10 Super Popular Books I’ve Never Read
I’ve mentioned before that I’m not one of those people dissuaded by popularity. If something is getting a ton of hype, it makes me want to read something more, not less. That said, sometimes you just miss the boat on books that everyone else really loves, whether it’s one you just haven’t gotten around to or doesn’t appeal to you for some reason. These are ten books that I haven’t read for a wide variety of reasons: 
- The Handmaid’s Tale. How have I never read this one? It’s such a staple of modern literature and yet, somehow I’ve never gotten around to it. Hulu is releasing an original series of this story this month, so now is probably the ideal time for me to finally listen to it, especially since Audible just released an exclusive edition narrated by Claire Danes (who will always be Beth from Little Women to me).
- Gone Girl. I actually checked out the CD version of this from my library (back in the dark ages when I used audio CDs) as this started getting more and more popular. I happened to mention it on Twitter and three different librarian friends of mine from grad school responded almost immediately telling me, “I’m pretty sure you won’t like this book.” So I didn’t even bother.
- The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time. I mentioned on my Instagram Stories last week that when I’ve heard tons about a book and been exposed to it so many times, sometimes it’s like my brain almost categorizes it as something I’ve read and from then on, I just pass over it, because it’s lost any sense of novelty for me. This is one of those books. I’m probably just never going to read it.
- Life of Pi. I have to admit that one of my random reading quirks is that most ocean-related or boat-related books do not appeal to me. (Just one more reason I’ve never read Moby Dick). So a book that takes place, as far as I understand, almost entirely on a tiny raft in the middle of the ocean? Pass.
- The Devil in the White City. I really DO intend to read this one (or at least something by Erik Larson). I love a good non-fiction book and everyone raves about this one, but it’s just never quite floated to the top of my to-read list.
- The Poisonwood Bible. I know. How have I never read this one? I know that many people consider this their favorite book and I WOULD like to read it someday, but I have to admit that I was kind of turned off to Barbara Kingsolver after I read The Bean Trees in high school, and so I’ve never picked this one up. Although I DID love her book Animal, Vegetable, Miracle which was one of my most memorable audiobooks during my commute back and forth to my school libraries in Boston.
- The Lovely Bones. This one sounds fascinating, but . . . also creepy and I am a wimp. And that’s all I’ll say about that.
- The Kite Runner. I cannot tell you how many times I’ve checked this out from the library (and in fact, now that I’m writing this, I’m pretty sure my mom gave me her copy and it’s sitting on one of my many bookshelves, so I don’t even have an excuse!) but I’ve never even cracked the cover.
- Ready Player One. This one I actually did listen to the first 30 minutes or so of (on double-speed, so actually an hour worth of material), and it did nothing for me. Since then, I’ve heard so many people rave endlessly about this book, but I just can’t convince myself to pick it back up.
- A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius. I don’t have an actual clue what this book is even about. Which may be part of the reason I haven’t read it.
For the ones I do intend to read (ahem, not Life of Pi), audio books are the best way for me to get through them, since I can listen while I’m folding laundry or going for a run. And nobody has a better collection of audio books than Audible. You can sign up for a free 30-day trial and download any one of the titles from their enormous collection and check one book off your to-read list. I’d love to hear what books everyone else loved that you haven’t read (and why!).
Photos by Grace + Vine
I’ve been meaning to read The Kite Runner for YEARS. I finally bought ut a few months back adn it’s still untouched. Maybe one day …
Steph – http://www.nourishmeblog.co.uk
I am so behind in the book reading department. I feel like I just don’t have time ’cause when I open a book usually reading consumes me and I can’t just leave my kids to themselves….Anyway, I haven’t read any of these and probably feel similarly on a lot of them. I thought of Unbroken when you said
books in the ocean don’t interest you. Though partly in the water, it is such an amazing read, right?!
I haven’t read any of those either! I do plan to read The Handmaid’s Tale at some point, and perhaps The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time, but none of the rest of them really appeal to me so I’ll bypass those for any of the others on my terrifyingly long wish list that do interest me. Great post!
You are not missing a thing by skipping The Lovely Bones. I thought it was terrible, and not because it was disturbing. I didn’t end up finishing it and I find myself grimacing whenever it is mentioned.
I loved Gone Girl as a book, but it’s graphic enough (in all kinds of ways–language, sex, murder scenes) that I didn’t want to see the movie. But seriously, a really engaging read.
A story for you about The Lovely Bones. 🙂
I picked this up around Halloween back in 2011, I think. I figured it would be a good, spooky read. A friend had told me that I could just skip over the pages describing the rape if it made me uncomfortable and the rest was so great. Um…no. I hated it. Every stinkin’ page of it. And yet, I felt that somewhere in the book, justice would be served and the family would have some sort of redemptive moment so I kept reading to the last page. It was so, so bad. I was happy to be rid of it when I returned it to the library.
Unfortunately, that’s not the end. A few weeks later my library account was frozen. I went to the front desk to see why and apparently I had returned The Lovely Bones damaged. What?!?! I don’t remember chucking it too hard into the book return even though I wanted to. Ugh. They showed me the copy and it had water damage on some of the pages. It was never wet in my possession, but maybe there was a water bottle in the return? Who knows. In the end, after talking to several librarians within the hierarchy of my library, I had to pay for the book to unfreeze my account. So I guess I technically owned a copy of that horrible book, although I never took it back. I told them to just toss it in the trash.
I really, really hate that book.
