10 books growing old on my ‘to read’ list

This week’s topic in the Top Ten Tuesday meme hosted by  The Broke and the Bookish  is a free choice. Since I have been spending a few hours today clearing up the spreadsheet I used to keep track of all the books I own but have not yet read, I thought I’d share the ten titles that are growing beards because they’ve been on my shelf so long.

Riddle of the Sands:  1903 novel by  Erskine Childers that I’ve had since the late 1970s. I bought it at a time when I was reading some of John Le Carre’s fiction and heard that his potrayal of the world of spies was influenced by the realistic detail found in Childers’ novel. I’ve tried to read it a few times but never got much further than chapter 2 – I was irritated by the amount of detail about sailing.

devil white city-1Devil in the White City by Erik Larson: bought in 2011 in Chicago airport on the recommendation of the assistant. Opened it just after take off to discover it was a non fiction account of how two men created the World’s Fair of 1893 in Chicago. A lesson here – don’t buy a book when you’re in a desperate hurry.

Contested Will by James Shapiro: Also acquired in 2011, this time as a birthday gift I think. Shapiro revisits the debate about who wrote the plays attributed to William Shakespeare, assessing the various conspiracy theories and the list of people variously named as the real author. It’s a follow up to his book 1599 which  is a very readable study of a decisive year in the playwright’s life.

American Pastoral by Philip Roth: yes I know this is considered to be one of the ‘great American novels’ but I’ve not read it. Come to think of it I don’t believe I’ve read anything by Roth. Looks like I bought it in 1998 presumably after I’d seen a lot of commentary about it since it was published the previous year.

Armadale by Wilkie Collins. My copy is a second hand edition that came into my house after September 2000. I know this because it has a message (with a date) on the flyleaf which makes it clear this  was a birthday gift for someone called Cath. I’ve read all the major novels by Collins and a few of the minor ones (sad to say he wrote some duds) – this one seems to have divided opinions. T.S Eliot said it was melodrama and nothing more but other critics have found

a monster calls-1A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness. This was given to me as a Christmas gift in 2011, the year it was published. I’d read an interview with the illustrator in which he explained how he approached the tricky task of depicting a monster without scaring the hell out of young readers. The examples accompanying the article were superb so I wanted the book just for that reason.

Ethan Frome  by Edith Wharton. This is a slim novella so I don’t even have the excuse that it’s a chunky book.

George Eliot , The Last Victorian by Kathryn Hughes: this is a hard-backed copy that came from a sale at my local library. It’s largely a biography but also includes some analysis of her major works.

The Comedians by Graham Greene. One of the few Greene novels I haven’t read.

And the prize for the oldest of them goes to….

A Room of One’s Own by Virginia Woolf.  How could I have completed an English literature degree programme without having read this landmark text? Wouldn’t you have thought it would be required reading especially since Woolf was one of the authors we studied? Maybe that tells you something about the nature of literature studies in the 1970s?? I bought a copy anyway, put it in a prominent place on a shelf in my college room so I could impress my visitors. And on a shelf it has stayed all these years.

BookerTalk

What do you need to know about me? 1. I'm from Wales which is one of the countries in the UK and must never be confused with England. 2. My life has always revolved around the written and spoken word. I worked as a journalist for nine years then in international corporate communications 3. My tastes in books are eclectic. I love realism and hate science fiction and science fantasy. 4. I am trying to broaden my reading horizons geographically by reading more books in translation

59 thoughts on “10 books growing old on my ‘to read’ list

  • May 27, 2017 at 1:45 am
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    Grossness Trigger Alert: Riddle of the Sands was highly recommended to me, but one of my cats daintily threw up on it. I cleaned and disinfected it but have never gone near it again. So, really, I’d better throw it out.

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    • May 28, 2017 at 11:57 am
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      Ugh yes I think you have been given a sign that this is not a book you will enjoy reading 🙂

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  • May 26, 2017 at 9:38 pm
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    My oldest unread book (that I fully intend to read) is a biography of the Mitford sisters. I’ve had it on my shelf for 20 years I’d say!

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    • May 28, 2017 at 11:57 am
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      Biographies do tend to linger on mine too -really I should stop buying them

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      • May 28, 2017 at 1:43 pm
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        I have stopped buying them. I still do for memoirs but a traditional biography, no.

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  • May 26, 2017 at 4:48 pm
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    I like this post (and the comments) – it makes me feel better about my own endless list of books waiting to be read. The worst are the ones I’ve bought or have been given to me as gifts. Oh, the guilt!

