Today, the bloggers at The Broke and the Bookish have asked us to list ten books I am not sure I want to read.
So, yes, I am a bibliophile and it would be nice to think that I could/would read anything under the sun, but unfortunately no, there are tons of books that would make me run in the opposite direction if I come face to face with. Here’s my list of books I don’t think I want to read.
- The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand – I should probably change that to anything by Ayn Rand. I tried ploughing through Atlas Shrugged and disliked it immensely. I have a sneaky feeling that I will not like anything that this author has put out.
- The Mists of Avalon by Marion Bradley Zimmer – It’s a shame that I have decided to boycott this author because I’ve heard this book and other books in the series are really good. But once I read this news article about her abuse of her daughter, I was so revolted that I dropped all ideas of reading anything by her.
- The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins – There’s been a lot of hype and excitement over the books (and the movies), but no amount of hype has made these books sound interesting enough for me. I guess dystopia is just not my thing (unless it’s done by Margaret Atwood, her I make an exception for).
- The Fault in our Stars by John Green – Actually, this one I am pretty ambivalent about. I am not a fan of books about people or children suffering from cancer, plus I’ve promised myself not to read any tear-jerkers this year. So I probably won’t read this right now, but never say never right? I might pick it up next year.
- Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace – This one is famous for being notoriously hard to read. Why would I pick a book that has such a reputation? I’d also like to add Ulysses by James Joyce to this list, and also anything by William Faulkner. Any book that’s
famousnotorious for being difficult to read falls into this list of books I never want to read. Life’s too short to feel stupid. - Lean In by Sheryl Sandberg – I’m not a big fan of non-fiction in general. And an even bigger non-fan of self-help books that aim to guide and inspire. I like to do things my way, slightly pig-headed, opinionated fool that I am.
- The rest of the books in the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon – I am a little conflicted about this one. I liked Outlander a lot. I thought it was a great standalone romantic story. Do I actually want to read about Claire and Jaime’s middle-age romance, or do I just exit this series with good memories of young Claire and Jaime? I honestly don’t know. I might have considered the series if it was just a trilogy, but 7 books more? Each a 1000 or more pages? Nah, not likely.
- The Dark Tower series by Stephen King – I love Stephen King’s books but even I am not ready to commit to a long-drawn out series like this one. I’ve heard mixed reviews about this series, and I have too many half-done series to finish to think about embarking on this one.
- The Silmarillion and the other books that Tolkien has written about Middle Earth – I enjoyed The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, but once I read those books, I was done with Middle Earth. I seriously have no interest in knowing any more about the history, or the language, or anything else. I am done with the series.
- The rest of the books in the Fallen trilogy by Lauren Kate – I disliked the first book in this series intensely. No way in hell will I ever try the others. This book killed any interest in YA Fantasy that I used to have.
So, these are the books currently on my reading NWR (Never Will Read) list . Have you read these books? Care to convince me to give them a shot? Go ahead in the comments, and let me know which books you’d steer far away from, and why.
I don’t want to read another Book by Ayan Rand. She is a good storyteller, but a bad philosopher. I read Atlas Shrugged and didn’t like it! I so want to read the fault in our stars. So many ppl. have recommended that book to me.
Interesting question and list! I enjoyed Mists of Avalon the first time I read it at about age 19, but then when I took it up again it seemed to be all about people having sex in fields. I think it’s safe to give it a miss, especially given the news about Bradley, ugh. I read The Hunger Games when it was in a house where I was on vacation and I got sucked into it. I’m glad to know what other people are talking about, but I don’t usually read books that glorify violence. There are some images from that book that I really wish were not in my head. I do want to read The Fault in Our Stars — I’ll brace myself for the sadness.
@loryhess:disqus Ughh! A book all about people having sex in fields is one I will stay far, far away from. Good thing you told me, I was wondering whether I am missing something by not reading The Mists of Avalon.
I tried both The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged and could not read them. I have no idea how anyone could! I did love The Fault in Our Stars although I was reluctant to read it.
I’m reluctant to read The Hunger Games. It’s just one of those books that are EVERYWHERE and that sort of keeps me from wanting to read it.
The Fault In Our Stars sounds like such a sad book. And if it’s a sad book about adults having issues or health problems I can take it. Kids with the same type of issues stab my soul. I know I will not be reading the book. I’m not sure yet I want to see the movie.
I loved Silmarillion. It was hard to read. I found it harder than LOTR, but it was interesting. It was also interesting to see how big Tolkien saw Middle Earth and how full of stories. I personally loved it, but it was hard read for me.
Outlander seems like an interesting book. If the time-travel part of the story wasn’t there. Time-travel does not appeal to me at all. It’s not the size of those books that scare me, but the time-travel aspect of it 🙁
@rubys_books:disqus agree with you on everything you say. I do think Silmarillion will be a good read, but just not feeling it right now.
I was sceptical about the time travel in Outlander too when I started on the novel, but it’s done pretty well in my opinion.
Ulysses is miserable. There aren’t many books that I say that about — but it’s just so hard. I read Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand and didn’t hate it – that being said, The Fountainhead is nowhere near the top of my TBR. I’m probably never going to read LOTR – I’ve tried many times but for the most part I don’t care for ‘high fantasy’.
