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 finally gave AK a go when I was ill and stuck in bed. Fuck me, it's long. Don't start it, you'll wish you hadn't!

Book three of the wheel of time series.

Really enjoyed books 1 and 2, but just keep putting off starting number 3 as feel like I don’t have the time to really ‘get into it’ (even though I do?!?)
Ive got books 1-7 here, not sure why I’m putting it off?!?

Night by Elie Wiesel, about being a child in Auschwitz and Buchenwald. I finally read a bit yesterday and it was every bit as distressing as I feared.

The Book of Dust has been on my shelf for ages. I can't really say why I haven't read it as I loved the other books.
I thought Olive Kitteridge , Olive again etc were really good books, gentle and beautiful.

It's funny how different people like different things. My daughter declares The Book Thief to be her all time favourite book, yet I, and several of you, couldn't make anything of it.

So many.
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks - I want to be clever and well-read and know about her.

Girl, Woman, Other - I SO want to love this book.

Flight Behaviour - I've started it so many times that I bloody dream about Dellarobia walking up that hill to meet her lover. Never get much further though.

Also, Long Earth which is a Terry Pratchett collab with Stephen Baxter. Adore Pratchett and am greedy for more but can't get into this one.

The Mirror and The Light. I have read the previous two but I know this is the end of Cromwell and I'm not ready for it to be over.

And with her recent death it's also the end of her books so I want to do it proper justice.

I also haven't read Tombland yet. I LOVE Shardlake but C J Sansom has been very ill for a few years now so I think it might be the last and, again, I don't know if I'm ready for it to end.

I feel the same re these audiobooks. I can't bring myself to hear about his downfall. I know the real Cromwell is usually thought of as one of history's bad guys, but the character in the books isn't and I also see him as Mark Rylance after watching the series and I love him 😂

The Richard Osman murder club book. Dh bought it for me because I like watching Richard Osman on telly.

But... it bothers me that I might think less of him if I read the book and find it disappointing. (I know many find it so.)

Thanks Tattie and ilovesushi, I will give both books a go.

The Henrietta Lacks book is well worth a read. And is a fairly easy, accessible read imo. The author is v good at making it understandable to the layman.

Agree re The Book Thief. My dd thinks its great and remembers every twist and turn. I can barely remember any of it.

I have books that I'm "saving up for a treat" which is ridiculous. Often they are a letdown because I've overhyped them to myself

Another who hasn’t read the Thursday murder club. For some reason dh thought I’d like it so picked it up in the supermarket - I read about 3 pages, yawned a lot and added it to the pile of things to get round to reading when I’m bedbound during a powercut…
I didn’t enjoy olive kitteridge or Eleanor oliphant. Only finished them as they were book club choices.
loved all the light we cannot see!