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Bibliophiliac is the space where one passionate, voracious reader reflects on books and the reading life. You will find reviews, analysis, links, and reflections on poetry and prose both in and out of the mainstream.

A book must be the axe for the frozen sea within us. Franz Kafka

Monday, November 14, 2011

Top Ten Tuesday: For the Longest Time

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Books That Have Been on My Shelf For the Longest But I've Never Read Also Known As: The List of Shame...
The folks at The Broke and the Bookish make Tuesdays fun. This week's list is....those books that have been on your shelf for an embarrassingly long time...and you still haven't read them? Here are my top ten, in no particular order:
1. Darkness and Day Ivy Compton-Burnett.
2. Manservant and Maidservant Ivy Compton-Burnett. Some time long, long ago, I read an article about a quirky, under-appreciated British writer called Ivy Compton-Burnett. This must have been a very persuasive article, since I have two books by the still under-appreciated Compton-Burnett.
3. Lolita Vladimir Nabokov. This book falls under the category of "books I pretend to have read."
4. Amy and Isabelle Elizabeth Strout. I loved Olive Kitteridge and Abide With Me, so I have no explanation for why I have never read Amy and Isabelle, which has been sitting on my shelf for about a decade.
5. The Water is Wide Pat Conroy. Hello, this book is set in my back yard! The more I hear about the history of the area where I live, the more I ask myself why I haven't picked this book up off my shelf.
6. Drown Junot Diaz.
7. A Reliable Wife Robert Goolrick.
8. 2666 Roberto Bolano.
9. Wolf Hall Hilary Mantel.
10. The Fountain Overflows Rebecca West.

Do you see why I signed up for the Mount TBR Challenge? I figure that between the Back to the Classics 2012 Challenge and the Mount TBR Challenge, I might clear some of these books off of my TBR bookcase.

What books have you had for the longest time that you can't believe you still haven't read?

9 comments:

bermudaonion said...

I don't think I even want to know what I've had on my shelves the longest!

Scriptor Senex said...

Oh dear - the list of shame is terribly long chez moi. If I listed them I'd feel I had to qualify why they've been there so long. Perhaps I'll do a posting about the subject on my book blog... Perhaps.

Scriptor Senex said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Scriptor Senex said...

Wow - I did it. That didn't take long. Mind you, there are an awful lot of other books sitting on those shelves...

Ben said...

I thought LOLITA was pure genius. It's hard to step over your principles I know, but it is truly a gem that make literature step forward. I cannot recommend it hard enough to do it justice.

Trish said...

#3 lol yeah, me too. Must fix that in the new year.

Anonymous said...

Yup to Wolf Hall. I even started it, so it's just sitting there, unfinished.

And Lolita is ten thousand times better on audio. Trust me on this. Jeremy Irons is brilliant.

Anonymous said...

We share Wolf Hall on our lists. Lolita is quite the most exquisitely written book I've ever had the pleasure to experience. it's truly wonderful!
Here’s my Top Ten Tuesday post. :)

bibliophiliac said...

@bermuda onion-believe me, this is just the tip of the iceberg!