106 books meme
Several of my FL have done this, most recently bright_lilim and stoutfellow.
The following list contains the top 106 books most often marked as "unread" at LibraryThing. As in, they sit on the shelf because you were supposed to read them for school or college, because you felt you should read them because they are classics or because everyone else loves them. Or because it's simply chique to have certain books on your shelves.
- bold the ones you've read
- italicize the ones you started but didn't finish
- underline the ones you read for school - not many of these out when I went to school - and of those, I only had one.
- Add asterisks (*) to the ones you own
And comments. Not much point doing this without comments. First comment: where did chique come from? What was wrong with chic? Not chique enough?
Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell - wasn't aware of this one. After looking it up, looks like I should look more carefully. But if it is on lots of folk's shelves unread, maybe I should try the library first.
Anna Karenina I've dipped into it a few times, haven't taken the trouble to really start.
Crime and Punishment*
Catch-22*
One Hundred Years of Solitude - heard good things, but not things that appealed, so never started.
Wuthering Heights - never got the urge
The Silmarillion*
Life of Pi : a novel - read a review. Maybe I'll try someday, but I doubt that I'll own it.
The Name of the Rose * Dark, but I highly recommend it for its picture of the times and Sherlockian main character. If it is on your shelf unread, give it another try.
Don Quixote* I've read parts, but not all. Yeah, this one I got because of a class.
Moby Dick I don't think I own it, and I've read most of it, maybe all. And, no, I didn't have to do it for school.
Ulysses
Madame Bovary - no urge
The Odyssey - hmm. I've read the journey, lots. Doubt that any version was a full translation. Don't own it.
Pride and Prejudice - it seems to have affected authors I like and my FL. But I haven't made the attempt, yet.
Jane Eyre - does the Classics Comics count?
A Tale of Two Cities I used to own this. I think it died and I never replaced it.
The Brothers Karamazov*
Guns, Germs, and Steel * I intend to keep working on this one. But I get the picture.
War and Peace * OK, this one I think I ought to try again.
Vanity Fair
The Time Traveler’s Wife
The Iliad - here again, I've read the stories countless times since grade school. Don't know if any of the versions count.
Emma - nope. Haven't done the various movies, either.
The Blind Assassin - wasn't aware of this one. Looks interesting. These silly memes apparently do have some virtue.
The Kite Runner * I can see why it is on this list. Good book, but hard to get through.
Mrs. Dalloway - wasn't aware of this one, either. Looks interesting, but I think I'll pass.
Great Expectations
American Gods *
A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius
Atlas Shrugged - no urge
Reading Lolita in Tehran : a memoir in books - looks interesting, but not on the list yet
Memoirs of a Geisha - ditto
Middlesex - ah, an Oprah book. Hadn't been aware of it. Wonder if Raptor would count?
Quicksilver - another I wasn't aware of. Haven't even got to Cryptonomicon yet. Shiftless.
Wicked : the life and times of the wicked witch of the West - mildly interested, but not enough to bite.
The Canterbury Tales * I don't think I've read them all, but I've read most of them
The Historian : a novel* I read it all the way through, and it was OK, but I don't strongly recommend it. We are downsizing in half a year - this one won't go with us.
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man - have had the urge a few times, but didn't make it. Don't think I will.
Love in the Time of Cholera - good reviews, but no interest.
Brave New World used to own it in PB. It died and wasn't replaced.
The Fountainhead - no. No Rand. No interest.
Foucault’s Pendulum not as good as Name of the Rose but worth the effort.
Middlemarch - no, never tried, don't intend to.
Frankenstein - I may have read parts of this. I did read the Classics Comics, but we aren't counting those.
The Count of Monte Cristo - no. Might have done the Classics Comics, but I don't recall doing so. Had trouble getting through the movie.
Dracula* oh yes. I seem to be a sucker for creatures of the night. Don't know why - I think the concept pretty silly
A Clockwork Orange* very interesting concept. Wish it didn't take such an ugly story to present it.
Anansi Boys - no. I have come to Gaiman only recently and haven't got to this one.
The Once and Future King* OK, here is another on my shelf, uncompleted.
The Grapes of Wrath*
The Poisonwood Bible : a novel - seems interesting, but haven't got to it yet
1984 This book had a big effect on my outlook as a teenager. Used to own it, but it died.
Angels & Demons* OK, if you own this and haven't read it, you're better off. I bought it in PB while waiting for The DaVinci Code. Big mistake.
Inferno* Dante's, I trust. Have a version my mother had with Beardsley illustrations. I was a teenager BP (before Playboy) and that was about the best I could do.
The Satanic Verses* I own the book out of respect for the people who died trying to publish it. But I don't have a strong urge to actually read it.
Sense and Sensibility - no - like the others in this class, many on this list.
The Picture of Dorian Gray* Have a collection of Wilde's. All worth reading. My mother read Ballad of Reading Gaol to me when I was 11 or 12. (And Mathematics and the Imagination when I was 13) She also staged as a high school play The Importance of Being Earnest. She got me off to a good start.
Mansfield Park - no
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
To the Lighthouse - haven't read any Woolf. Or put it on the shelf with good intentions.
Tess of the D'Urbervilles
Oliver Twist
Gulliver’s Travels
Les Misérables - Classics Comics again. I have no shame. But that was 60 years ago. And I didn't even own them - a friend had most of the series.
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time - no. I suppose I should
Dune*
The Prince another one I used to own in PB that died. These days, I can fix them.
The Sound and the Fury
Angela’s Ashes
The God of Small Things
A People’s History of the United States : 1492-present * I read most of it - local bookstore ran a discussion on it until it petered out. I appreciate his focus, but don't share his perspective.
Cryptonomicon no, but I have intentions
Neverwhere *
A Confederacy of Dunces
A Short History of Nearly Everything* I recommend it. Annoying errors in details here and there, but the pictures seemed good. Readable essays about the development and developers of a lot of science and tech.
Dubliners
The Unbearable Lightness of Being
Beloved
Slaughterhouse-five
The Scarlet Letter I don't know if I have this one or not
Eats, Shoots & Leaves* Well, my wife bought it, and I've read part and intend to go back.
The Mists of Avalon* a little different from The Crystal Cave . . .
Oryx and Crake
Collapse : how societies choose to fail or succeed* still working on it
Cloud Atlas
The Confusion
Lolita this is on the shelf, unread? Odd. Maybe started, but not completed.
Persuasion - I have intentions, but haven't got there
Northanger Abbey
The Catcher in the Rye
On the Road
The Hunchback of Notre Dame - Classics Comics, again
Freakonomics : a rogue economist explores the hidden side of everything
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance : an inquiry into values
The Aeneid
Watership Down*
Gravity’s Rainbow
The Hobbit * oh, dear, this on the shelf and not read? Read it to your kids. Or someone else's kids.
In Cold Blood : a true account of a multiple murder and its consequences
White Teeth
Treasure Island used to own it - think it died in a flood in my mother's apartment.
David Copperfield
whew. Done. Two posts in a day! Better get to work.