If there's one thing that's true about all of us at Village Books, we love to read. Otherwise, what's the point of being a bookseller? But even though we love to read, we don't love to read everything. We're not just referring to the schlock that's out there. We're talking classics. Bestsellers. Books that everyone in the world has read (except us). The books that when they come up in conversation, we leave the room, or manage to weed through the discussion based on the Cliff Notes that we read.
To cleanse our collective guilty conscience, we've decided it's time to reveal some of these books. So, in no particular order, here are books that some of us at VB have never read...and never plan on reading. And yes, we're keeping this anonymous. We don't need anyone coming in here and yelling at us for never having read:
The Harry Potter series
War & Peace
Wuthering Heights
Ender’s Game
Atlas Shrugged
Ulysses
Sense & Sensibility
The Little Prince
Lord of the Rings
The Hobbit
Corelli’s Mandolin
Moby Dick
Infinite Jest
Paradise Lost
Steig Larsson’s Millennium Trilogy
Water for Elephants
The Catcher in the Rye
Jane Eyre
Crime & Punishment
I'm with you on many of these, although I don't know how you escaped "Catcher in the Rye" being assigned to you. IMO, "Catcher" is seriously class-bound, time-bound, adolescent-focused and these days would be published as a YA.
HOWEVER, please reconsider "War and Peace." I read it in the depths of grief after my father died, and it was just the thing. I would have liked some maps or timelines (to keep up with "war") but otherwise, was captivated.
Posted by: Elizabeth Frank | May 12, 2011 at 06:44 AM
As general rule, the newer and more popular the book, the less likely that I've read it! :)
Posted by: Susan J | May 12, 2011 at 10:09 AM
I would say glad you skipped out on : Crime and Punishment and The Hobbit. Those weren't my favorites.
I did like Paradise Lost though...and HP. No worries. There's so many books to read it's not like we're going to have a shortage we'll eventually get to the ones that "everyone" read :P
Posted by: Karoline | May 13, 2011 at 10:35 AM
Certainly everyone has different interests. But I'm wondering what criteria you used to put a book on this list. Isn't it kind of hard to judge a book you haven't read, or at least tasted?
Posted by: Gayle | May 20, 2011 at 10:03 AM
I am also such a bookworm and glad to have stumbled on this blog.
Posted by: Books on Small Business | May 28, 2011 at 06:06 AM