I enjoyed The Hunger Games – and really if you’re going to pick up a new YA dystopian novel – that’s the series to go with. THE DARK TOWER MUST BE READ!!! 🙂
I too am ambivalent about ‘The Fault in Our Stars’. I’m thinking of trying to get a copy from the library for Bout of Books. We’ll see.
Stopping by from #SpreadtheLove. I agree with you on Ayn Rand and Ulysses. As much as my husband and son loved the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings books, I still don’t have a desire to read them. Probably because once i have watched the movie, i don’t like to read the book.
I thought that about Hunger Games initially and stopped reading it about 30 pages in the first time I tried it. My son insisted I should give it another chance and threw my motherly advice back at me telling me “you always tell us to try something twice before deciding we don’t like it”. So the second time I read it all the way through and loved it. I read Fault in Our Stars too and while cancer is the reason for bringing this couple together, its more a story of the beauty of their relationship, and seeing them past their cancer. Gus and Hazel are witty, sarcastic and funny. It is a tear jerker but I think its a beautiful worthwhile read and one of my favorite books.
@disqus_jZnKAatlbx:disqus I am going to be a LOTR heretic and say, if you’ve watched the movies, you can easily give the books a skip. I liked the books, but the movies were fantastic.
Lol. Well I am glad to hear you vocalize what I was thinking. Too many good books I want to read to spend time on movies I already saw. Truth be told, its not my cup of tea.
I started to read “Consider the Lobster” by David Foster Wallace but it was too much work. Same goes for “The Fountainhead.” I did really like the Hunger Games trilogy but I like dystopian stuff so if you don’t, then yeah, you probably wouldn’t like it. Life’s too short to read stuff you’re not really into, you know?
Infinite Jest is such a great payoff if you can get through it — but for sure, you have to want it. 🙂
#1 I can never read Ayn Rand.
Fault in our stars – It is one of the best books I have ever read. I know it is a sad book, but it is written beautifully. You should read it.
Lean In – she is not trying to preach anything in that book. In fact, I could relate to most of the stuff mentioned in the book and it was not a boring self-help book. She mostly talks about her experiences and personal stories.
Silmarillion – is definitely the best book written by Tolkien. After reading that book, I feel all the other fantasy novels are crap and have copied many things from this book. I could find some similarities with Harry Potter too (though HP was written after Silmarillion).
@Avada@ashscerebrations.com hmm, I might give Lean In Fault in our Stars a try based on what you say. Silmarillion, I still don’t feel it. Actually speaking, I was never crazy about LOTR, liked the movies better than the books, so reading more about that world is just not appealing.
You are selling yourself short by not reading any more of the Outlander books, if you have read the first one only. Claire and Jamie go through a lot of hardships, seperations and always find each other. The story gets ever better.
I’m not going to try to talk you into any of these BUT I would like to make a case for YA fantasy. There is some very, very good YA fantasy out there. Lauren Kate just isn’t it.
@readingtheend:disqus any recommendations for me?
Yes! Numerous! But I will try to limit myself. I recommend Diana Wynne Jones’s Howl’s Moving Castle, Martine Leavitt’s Keturah and Lord Death, and Franny Billingsley’s Chime. All really really good YA fantasy (or I dunno, maybe some of them skew a little younger than YA?).
@readingtheend:disqus Those are some good recommendations. I must check out Howl’s Moving Castle. Such a lovely title, and I am so intrigued by Dianna Wynne Jones after reading about her books on your blog.
You’re not missing much in Fountainhead. I read it and hated it. Gah. Cannot read any more Ayn Rand.
@athirac:disqus so with you there. Hip hip hurray for the anti- Rand club 🙂
I’ve heard a lot of similar things about the Outlander series. I’m tempted to give the first one a go but is there much point if I have no desire to read the whole series? hmm.
@disqus_giQDUNK6u9:disqus the first one is really nice. I liked it and you can read it as a standalone, I feel.
i hear you on the outlander series. i got up to the fiery cross and then stopped. but the fact that she came out with yet another book for the series, makes me want to catch up.
The first book in the Hunger Games series is really good, but I didn’t like the other two as much.
My TTT
Oh good, I detested Fallen too! As for Ayn Rand, yeah… I barely survived the second chapter so it’s a no for me. I enjoyed Hunger Games but if you generally dislike dystopians then I wouldn’t even try it. Same for TFioS – I enjoyed it, and I don’t reeeeeally think it’s a tear jerker that much (then again, I’m hard-hearted), but if it’s not your thing then it’s not your thing 🙂
The Hobbit didn’t work for me, so I haven’t even tried LotR, nevermind his other works…
Great post Nish! I love King, and I have been enjoying his Dark Tower series, which I started recently. As for The Fault In Our Stars, you should definitely put it up on your list for next year. It’s a brilliant read, and there is so much that works for it. I would love to get your opinion on it!
@Zoe: Thanks for confirming. I know these books are good, just not ready for them yet. I look forward to your thoughts on The Dark Tower books.