Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly book meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.
This Week’s Question : Free for all! Make up your own theme! So I’m going with “the Top Ten Books you REALLY should have read by now.”
This list is so embarrassing. Somehow I avoided ever needing to read the following novels during my million years of schooling, and then never got to them in the ages since. It is truly a mystery that defies explanation. I have otherwise read dozens of literary classics, but these gaps are just so mindbogglingly obvious I can stand them no longer.
I’m working on remedying the situation. Hell, I actually own copies of many of these books. I hope to knock at least five of the ten off this year so that I can remain in the book world without needing to wear a bag over my head.
I present… my deepest book secrets :
Don’t hate me.
The Laurenest 
I know exactly how you feel! 🙂
I also own a few of the classics I want to read, not to mention the ones that I don’t own but are on my tbr pile.
And I feel embarrassed when people are talking about them and I’m just quite and nod and wish that nobody would ask me what I think about Catch-22 or 1984 because NO! I haven’t read them (yet).
This is also a reason, why this year I decided to participate in 2016 Classic Challenge, where each month you “have to” read one classic book. Maybe this will stimulate me for reading more classics books.
(And you know what saddens me the most? That after reading a classic, I always ask myself Why, oh why, did I waited so long to read it? Because usually, they are all amazing 😀 ).
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I’ve had the same experience. Once I read something I’m generally angry that I waited so long! I’m also doing the Classic Challenge, so that should get me through most of these I hope!
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Good luck reading them, but don’t beat yourself up because you haven’t. They were written in a different time, and that means they’re not always going to sound super interesting to people now.
My TTT
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I have a confession to make… I never read a classic, they haven’t called out my name yet 😛
My TTT.
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Haha, no problem with that! I suppose this list could apply to anyone who reads within a genre though. Like, if you only read mysteries but somehow have missed all of Agatha Christie or something? Anyway, thanks for commenting!
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Of all these books, I’ve only read Animal Farm, so you’re definitely not alone in your shame! lol
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Good to know!
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I love this topic so much, and I literally just had a conversation with an old roommate about failing to read things. There are quite a few on this list that I haven’t read yet either but truly mean to get to. Oops… but… OMG FRANKENSTEIN IS MY FAVORITE. That is all.
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Frankenstein is going to be the next thing I read, glad to hear you’re a fan!
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Score! You must let me know what you think. People either love it or hate it… and I love it enough for the lot of us. Lol
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Great choice of topic for this free week! Out of all of these, I recommend To Kill A Mockingbird! I just revisited it and fell in love..
Do you plan on reading any of these or just eh? (I tend to avoid books that were on my mandatory reading lists 😉 )
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I am planning to hit several this year. I read a good number of classics in general, so it’s not a huge departure from the norm. I’m not super excited about a few of them though… like the Steinbecks.
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Aww, hopefully they’ll surprise you (or at least be manageable 😉 )
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Oh god, with the exception of three novels, all these would be on my list, if I had chosen the same topic *hides in shame*. I definitely recommend you to pick up The Catcher in the Rye ASAP! That’s one of my favorite classics – I loved, basically, everything in it. Also, SO MANY FUNNY PARTS. To Kill A Mockingbird is one of the most beautiful books I’ve ever read, I just want to reread it again and again. For me, The Giver was a bit off a disappointment. It’s NO WAY a bad book, but I expected more.
Anyhow, I really hope you’ll love all these novels! 🙂
Wonderful list!
My TTT
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I frequently tell myself I’m going to read more classics, but then great authors keep coming up with new books, and I can’t not read them!
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I know, right? So many good things coming out and so many good things already written. It’s overwhelming sometimes!
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I tried to read Catch-22. I never got around the second page. The same with 1984 (which I had better progress with ten pages done yey). I think you’ll fare well with these two, considering you survived through Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell. I think you could survive anything if you finished that book imho.
Mockingbird is a must though. Like a real must.
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I’ve read some dense stuff lately, so I think I can do it, I just need to not get sidetracked by something more flashy and fun!
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Oh. I could only recommend Catcher in the Rye. It’s flashy and has large doses of teenage angst. Real fun. :p
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With the exception of The Giver, Of Mice and Men and Frankenstein, I have read these and I must say that you should absolutely make the time in your reading schedule for them. Not sure I would group Life of Pi with those other classics but a good book nonetheless.
I was inspired to start reading classic novels by a TV show and I am pleased I did…so much more originality, more artistry and generally more intelligence to the writing…about the only thing you don’t get is fast paced page turning. 😀
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I mostly included Life of Pi since so many people around my age ended up reading it in high school when it was really popular. I think just based on page count I should be able to get most of these done in the next year, though of course classics tend to have more subtext and things to think about, so 200 pages may take far longer than a current book of the same length. I’m gonna keep chugging away!
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Have you tried Tolstoy or Dostoyevsky? They did some truly great work also.
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I read Anna Karenina a few years ago, and actually just finished The Brothers Karamazov last fall. I’m planning on tackling War & Peace this summer for the first time and weirdly looking forward to it.
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Nice. I enjoyed War and Peace…although I do find how the characters in the Russian classics having multiple names to be quite confusing at times…especially when there are a lot of characters.
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I’ve never had a huge issue with names thankfully. Probably due to the 4 semesters of college Russian haha.
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Nice work! Bet you wondered how you would use it…😀
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Oooooohhh. I surely share the same secrets with you! 😀 I’ve only read Life of Pi, but the remaining novels are my secret unread books, too! I don’t know why but I am not into classics, honestly. Though To Kill a Mockingbird is still in my TBR for this year. I hope to really really read it. 🙂
Thank you for sharing this! Love the wit and the courage to divulge you bookish secrets! 🙂
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I feel you – I’ve haven’t read some of these either. I should at least pick up 1984 and A Catcher in the Rye… 🙂
Check out my TTT.
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I’m mostly with you! I’ve only read two of those.. I’ve read To Kill A Mockingbird because I live in Alabama and it’s required reading.. I had to read it in middle school and high school, had to go on a field trip to the court house, and act out a scene. I read the giver in high school, but it didn’t leave enough of an impression to remember it..
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