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

[WallabyWay]

For any reason?

I have several but a few come to mind. Olive Kitteridge is one. I bought this on Kindle in 2016 and I still haven't read it. I'm not entirely sure why I bought it because the premise doesn't particularly appeal to me and I don't tend to like books which are set in Maine but I've heard so many people say that they loved it that I really need to give it a go.

Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell is another. It's such a brick and it's not really my genre but it does sound interesting.

Also too many classics to count. I've just rearranged my bookshelves to put all my classics at the front so perhaps that will help.

Which books have you been avoiding?

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

I loved All the Light We Cannot See.

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

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

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.

@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.

@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.

I clicked on the thread to say exactly this.

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.

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.

@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….

The Nightwatch is excellent.

Me too

I should get rid of it, it would clear quite a lot of space!

The problem is that we all know how it ends!

@Beachsidesunset @ClownSchool I found that one pretty helpful. He clearly knew it was his way to say goodbye to his readers.

I started Hamnet a while back. Turns out I can't finish books kids die while I have young kids of my own.

@Magn , stop press! That isn't a feeling that necessarily goes away.

Have read other books by the author of Olive Kitteridge, both v good so give it a go!

I'm putting off Mrs England by Stacey Halls, because I've read on mn that its not good! So if anyone can tell me otherwise ..

The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead

@Mogginsthemog definitely give The Underground Railway a read. I read it last year and it’s excellent. The Nickel Boys by the same author is also very good.

I’ve also avoided poorly reviewed books by authors that I otherwise love as I don’t want to be disappointed. The Little Friend by Donna Tartt and Human Croquet by Kate Atkinson spring to mind.

The Alchemist. And Life of Pi. I know they're supposed to be amazing.

OP - my advice would be don't bother with Jonathon Strange and Mr Norrell, it's massive and just meanders. I should have loved it as I like magical stuff. Also I read it for book group when DD was a baby and bitterly regretted the hours spent reading it that I could have spent sleeping instead!

Olive Kitteridge is good.

My putting off TBR list is far too long to post here

I’ve attempted to start ink black heart about 4 times now but I really can’t get into it. Possibly because I don’t like either Strike or Robin but I’ve read all the others

@Mogginsthemog I really enjoyed Mrs England. I liked all her other books too.

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….

I wouldn't bother, it's derivative shit. Italo Calvino was cleverer and briefer 20 years earlier when he wrote If on a Winter's Night a Traveller.

The person who hasn't read Half of a Yellow Sun yet though should read it asap, it's probably one of the best and most important books I've ever read.

The Book Thief has been there for who knows how many years. I feel it will be too depressing every time I take it out.

I felt the same, but I would encourage you to push through, it was a surprisingly satisfying read.