A question from Booking Through Thursday:
We've all seen the lists, we've all thought, "I should really read that someday," but for all of us, there are still books on "The List" that we haven't actually gotten around to reading. Even though we know they're fabulous. Even though we know that we'll like them. Or that we'll learn from them. Or just that they're supposed to be worthy. We just … haven't gotten around to them yet.
What's the best book that YOU haven't read yet?
I suppose everyone has books they feel they should read, for whatever reason; but there are always newer, funner books out there to read, so they never get to it. In all honesty, I usually don't feel the pressure to read a certain book… except for these books:
Byron, Don Juan
I bought this book at Barnes & Noble… one of my more foolish purchases. I had just read a great romance novel (Lord of Scoundrels by Loretta Chase) where this book played a major role, and I read a snippet and it seemed funny. Haha, not so much. Now I feel like I have to read the thing. Uhg.
Tanith Lee, Faces Under Water
Do you have a book lying around that you always take on vacation, thinking to yourself, "Surely, deprived of any other form of entertainment and absolutely desperate from boredom, I will read this novel"? But then you never read it because you do somehow manage to find something else to do (stare out the window) or read—the newspaper, for example. Or the map.
This book has accompanied me all over the US and Europe. No joke. It's been to Venice twice; it should have its own passport. I didn't take it on our last vacation, though, because I finally admitted to myself that I'm simply not going to start reading it on vacation.
It's not a bad book. The author, Tanith Lee, is a great science fiction writer that I've read several times before and really liked. My favorite book of hers is The Silver Metal Lover. I did manage to start this book, and it was actually pretty good. It's about a guy in a Venice-like setting who finds a dead body in the canal. I just had no idea what was going on, and I could tell it was going to be one of those books where I would have no idea what was going on most of the time. *sigh* I don't know, maybe it's just too smart for me.
I really need to read this book. Someday.
J.R.R. Tolkien,
I know so many people who have read this series and loved it—my mother and little brother, just to start off with. I really should try to read it again. I did try once a few years ago, but the last thing I need in my life is a sixty-page treatise on hobbits. Where are the swords? Where's Viggo Mortensen? Hobbits are not sexy. Anyway, I got bored and said, "Nope, not going to go there," but there are times when I think I might be missing something.