I have never read the Twilight books and just this past year read the Harry Potter books. I think I avoided them becaise my sister liked them so much. They were “her books.” But I loved reading Harry and not having to wait for the next book release, so that’s a plus, even if I was kind of an idiot.
The Lovely Bones was so well written. I still can’t figure out why I read it because I normally don’t read things like that. At ALL. Loved The Life of Pi, but it was hard to get in to. Kite Runner was hard to read but life changing.
Man, I think I’ve only read like twelve books in the last ten years, I am kind of excited that I had read some on this list. Ha ha.
I’ve only read two of those: Gone Girl (you were probably right to skip) and Ready Player One (one of many I’ve read lately trying to find books for my husband, and he loved it!).
I’ve never read Twilight or 50 Shades of Grey. Recently I’ve heard a lot about Hillbilly Elegy and Lincoln in the Bardo, neither of which I have plans to read. The other 8 on your list… I’m sure there are more!
I think the appreciation of a book depends somewhat on where you are in your life. I read The Handmaid’s Tale ~20 years ago. I was young and without much life experience. It was such an impressionable read at that time. I should read it again and see if I love it as much as I did back then. Now, that I’ve had children, I can’t handle anything with abuse/violence/etc. so I really didn’t enjoy The Kite Runner or The Lovely Bones. I would much rather read something else. I’ve actually found that since I’ve had my kids, I’m tending to read more non-fiction. Light and fluffy is where I’m at! Happy reading!
I’ve read Gone Girl and it was quite a good story but just far too much swearing for me. Really doesn’t add anything! Tried Life of Pi, couldn’t get into it. Read Poisonwood Bible years ago and thought it was excellent.
Just my opinion on a few of them:
*I didn’t like The Poisonwood Bible, but I did like The Bean Trees, so maybe you’d like the first since you didn’t like the second.
*I’m a wimp, too, but I did actually appreciate The Lovely Bones. Though I am a big re-reader and have never read it again, so I’m not pushing it or anything.
Have you read A Man Called Ove? I had been mildly avoiding it, just because everyone was recommending it (I can be contrary that way), but when my mother told me I would like it, I tried it, and she was right!
Your friend is probably right about Gone a Girl. I started reading it because of all the hype and put it down a chapter in because of terrible language. I was so curious about why it was so popular, so I read a synopsis online and had nightmares for about a week.
Kite Runner…..when I was teaching at the high school, a teacher friend across the hall loved this book and taught it to her freshman class each year. I started reading it and was honestly so traumatized by a scene from the book (didn’t finish it obviously) that sometimes, 7 years later, I will think about it and want to cry and scream at the same time.
I’m totally with you on Kite Runner. I made the mistake of actually finishing the book, and even now, all these years later, just hearing the name of the book makes me think of the torture scenes and child rape scenes and I want to either vomit or curl into a ball and weep. To me, the merits of Good Books like that don’t outweigh the emotional trauma that will always stick in my mind.
I honestly think The Kite Runner and Devil in the White City are two of my least favorite books ever, but I enjoyed Life of Pi and loved Gone Girl. I can’t really remember The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime, so that probably means it was just meh. I read The Handmaid’s Tale a couple months ago. Not earth shattering but interesting. I want to watch the show because I’d love to see where they go with it.
I love reading all the different comments. It highlights how personal reading is. I want to throw my opinions in as well:
— I personally loved Gone Girl. Such a fun mystery thriller.
–Lovely Bones was hard for me because of the child victim.
–If your only reason for skipping Life of Pi is the boat, you should try it. It isn’t like Moby Dick.
–A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius was really great. It really was touching and poetic. My only complaint is there is a very long and boring part about the Real World.
–I am watching Handmaid’s Tale on Hulu and I think I’ll read the book. It is inarguably very distressing and dystopian but my husband pointed out that it provides a really interesting perspective on real-life experiences of women in countries like Afghanistan.
— I started Ready Player One and couldn’t get into it either but I plan to go back and try again.
P.S. I want you to review Option B. I am half-way through and would be interested in your perspective.
The only one of these I’ve read is The Kite Runner; and while I remembering thinking it was a great book, I’ve never had any desire to pick it up again.
Unrelated to this post — have you read Stephanie Meyer’s new book? I’m curious to know if it’s worth reading or not!
Don’t read Lovely Bones under any circumstance. Like really. Life of Pi was good, but I didn’t find it essential reading. I don’t really think of it as a book about the sea though … is that weird? As for the others, I think the only one that absolutely deserves your attention is the Poisonwood Bible.
Poisonwood Bible is a book I think about on at least a weekly basis… although I haven’t read it for at least 10 years. (It’s time, isn’t it?) I think it’s worth it.
I had a really hard time getting into “Ove,” but once I did, I laughed and cried and was forever changed. It really took about 25-30% of the book to appreciate the voice.
Also didn’t love Life of Pi. Was definitely not forever changed.
[Now your “tell-me-what-to-read” yield “My Lady Jane,” on the other hand… I laughed my head off and am rushing to buy it.][Although I am not actually forever changed.]
At the very least, you need to watch Life of Pi. That movie is beautifully produced and so, so good. It’s a good story, if nothing else, but it’s almost three hours so put those babies to bed and get yourself a pint if ice cream. You can skip The Lovely Bones.
Staggering Genius is SO good. Though, I should warn you that I did bawl my eyes out a few times. Great story about siblings and sacrifice. I wasn’t a Dave Eggers fan until this one and then read What is the What- amazing!