Top Ten Books I Will Probably Never Read

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly event hosted by The Broke and the Bookish, created due to a fondness for lists. Each week they post a new Top Ten topic. After that, it's bloggers UNITE! Participate with your own Top Ten post, have fun, and get to know your fellow bloggers.


As one who loves books, I struggle somewhat with writing this post. This week's topic is the Top Ten Books I Will Probably Never Read. Granted, there are a lot of books on my TBR and most of them will probably never be read by me, but it hurts to just flat out say no to a book.

As an example of my struggle, The Odyssey was originally on my top ten because it's so incredibly dense and old and who knows if I could manage to slug through it. But...it's a classic. And I do have a piece of me that thinks that some day I really will want to read through it for my own sake. I don't really know. And truly, with the exception of a couple on this list, there is a chance that I could some day desire to read them. But...when it comes down to it, these are the ten where I'm most likely to just say no and move on to something a little more appealing from the thousands of books on my TBR.

Unlike other weeks, this week's choices are not necessarily in any real order. They're numbered solely so I could keep track of them.


1. Beowulf

As with the majority of the books on this list, Beowulf was chosen purely out of a desire to not torture myself through the completion of another book just to say I have read it. It's notoriously difficult to read and comprehend and I have no desire to put myself through that.


2. Swann's Way by Marcel Proust

See #1. Despite the fact that this one is on the Rory Gilmore Reading List, much like Lorelai, I will likely never read it. Sorry Rory. It's not for me.


3. Finnegan's Wake by James Joyce

Ah, a theme. Nope. Nope. A thousand times, nope. I like the tune, but have no desire to read the book. By the way...James Joyce's The Dubliners also almost made this list, but I decided to be nice and not embarrass the poor guy by making him show up twice.


4. 2001: A Space Odyssey by Arthur C. Clarke

Science fiction is not my thing. Fantasy, yes; sci-fi, no. I'm not a fan of space or alien stuff and I just plainly have zero desire to read this one. I'm aware that it's a classic and that the sci-fi junkies may just be heartbroken, but if I'm going to read sci-fi, I'd much rather take on something like Ender's Game or The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. I'm much more apt to watch Kubrick's film version than I am to read this book.


5. No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy

This is a prime example of why I don't watch a movie before I read the book. This movie was rough for me. The screenplay was well done and the acting was really good, but whoa. It was just a bit much. I'd take a Stephen King novel any day of the week over this. (Okay...I admit, I quite enjoy Stephen King, but still...no.)


6. War & Peace by Leo Tolstoy

War and Peace is one of a couple of books on this list that I actually tried to read and will never return to. This one was assigned in my Western Civilization II class back in my sophomore year of undergrad. I didn't finish it. In fact, I think it gave me PTSD. I got tangled up in the names and gave up about 150 pages in. Darn Russkies, I can't make sense of your name structure. I ended up using SparkNotes to write my term paper. I had never done that. (I also haven't done it again since. Because I'm just that nerdy of a student.) I still got a B. Thank you, Professor Berger. I know you probably could tell by paragraph two that I was full of crap, so thank you for keeping my GPA in tact. I tried to read it, I really did.


7. The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka

I consider myself a fairly smart person. But Kafka is very much not for me. I'm highly intimidated by it and...frankly, mildly grossed out. I don't really feel the need to torture myself with this craziness, regardless of the political and/or social implications of the piece.


8. Left Behind by Tim F. LaHaye

Nope. This series is totally off my radar. I don't like most religious based stuff to begin with, but Kirk Cameron's support of this series completely removed this as an option. This is probably the one book on this list that is 100% never going to happen. Meh. Moving on.


9. A Million Little Pieces by James Frey

I freely admit that this book is actually currently on my TBR. In fact, I'm pretty sure most of these books are--simply because I hate to ever give up on a book. But in principle, I don't really want to read it. Sure, I want to read it from a literary standpoint, but I can't lend my support to a book based on lies. The distinction between fiction and nonfiction means a great deal to me as a reader and a writer, so I don't really want to lend my support to his fraud in any way.


10. Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Ah...the other book I tried to read and gave up on. I just don't get the fuss on this one. I wanted to read it, I really did. But it just seemed so freaking boring and dumb to me. I had to walk away. Maybe some day I'll be convinced to try again, but for now...there are better choices on my TBR. It'll stay at the bottom of the barrel for the unforeseeable future.



Gah. This list has made me grumpy. This was not an easy post to write and now I just feel angry. I need to go find a good book to soothe my upset.

Have I dissed any of your favorites or do you agree with me that these ones are okay to remain unread? What's on your Top Ten "No Read" List?