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 love a Handmaid’s Tale, it’s dark and dystopian but I love Atwood and the discussion that can come out of her work.
I loved the Kite Runner but I actually loved his second novel, A Thousand Splendid Suns even more, you can’t go wrong!
I won’t read Gone Girl or Lovely Bones, too creepy for me.
Life of Pi was ok but didn’t live up to my expectations.
I read the Poisoneood Bible for school and didn’t really like it, I keep hearing ppl rave about it though, so perhaps I should give it another chance, maybe it was the wrong time for me to read it.
Gone Girl…biggest piece of trash ever. So, so vulgar. I was stunned that it was the number 1 most recommended book by women the year it came out. I thought we all had more class and better taste than that. I know that makes me sound like a total snob. But the language was just absolutely horrendous and totally not necessary for the story. Crude, vulgar sexuality. Vile characters. It was just gross. I also thought it was pretty predictable despite what others have said. Psychotic, demented chatacters who play mind games with each other to the extreme. Bleck!!!
Lovely Bones is not worth wording in my opinion either.
I have never read Pride & Predjudice…gasp!! I adore the movies though. In fact, I have read nothing by Austen but love all of the films.
I have to weigh on on Poisonwood Bible… it is my favorite book of all time! I haven’t cared for any of Barbara Kingsolver’s other books, so I get that you were turned off by The Bean Trees, but you should definitely give Poisonwood Bible a chance!
Life of Pi is also a favorite of mine. I didn’t know a whole lot about the book going into it and was pleasantly surprised by the insight on different religions. It’s so much more than a boat story!
My best friend since I was 8 (she’s basically like my sister) sent me The Poisonwood Bible for my birthday 4 years ago because she loved it so much and we have very similar tastes. I tried so hard to get through it, and I couldn’t. I couldn’t tell her because I felt so bad. Then 2 years ago I had audible credits so I got it thinking it would be easier for me to get through it on audio. Again, I got a 1/3 through and quit. Maybe it was because of the season of life I was in when I started it, but it was so boring for me! I’m going to try again next year I think, who knows. You only do such things for people you really love 🙂 I was also put off by The Life of Pi. A boy and a tiger stuck on a boat? No thanks.
We read poisonwood bible for book club and everyone was glad they read it ultimately and it was a really really good discussion.
I loved life of pi. So fascinating and well write , especially better than the movie which was also incredible.
I loved ready player one and all the geekiness and thinking about how we are already so drawn into technology like the future portrayed.
Devil in the white city was so intriguing. The audio book was great. I listened with my hubby, we lived in Chicago and it was so fun to talk to him about the world fair and the creepy serial killer.
Gone girl and curious incident of the dog at night we’re fine but nothing to write home about. I’m not huge into thrillers and I am fortunate in that I don’t have much connection to the autism community for curious incident to resonate with me.
Highly recommend the Poisonwood Bible. I can see why you were turned off Kingsolver with Bean Trees.
Oh my goodness. I can never get back the hours I spent reading Life of Pi all those years ago. It was way before I gave myself permission to stop reading a book I didn’t like.
I hated the kite runner with all my heart and soul!! I don’t understand why it’s so popular. Don’t read it!!
I didn’t expect to like Life of Pi but ended up getting super into it. The whole first half of the book is all backstory and has nothing to do with the ocean. It talks a lot about how he learned about each of the major world religions. I really loved that part. The movie though…. Put me to sleep. The poisonwood Bible is my favorite book of all time but I also loved the bean trees. I haven’t loved all of kingsolvers books tho. And the kite runner really is good.
I enjoyed Gone Girl but have no interest in watching the movie. I had just finished reading it (and really enjoyed it) when my mom went to see the movie. She was bothered by how much sex and language was in the movie and I vividly remember telling her the book was great and not like that at all. Language doesn’t bother me in novels but sex does and I did not feel like Gone Girl was like that in any way. I also did not find it creepy and I get scared fairly easily.
As a mother, I would pass on The Lovely Bones. I read it and liked it okay but it had disturbing parts and I just don’t recommend mothers read it. I read it before I had children, thank goodness.
I haven’t read most of those, but I have read Poisonwood Bible and felt it was almost a retelling of Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe which I thought was a better book. So I didn’t like it and I’d wanted to. I’ve enjoyed reading the comments and agree with those who liked A Thousand Splendid Suns. It was tough in some places to get through, but not overwhelming. I read Thunderstruck by Erik Larson and really enjoyed that. I have Life of Pi in my book pile, but haven’t managed it either. Great thoughts though.