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Unread Books

Shade

Shade

New Member
I thought I might try to shame myself into stopping buying any more goddamn new books and reading the ones I have, by posting this list and asking for recommendation, dissuasion, and any other thoughts. Oh and if you have a teetering pile of books waiting to be read, why not share them too!

  • William Faulkner, As I Lay Dying (picked up in charity shop)
  • Charlotte Moore, George & Sam (book about autism recommended by Nick Hornby in his Polysyllabic Spree)
  • Henry Miller, Tropic of Cancer (got an itch after reading about it in censorship book Bound & Gagged)
  • Julian Barnes, The Lemon Table (stories, recent 3-for-2 purchase)
  • Colin Harrison, The Havana Room (thriller! Tesco impulse buy)
  • Manuel Puig, Kiss of the Spider Woman (recommended by Wabbit and Jay)
  • Chris Paling, The Silent Sentry (have been meaning to read something of his for years)
  • Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa, The Leopard (started it on hols recently but couldn't get into it)
  • H.G. Wells, A Modern Utopia (part of recent Wells splurge)
  • H.G. Wells, The First Men in the Moon (ditto)
  • H.G. Wells, The Sleeper Awakes (ditto ditto)
  • Richard Yates, Collected Stories (the only one of his in print that I haven't read)
  • John Updike, Couples
  • John Updike, Rabbit is Rich
  • John Updike, Rabbit at Rest
  • Gustave Flaubert, Madame Bovary (inspired by its mention in Tom Wolfe's I am Charlotte Simmons...!)
  • Alan Paton, Cry, The Beloved Country
  • Haruki Murakami, The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle
  • Tom Robbins, Fierce Invalids Home from Hot Climates
  • Norman Mailer, The Fight (got ages ago in box set cheap)
  • John le Carré, The Constant Gardener
  • Russell Hoban, Fremder (inspired by Col's enthusing for Hoban)
  • Russell Hoban, Riddley Walker (ditto)
  • Ronan Bennett, Havoc, In Its Third Year (3-for-2, widely raved about)
  • Wilkie Collins, The Moonstone
  • John Steinbeck, The Grapes of Wrath
  • J.G. Ballard, The Drowned World
  • P.G. Wodehouse, Laughing Gas (said to be one of his 'darker' ones!)
  • Douglas Coupland, Girlfriend in a Coma
  • Aldous Huxley, Crome Yellow
  • Will Self, Great Apes
  • Samuel Beckett, Molloy/Malone Dies/The Unnamable
  • Kurt Vonnegut, Deadeye Dick
  • Kurt Vonnegut, Jailbird
 
LOL, a short list there. I do not have the time to post all my unread, or really to be read books. :)

Edit: lookig at the shelf above my pc i have 100+ there, plus others around the house :( one day i'll find time :)
 
well the only 2 i've read on your list are steinbeck and robbins. i usually love tom robbins but really had a hard time with this one. i couldn't get into the main character. but grapes of wrath is wonderful. i've been thinking about reading it again. it's beautifully written and if you like historical fiction it offers an excellent look at america during the depression. so i would say steinbeck for sure.
 
Wow, that's a lot of unread books that you've bought!

I always read all the books that I've bought before I buy some more. ;)
 
I have read As I lay Dying by Faulkner, and it was really different. each chapter has a different narrating voice so you get every ones view of everything. You even get the view of a dead woman. :eek: But there are many funny moments and overall it was a really good read.
Madame Bovary by Flaubert was also a good book and one that should be read.
 
Shade said:
[*]Douglas Coupland, Girlfriend in a Coma
Click to expand...

I thought that was just a Smiths song. :eek:

I have over 60 books on my TBR pile, but it didn't stop me buying two more yesterday. :rolleyes:
 
Thanks for the replies and recommendations, people. In response to Infinity, I'm neither overwhelmed nor lazy (well, not when it comes to reading books). I've read about 50 books so far in 2005, whatever that works out at per week. It's just that I enjoy buying books even more than I love reading them, and I can resist anything except the temptation of a handsome new hardback or a 3-for-2 offer...

In fact, Carlos and Stewart have made me realise that my list of 30-something is not so huge, and I therefore have carte blanche to continue buying for the time being! Problem solved!
 
Yes, buy, buy, buy away. You have a short list compared to some around here! And I agree that it's not about being lazy or overwhelmed. It's about being unable to resist those darn bargains.

As far as suggestions, Madame Bovary is a nice quick read so you'd have at least one more off your list. :)
 
I have about 30 or 40 books I have unread. I've got to stop going to the library all the time and read the books I bought!!
 
Having lots of books that you haven't yet read doesn't mean you are lazy or overwhelmed at all. It just means you like to buy books and have trouble resisting bargains! (This from someone who has over 300 books that she owns and hasn't read! But that didn't stop me from buying 10 more last Friday!)
 
Nononono!

Don't even think about trying to reduce your unread/TBR pile!

What if there's a nuclear catastrophe? What if all the good authors decide to stop writing at the same time?

What if you get sick and you can't get to the store or to the library and you have to trust somebody else to choose your books for you? Unread books represent wealth and security! Read all of those library books first, and save yours for a rainy day! Add more to them! Hoard them!

What are you thinking?

:eek:
 
omigosh that is too funny!!!! and scarily true. nothing worse than being down with the flu and some good intentioned soul shows up with not so good reading material.
 
jenngorham said:
omigosh that is too funny!!!! and scarily true. nothing worse than being down with the flu and some good intentioned soul shows up with not so good reading material.
Click to expand...

Like a copy of "The Bridges of Madison County" and the words, "I didn't know it could be like this!"

:rolleyes:
 
LOL y'all make a good point about not reading those unread books. But I will read some of them but I'll still go to the library and buy even more books.
:p
 
Unread books and a little bit of water.

You'll be just fine in any unforseen circumstances if you have your unread books and enough water to drink -- and maybe just a small crust of bread or so -- for mere sustenance, you know? And perhaps just a small dab of cheese to make the bread go down. And I guess a tiny little glass of red wine wouldn't hurt -- but good red wine, not the cheap stuff that tastes like watered-down vinegar, and only just a little bit of it, and that just for health purposes, you know?

Actually, if you get a good bargain, why not just go on ahead and stock up the basement with all of the above, and lay in some gin, while you're at it. May as well be on the safe side, and gin has multiple uses. It can be used as an antiseptic in a pinch.

The truth is -- the truth is-- I think you may need some more books. What if you have company? And you will, you will have company if the gin and the wine are good enough. And, don't forget the ice. And the canapes.

And, oh, hell -- just go ahead and keep the library books! Nobody else will ever appreciate them as much as you do, anyway. Tell the librarian that you know you brought them back and that she must have just mis-shelved them. She'll trust you...

:D
 
omigod, you are so on a roll tonight. i am snorting here in my kitchen and then my husband is saying what are you laughing at, but you can't explain this to a non-reader.
 
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