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To be honest, unless you count a lot of old family books I inherited, I don't have that many.
1. On Walden Pond (Henry David Thoreau). A book of unknown, uncertain interest.
2. Most of Mark Twain’s works. These are some of the old family books; I’ve read a few, but by no means all.
3. King Arthur and His Knights (Sir James Knowles). I’ve read half of it. One of these days, I'll make it all the way through... as a fantasy fan, I'm ashamed of myself for never having read an Arthur legend from start to finish. I've also bought, started, and not finished Tennyson's Idylls of the King.
4. Evelina (Fanny Burney). Every now and then I remember that I own this book, but I'm always in the middle of something else.
5. Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell (Susanna Clarke). The first few pages of this book captured my attention in spectacular form. The next hundred completely lost it. I don't know whether I'll make it to the end or not.
6. Linnets and Valerians (Elizabeth Goudge). After loving The Little White Horse, I couldn't resist this recent find at a book sale. But I made the mistake of picking up Jonathan Strange first (see above).
7. Chaucer's Poetry. This was Lou’s purchase, and he only just bought it, but I’ve been meaning to read Chaucer forever. After taking three years to get through Dante for the first time, I'm a little afraid of Geoffrey.
8. Cowper's Poetical Works. Another old family book, one I've only flipped through.
9. Some of Lewis' nonfiction: The Abolition of Man, The Pilgrim's Regress, and a couple of others.
10. Lilith (George MacDonald). I keep getting distracted, but this is definitely on my to-read list.
What books are sitting unread on your shelves?
I'm not sure about Walden either. My hub has it in his bookshelf but so far I haven't had the urge to pick it up.
ReplyDeleteI've got so many books like this, it'd take several days if not weeks to list them. So, I'll confine myself to ones in common with your list. #'s 1, 2, 4, 7, & 10. Regarding Goudge, I still need to read The Little White Horse.
ReplyDeleteAs for #9, get busy! ;)
I cannot recommend strongly enough Thoreau's On Walden Pond, Jenna! I love it so much that I want one of the many wonderful quotations found in it inscribed on my headstone when I die:
ReplyDelete"I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived. I did not wish to live what was not life, living is so dear . . . ."
Well, that's a bit more erudite than what I want on my headstone, which is "Han shot first!" :)
ReplyDeleteGeorge, The Abolition of Man is one I've had in mind for a while... maybe when I finish the Confessions of St. Augustine. :)
ReplyDeleteAnd "Han shot first"--LOL!
Carrie-Ann, it's good to hear your thoughts about Walden! That quote is really beautiful. I bought the book with every intention of reading it. Now I just need to make time.
Trish and DomesticGoddess, thanks for stopping by!
I haven't heard any of the books in your list yet, but they sound great! Thank you so much for stopping by!! I hope you do pick the books up and read them soon!
ReplyDelete