Sometimes there feels like there is just never enough time to catch up. I could read all day and all night and never read all the things that look interesting. There’s so many classic books I still need to read, I wonder how I’ll ever manage to get to the new fantastic books coming out. And Twitter leads me to a hundred interesting articles before I’ve even had coffee. What’s a girl to do?!
I think I read probably more than the average person. I’m certainly no Stephen King, who reads roughly 70 or 80 books a year according to On Writing, but I generally am always in the middle of a book. But there are some books that have escaped my 20-some-odd years of reading.
- To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. I know, I know! But I just haven’t gotten to it yet, ok? I also haven’t seen the movie, and I’m not even entirely sure what it’s about. A trial? A guy named Atticus Finch? I’m the worst!
- Same with 1984 by George Orwell. (I also haven’t read Animal Farm)
- Little Women by Louisa May Alcott. I’ve seen the movie though!
- Lord of the Flies by William Golding. But I’m pretty sure this is about an island of boys, right? Kind of like a terrifying Peter Pan, where there aren’t any grown-ups?
- Rabbit, Run by John Updike. I have been meaning to read Updike for years–years I tell you!
- Fear and Loathing In Las Vegas by Hunter S. Thompson. I have read The Rum Diary, so I’m not totally hopeless when it comes to Hunter S. Thompson.
- Pride And Prejudice by Jane Austen. Although I have started this a few times, and I completely love the movie.
- The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien. Any of them. I haven’t even read The Hobbit. I’m totally failing at being a nerd.
- The Stand. I love Stephen King. He’s one of my favorite authors and this is one of his most famous books.
- And finally, anything by Elmore Leonard. After his death, it has re-come to my attention how much I have messed up by not reading his books. I’ve read his rules, and I’ve seen the movies. But why have I never read any of his books? I am positive I would love them. Anyone have a rec for what I should start with?
Are there any books you haven’t read that you think you should have? Please keep me from being too embarrassed and share some of your own.
I’ve got a list very similar to this. Books I know I should read, classics that are even now sitting on my bookshelf taunting me. I have read 1984, so I would suggest that one first! But I enjoy political commentary in fiction. Good luck!
Better get reading!
Too true!