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    • May 28, 2017 at 11:58 am
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      The books I received as un-requested gifts I dont feel too guilty about, but if i made a point of asking for a book and then I dont read it I do feel bad about

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  • May 25, 2017 at 4:12 pm
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    According to Goodreads, the oldest books on my shelves that I have yet to read were a 2001 Christmas present: the Arrows trilogy by Mercedes Lackey. For shame!! I remember I really wanted them, too!

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    • May 25, 2017 at 6:02 pm
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      im guilty of that too – so many books on my shelves that I requested as gifts but have not even been opened

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      • May 25, 2017 at 7:55 pm
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        I think it happened because I wanted TWO trilogies and I got both. I read one and loved it; however, the other trilogy, which was published later, had a character from the first trilogy who had died. I then convinced myself in a fit of anger that I read them in the wrong order and didn’t pick them up again!

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  • May 24, 2017 at 10:48 pm
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    also still planing one day to read Devil in the White City!
    I started to read A Room of One’s Own in English and French as a translating exercise, I need to get back to it!

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  • May 24, 2017 at 9:08 pm
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    I loved The Devil in the White City and I finally picked up A Monster Calls after many years on my to-read list and I’m so glad I did – it was nothing I had expected. A Room of One’s Own is wonderful.
    Rebecca @ The Portsmouth Review

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    • May 24, 2017 at 9:42 pm
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      Thanks Rebecca – so many people telling me how wonderful A Monster Calls is ….

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  • May 24, 2017 at 5:10 pm
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    Snap! I bought a new copy of American Pastoral ages ago and see it everyday on my mantelpiece-cum-bookshelf. I don’t know why but after it initially grabbed me in Waterstones, it’s not managed to again, so far…

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  • May 24, 2017 at 3:35 pm
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    Ditto- Riddle of the Sands- snoresville, and as an English grad too just don’t get me started on Woolf… never again…

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    • May 24, 2017 at 8:12 pm
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      A podcast I listen to called Backlisted had an episode which said it started slow but got much better. Seems they were mistaken

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  • May 24, 2017 at 2:24 pm
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    Interesting list and interesting reading all the responses. I read The Riddle of the Sands yonks ago and remember really liking it!

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    • May 24, 2017 at 8:14 pm
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      well it seems you are a lone voice for Riddle of the Sands

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  • May 24, 2017 at 12:55 pm
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    So many books to read! I would highly recommend A Monster calls. It is fast paced and you will finish it in a couple of hours. The illustrated version is the best

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  • May 24, 2017 at 11:14 am
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    Devil in the White City has been gathering dust on my bookshelf as well. However I do highly recommend picking up A Room of One’s Own! I believe that the oldest unread book on my shelf is either Madame Bovary (purchased in college) or a collection of Faulkner giving to me as a gift ages ago.

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      • May 25, 2017 at 8:04 am
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        Me too. And although I have only read one of Woolf’s works so far (Mrs Dalloway) I was so entranced by it that I will definitely get onto A Room of One’s Own sooner or later. Don’t you find that books you couldn’t get on with in younger years find their appeal later in life – and vice versa?

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        • May 25, 2017 at 10:50 am
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          Absolutely Jenny – when I was young I never understood why people said Jane Austen was so witty. But now I love that aspect of her work

  • May 24, 2017 at 10:59 am
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    A room of one’s own, and Ethan Frome, both short and both very well worth reading for different reasons.

    I bought The devil in the white city for my Kindle recently because I remember when an online bookgroup read it years and years ago and it was very well received. It keeps popping up as a much liked non-fiction work. I have read his Isaac’s storm about the big hurricane in Galveston. It is a really excellently written story of that event.

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    • May 24, 2017 at 8:18 pm
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      I think i’d have to have an interest in the subject for me to read this now – can’t say that knowing how a world fair came about is exactly high on my agenda

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      • May 24, 2017 at 11:30 pm
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        Ah I think I’m different. I’m intrigued by things so left field to my interests, particularly if what the book is really about is social history (ie attitudes and values of the time) and human behaviour, and this is I think Larson’s interest.

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  • May 24, 2017 at 9:53 am
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    Do not bother with Riddle of the Sands – it is awful, and the detailed descriptions of sailing minutiae just keep on coming.

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    • May 24, 2017 at 10:32 am
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      Putting it in the bag for the charity shop right away based on your comment 🙂

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      • May 25, 2017 at 8:44 pm
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        A first for me, persuading someone not to read a novel.

