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

1. I studied A level English Literature and some of the other classes did Middlemarch and Tess of the D'Urbervilles. We did Pride and Prejudice and Hard Times by Dickens. I loved the books we studied but I always wondered about Middlemarch and Tess of the D'Urbervilles.

1. I would never pretend I had read a book I hadn't but I do have a slightly shameful story: Many years ago, a friend lent me Catch 22. It was the end of university and I was bored after exams. I started it but had no time to finish it so begged him to let me keep it. Unfortunately, after his departure I couldn't really get into it. It moved from house to house only to sit on my bookshelf unread. More than ten years later, I decided I would finally read it given that it is supposed to be a masterpiece and always on those must-read book lists. I struggled through the first third and only really began to get into it and care about the main character.towards the end. I did finish it (and liked the ending) but am wondering exactly what all the fuss is about and if I am missing something?!

1. George Eliot and Thomas Hardy!

I've had the 3-book 'Lord Of The Rings' series by J.R.R. Tolkien sitting on my bookshelf for ages - I had been intending for years to read them all back-to-back. However, once the movies came out, there was no chance of that unfortunately. Oh yes, and 'Little Women' by Louisa May Alcott, which we've had in our household since the late 70's - now that I've been reminded, I really must read that book.

;)

Lord of the Rings books.

Quite liked the films but just can't bring myself to read the books. I have tried and couldn't get past the names, Sniggly Bob and Flopperty flip drinking tea.

I'm sure they're great works of fiction, but not for me!

1. The Master and Margarita. I have tried. It's supposed to be the best book ever but I just can't get on with it!

1. God loads. But I have a tendency to skim read books so sometimes I have actually read it without remembering anything about it! But I have an English degree and haven't read The Tempest or Coriolanus despite supposedly 'doing' Shakespeare :/

1. Italo Calvino. And James Joyce.

George Orwell, The road to Wigan pier.

I am from Wigan and used to live right beside Wigan pier. I have even visited George Orwell's home on Jura (there wasn't much else to do there!) and met an American couple who assumed I was as big a fan of Orwell as they were!

Back when I was a starry-eyed Eng Lit student, I was convinced that I needed to read James Joyce's "Ulysses". I was so determined to do it that I deliberately marooned myself on holiday in the Lake District with nothing else to read and no access to libraries and bookshops.

With no other reading options available and an abundance of long quiet evenings, I ended up finishing a needlepoint cushion with a picture of a Chinoiserie teacup on it. I still have the cushion, and I have still never finished "Ulysses".

Stephen King's It has been sitting on my bookshelf for ages but it's well over 1000 pages

"Capital" by John Lanchester!

I would like to read the Quran as I've heard it's quite poetical (and it doesn't seem to be quite as large as the Bible so it's on my "desert Island Discs" list
But I've also never read any Jane Austen.. or Alexander Solzhenitsen (sp?) or any of the Harry Potters..
I have read ALL the Poldarks, years ago before the shirt-off-scythe scene was even thought of let alone filmed!
I've missed entire genres, though, science fiction being one, horror being another
If I win, could I swap half the prize for the time to read the book I buy, please?

1. Is there a book that you feel that you should have read but somehow missed out on?

Lord of the Rings - i don't even know the plot

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

I used to think I really should have read something by Dickens but it looked too boring but now I've read a couple of his books

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

War and Peace - perhaps one day I'll get round to it

I really want to have read Proust's In Search of Lost Time. I can read French but about 10 years ago admitted to myself that I was never going to get around to reading the original so treated myself to a hardback collection of the whole series in translation. I've read the first chapter about ten times over the last decade. I think if I could persevere and get into it then I'd really enjoy it. Maybe when I'm retired!

I would never pretend to have read a book when I haven't. I might have done this at university a couple of times and probably wasn't fooling anyone. I wouldn't see the point in pretending now!

Not completely passed me by but after the third book of the Harry Potter series I have to admit that I completely lost interest. I enjoyed the first books and I've read her other books and enjoyed them but never felt the need to carry on with the series. My daughter gave up after the second book so it's not just me.

queenoftheschoolrun we should organise a little mini-book club for the two of us. Something a bit like a support group to help us read it. Although I said I have realised I will die not having read it, I still really would like to.

Cervantes Don Quixote - seen the opera, seen the ballet, neither thrilling, so can't be arsed to read the book!

I haven't read any JK Rowling Harry Potter books. Probably the only mum at school that hasn't read them. I watched the first movie and decided not for me. I now have the difficult position of telling my son he has to read them in the correct sequence for school. He loves reading and just ticks books off his reading list but order means nothing to him, I feel he must be missing out .

The notebook. Just have never got round to it yet I've seen the film and it was beautiful. Think I might have to make this my next book purchase.

I know it is old hat, but having seen the marvellous TV adaptation I should have read Tolstoy's War and Peace. Smack my hands!

I feel that I haven't read enough Russian literature such as Tolstoy or Chekhov especially after having watched war and peace recently. I also keep meaning to read the Bible but despite starting it a number of times never get past the first couple of books.

I lied about reading Great Expectations for my GCSEs as I found it dull so opted for the York notes instead.

I never read To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. I have not a clue what is all about. Will have to tackle it and stop pretending that I read it.

Schindler's Ark. I bought it when I was 18, have taken it half way around the world and every house since and still not read it. It's sat at the bottom of my TBR pile along with 1984 and A Clockwork Orange... One day maybe...

I've realised I haven't answered the questions!

1. In Search of Lost Time. I wish it would be made into a television series. I'm sad to think I might never get round to reading it.

1. No, not now. I'm really bad at lying. However, I did have to squirm my way through a supervision on Middlemarch once, having read only half. That was grim. My not lying now is probably related to the memory of that: every time I say: "No. Haven't read it," I experience afresh the incredible relief of not living though that excruciating horror second by second.

1. See (1). However, I read 'War and Peace' many years ago, decided the battle bits were incredibly dull, and skipped over them. So perhaps a fair bit of 'War and Peace' is forever lost to me

Ironically, I'm married to somebody who reads endless books about the tactics and strategies of famous battles (from classical times onwards,). How on earth did that happen?

1. Is there a book that you feel that you should have read but somehow missed out on?

Wuthering Heights. I've tried, I really have. But I just can't get past the first 50 pages. I've resigned myself to giving up on that one.

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

I used to feel bad about the classics I hadn't read. Real, book-lover's guilt over it. Then I decided that books aren't there to make you feel guilty, there's plenty of books I do want to read (but not an equal amount of time to read them in) and maybe I'll come to them later in life!

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

John Le Carre - I should like his writing, but I've never got around to a single word of it!

I feel gulty about not reading Mervyn Peake. I like fantasy and I really tried to read Gormanghast several times now, but I cant and it's put me off him completely.

I've never read anything by Charles Dickens.

Gone With the Wind.

On my to do list along with Anna Karenina :)

Hello all! Thanks for sharing your books or authors who got away. This competition is now closed and the winner has been drawn... Congratulations thecatfromjapan!

If Shakespeare's the author who passed you by (or indeed not), join our top panel at Bookfest including Howard Jacobson & Malorie Blackman who will be discussing the Bard's relevance today. For more chat of books you have and haven't read, do take a look at our fantastic Bookfest line-up on 25 June.