Top Ten Tuesday: Bookish Things to Quit

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. This week’s category is Top Ten Bookish Things I Want to Quit. This topic leaves a lot of room for interpretation, so I decided to go with the Top Ten Books I Need to Quit Saying are on My TBR List and Just Read Them Already.

Let’s face it, all booklovers have those books that are on their TBR list forever. You know you want to read them sometime, so they stay on your TBR list, but you just never seem to actually find the chance to actually pick them up and read them. And if you’re anything like me, you actually own copies of all of those books because you just couldn’t resist buying them to have on hand for when you finally did decide it was time to read them. I have multiple stacks of those surrounding the bookcase of TBR books that acts as my nightstand.

So here are the book I need to stop saying I’ll read, and just read them (in no particular order):

1. Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy

I actually have started reading this – I was that nerd who thought taking Tolstoy to a Supernatural Convention was a good idea. (but in my defense, I only needed that one book all weekend!) However, I got to within 200 pages of actually finishing it, set it down to read something else, and never picked it back up. That was 6 years ago. I actually enjoyed what I have read so far, so I’m not sure why I haven’t finished it, but I really need to.

2. The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets Nest by Stieg Larsson

I loved the first two books in this series, and bought the third immediately when it came out, but it’s still sitting on my shelf feeling neglected. While I love these books, they are not even close to “light” reading, so I feel like I have to be in the right frame of mind to read it, and that time hasn’t come. I need to just sit down and read it. I’m sure I won’t regret it.

3. 1984 and Animal Farm by George Orwell

I have no idea how I managed to graduate with a Master’s in English and still have not read either of these classics. I have copies of each, but have not read them yet. I actually just missed the Animal Farm unit when I moved and switched school districts in 7th grade. At the time I had no interest in reading it, but now I feel it’s one that needs to be read.

4. Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card

There are a large number of classic science fiction/fantasy novels that I have yet to read, but I suspect Ender’s Game has been on my TBR list the longest. Well over a decade ago a friend told me it was his favorite book, and at the time I had never heard of it, but I planned to find a copy and read it. Obviously, that never happened. Hopefully I’ll rectify that soon.

5. Dracula by Bram Stoker

Every single year at this time I say I am going to read Dracula before Halloween, then Halloween comes and goes and I still haven’t read it. I think I actually did get about a third of the way through it once, then got distracted by something else and never went back to it. I put the book on my October reading list again this year and I am determined this will be the year that I actually get it read.

6. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

Another book on the list of classic science fiction that I’ve been meaning to get to yet haven’t. That list is quite lengthy in and of itself. I actually have only read one of Bradbury’s works, so I not only want to read Fahrenheit 451 but just about anything more by him.

7. The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver

I have had more people than I can count tell me I need to read this book. I finally picked up a copy at a library sale several years ago, so I’m one step closer to having it read. Now I just need to actually read it. I actually know very little about the book aside from those recommendations, but if that many people tell me I need to read something, usually it means I should.

8. The Tales of Beedle the Bard by J.k. Rowling

I know, I know. There’s something in the Harry Potter world I haven’t read?!?!? It’s appalling. I honestly don’t know how this calamity has come to pass – especially since it’s such a short book – but here we are. It is another book that I purchased immediately (and coveted the crazy expensive limited edition hand-written copies Rowling made) then it got set aside in favor of something more pressing. It’s unforgivable. This really shouldn’t have been allowed to happen.

9. Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman

This is the only full length adult novel by Gaiman that I haven’t yet read (there’s still numerous comics, short stories and children’s novels) even though I was given a copy years ago. Gaiman is one of my favorite authors so I do not know how this oversight has occurred, and it seems like every time it nears the top of my TBR pile, another 10 books get added before it.

10. Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle

I am a big fan of both the BBC’s Sherlock and the Sherlock Holmes films starring Robert Downey Jr. I also watch Elementary. I love Sherlock Holmes – but I have never actually read any of the stories. I have multiple copies of the entire collection – in paperback, hardcover and even an ebook – yet I haven’t read a single story. Everytime I go to start, some other book takes my attention away.

So there is my list. What books have you had on your TBR list forever and feel it’s time to just read them already?