atlas but once I had read it I then devoured everything written by David Mitchell. I try and remind myself of this if ever I get stuck reading a book early on. Sometimes it pays to persevere.

Up until this year I would have said Ulysses but I finally got to it at the age of 51 as part of a reading challenge. (I also read Dune which I had resisted up to now!) So the next challenge for me has to be War and Peace, if only because I feel I have a bit of head start on it now after watching the TV series. At least I will have a clue who the characters are, despite them using several versions of their names, formal and informal.

I have never read any Shakespeare, I vaguely know the stories for his major plays. I can't understand why I didn't read any at school?

I'm missing a load of Dickens and Shakespeare, which I kind of feel I should remedy but can't bring myself to. Catch 22 is one of the few books I've started and not finished, yet so many people rave about it I occasionally wonder if I should try again, but then figure life's too short.

I showed willing once and purchased a box set of classic novels including War and Peace, To Kill a Mockingbird, and Crime and Punishment. I have taken the cellophane off but they sit on the bookcase awaiting reading.

I have read Pride and Prejudice, Great Expectations, Wuthering Heights, Jane Eyre and 3 Shakespeare books so not a complete modern day chick-lit only girl.

Tolstoy's War and peace. I'm sure I would love it but the sheer size puts me off.