Top Ten Intimidating Books

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.

This week's topic is: Top Ten Tuesday Rewind (meaning I get to pick a past TTT topic and post about it. I picked: Top Ten Most Intimidating Books

Some that I have read:
1.) Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand-I had this book on my shelf for 3 years before I finally read it all the way through. I don't know which intimidated me more, the length or Rand's philosophy.
2.) The Stand by Stephen King-I was nervous about this book because it was so long. I don't know why I was concerned because I loved this book. Even though it's long, it reads quick.
3.) War and Peace by Lev Tolstoy-I have read this book twice, once in English and once in Russian. It's intimidating because it's long and is the masterpiece of Russian literature but it is one of my all time favorites.
4.) The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkein-I don't love fantasy and I heard this book was a difficult read so it sat on my shelf a long time before I got the guts to read it. It was so worth it!

Some that I am still too chicken to read:
1.) The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett-I don't know why but this book really intimidates me. I love historical fiction but I haven't been able to pick this one up.
2.) Les Miserables by Victor Hugo-Have you seen how long this book is? I started reading it in high school and enjoyed it but never finished. I am hoping to get to it this fall.
3.) The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss-I have heard amazing things about this book but I think the length and the fact that it is fantasy have kind of scared me off. It's been on my nook for a year!
4.) Moby Dick by Herman Melville-I feel like I should read this but I have read such mixed reviews of it that I am kind of scared to pick it up.
5.) Ada or Ardor by Vladimir Nabokov-Ugh. I took a class on Nabokov in college and we read 5 of his books. This is one we didn't have time to read so I have owned it ever since. I didn't love any of Nabokov's work but feel like I should read it anyway. It intimidates me because I know how painful it is going to be.
6.) The Gulag Archipelago vol. 1-3 by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn- I received Volumes 1-3 of this book a few years ago and have yet to read them. Each volume is HUGE and full of sadness and despair. I feel like I am going to need to be in the right frame of mind for this one.

What books intimidate you? Leave me a link to your Top Ten Tuesday rewind so I can check it out!

Review and Giveaway: "Distant Signs" by Anne Richter

Synopsis: Distant Signs is an intimate portrait of two families spanning three generations amidst turbulent political change, behind and beyond the Berlin Wall. In 1960s East Germany, Margret, a professor’s daughter from the city, meets and marries Hans, from a small village in Thuringia. The couple struggle to contend with their different backgrounds, and the emotional scars they bear from childhood in the aftermath of war. As East German history gradually unravels, with collision of the personal and political, their two families’ hidden truths are quietly revealed. An exquisitely written novel with strongly etched characters that stay with you long after the book is finished and an authentic portrayal of family life behind the iron curtain based on personal experience of the author who is East German and was 16 years old at the fall of the Berlin Wall. Why do families repeat destructive patterns of behaviour across generations? Should the personal take precedence over

Mailbox Monday (49)

It's time for another Mailbox Monday post! Once again I could not resist the cheap ebooks that Amazon and Barnes and Noble were promoting this week. I really need to stop! I already have more than I can read. I also was able to spend a little time browsing at the library and I came home with a nice stack of books. These days, I hardly ever get to spend time at the library by myself for more than a minute or two so it was wonderful to have time to just wander and see what I could find. Purchased (for kindle): The Color of Secrets by Lindsay Ashford The One I Was by Eliza Graham House of Bathory by Linda Lafferty Purchased (for nook): One Night in Winter by Simon Sebag Montefiore Becoming Queen Victoria by Kate Williams From the Library: The Messenger by Daniel Silva The Ripper's Wife by Brandy Purdy Hotel Moscow by Talia Carner Brazen by Katherine Longshore What books did you get this week?

Mailbox Monday (78)

Happy Sunday everybody! September is over and I can hardly believe it. It seems as though the month has flown by. Now I'm excited for fall and all of the upcoming holidays. October is the start of my favorite time of year and I'm hoping there will be plenty of room for reading in between all of the upcoming events. I requested some new holiday books from the library and had no idea all of my holds would come in at once so I need to get moving on these. I'm really excited to dig into some sweet, fluffy reads and these will do just the trick. From the Library: A Snow Country Christmas by Linda Lael Miller This is the fourth book in a series that I really enjoyed so I'm eager to get started on it. Holly and Ivy by Fern Michaels The Christmas Room by Catherine Anderson I was so intrigued by the cover on this one that I had to pick it up. For Review (from NetGalley): I Was Anastasia by Ariel Lawhon I really need to st

PriyaJune 5, 2012 at 6:59 AM
I read Atlas Shrugged years ago, and at that time, it was the biggest book I had read. I was genuinely shocked, when I managed to finish it. I know what you mean about The Stand, I read it pretty quickly, it didn't seem as long once I started reading it. I still haven't read War and Peace, though I really want to. I took me a month to finish Anna Karenina and I'm just waiting for another month of nothing-to-do, so that I can read War and Peace! Great list!
AnneJune 5, 2012 at 7:31 AM
I still have not read War and Peace or Atlas Shrugged, the length of these books is keeping me from reading them. I finally got through The Pillars of the Earth last year and I am glad I did, it was a good book.
JenniferJune 5, 2012 at 10:40 AM
I keep meaning to read Pillars of the Earth and The Stand, but the length slightly terrifies me. Love Fellowship of the Ring and Les Mis!

Jennifer @ Feminist Fairy Tale Reviews
http://feministfairytalereviews.blogspot.com/2012/06/top-ten-tuesday-26-love-stories.html
MichelleJune 5, 2012 at 1:17 PM
Cool topic choice!! I never finished The Stand.... it is pretty intimidating!

I did Childhood Fav's
AnonymousJune 5, 2012 at 2:07 PM
I agree with Les Miserables! I want to read that book, but the size is daunting.
Top Ten Tuesday
AngelaJune 6, 2012 at 9:13 AM
War and Peace indimidates me too :)
ShoshanahJune 9, 2012 at 10:07 PM
I actually read Les Miserables in high school and loved our. Our history teach was actually giving us extra credit for reading a book that took place in the time period we were studying, so I started reading it while we were studying the French revolution. Of course I didn't finish it until we were onto the next unit, or maybe even two units later. At first she didn't want to give me the extra credit, but when I complained saying how long it was and that I actually started while we were studying the revolution she relented.
Ru.November 24, 2012 at 6:01 AM
Pls dont bother to read The Name of the wind, it was such waste of time!
How is the Stand?

So Many Books, So Little Time

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