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    • May 25, 2017 at 8:00 am
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      My cousin recommended Riddle of the Sands. I started reading it a few days ago and I am persevering in the hope that we can get beyond the boat stuff. It is set in a region of Germany that I am interested in, and I think that sometimes you have to read something that stretches you a little. And it’s quite short!

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      • May 25, 2017 at 10:51 am
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        You might want to listen to the discussion about this book on the Backlisted Podcast….

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  • May 24, 2017 at 9:35 am
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    A Room of One’s Own and A Monster Calls are excellent and quite different from what you might expect from just looking at the covers or reading about them.

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    • May 24, 2017 at 10:33 am
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      I’ve dipped into Room of One’s Own periodically and liked what I saw so its just a case of getting down to it

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  • May 24, 2017 at 8:30 am
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    Great idea for a post! I’d recommend A Room of One’s Own and skimmed Devil in the White City for work which didn’t make the grade for me. Time for a trip to the charity shop?

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    • May 24, 2017 at 10:34 am
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      I seem to be living in the charity shop these days – how can two people accumulate so much stuff???

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  • May 24, 2017 at 8:07 am
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    May I suggest a bulk donation to your favourite charity book-sale? One’s reading tastes change over time. Some of your list strike me as “should read” or “worthy reads”. These two categories seldom yield enjoyment or surprises in my experience.

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    • May 24, 2017 at 10:35 am
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      I have a bag where I put all the books for donation or that I plan to take to the book crossing zone. I’m learning to get more ruthless….

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      • May 24, 2017 at 2:28 pm
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        I love the idea of book crossing zones, but we don’t have them here. Or if we do, I haven’t located them as yet.

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  • May 24, 2017 at 7:13 am
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    I have lots of ancient books so I smiled when I saw your post. I read Armadale many years ago- I don’t remember that much about it but I know I found it compelling. I really loved Ethan Frome it is quite sad but beautiful. I also really loved A Room of One’s Own – I found it more relevant than I had expected.

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    • May 24, 2017 at 10:36 am
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      i cant imagine how many books you have Ali – but then you read much more quickly than I do. thanks for those insights on Collins, Wharton and Woolf

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  • May 24, 2017 at 2:05 am
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    American Pastoral and Devil in the White City have been gathering dust on my shelves for years and years, too. They’re both books it seems I “should” read, but I’ve never felt at all compelled to do it. If I can stick my nose in, though, I really do have to highly (highly) recommend A Monster Calls. It’s a stunning experience. I’m also a huge fan of Virginia Woolf, and A Room of One’s Own is one of my favorites from her oeuvre. I have three degrees in English and was only ever required to read one Woolf text (this one wasn’t it). I wish we would have done more, in any of those three programs; she’s now a personal favorite, so the experience of reading her in an academic setting would have been nice.

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    • May 24, 2017 at 10:37 am
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      I can understand how you might have skipped Woolf in one degree program but three is going it somewhat…. though I suppose if none of them was 19th/20th century literature maybe that is understandable.

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  • May 24, 2017 at 12:39 am
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    A Room of One’s Own, definitely top of the list.
    BTW I read Woolf at uni in the 1980s, along with other modernist texts. A Room of One’s Own isn’t modernism, so it wouldn’t have suited the agenda.

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    • May 24, 2017 at 10:39 am
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      there are a lot of people rooting for Woolf in here so I suppose I should get on and read her soon

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      • May 25, 2017 at 5:09 am
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        It’s not very long. Actually, I ‘read’ it the first time as an audio book, alas, before I kept a reading journal so I don’t know who the narrator was, but I can still hear the voice in my head, telling me to stand firm.

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  • May 23, 2017 at 10:50 pm
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    What a combination! I, too, have books on my shelves which I bought in university (even a few books from childhood which I never read – classics) and I’ve been trying to gradually read through them (or send them to live with a more appropriately adoring reader) and it’s a huge project. However, so far, they’ve all been very good. Which is an added incentive to continue. At least Woolf is only a matter of a couple of hours!

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    • May 24, 2017 at 10:41 am
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      Im tying to think whether I have any of my childhood books but sadly they all seem to have disappeared over the years.

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  • May 23, 2017 at 10:34 pm
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    Do read A Room of One’s Own—it’s so short and such a call to arms, even now.

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  • May 23, 2017 at 9:38 pm
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    I strongly advise you to bump it up your readlist all the way to the top and read A Monster Calls 😉. It’s so touching in the end, I loved it!

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    • May 23, 2017 at 9:54 pm
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      Will do – I’ve recommended it to someone else so i’d better read it before they do 🙂

      Reply

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