We all have those books that we want to read, but have been at the back of the bookshelf for some time, right? For me, these are the monstrous, judgemental and downright intimidating reads that take a lifetime (or at least for slow readers like me) to finish.
Here are my top five (I'll try to keep the Russian literature to a minimum):
1) Anna Karenina, Leo Tolstoy
I promised to keep it to a minimum, I didn't promise to omit all together! Aside from this being a whopping read of over 850 pages (again, I read slow so something like this would take me about two months to finish), I just can't seem to get into it. I have read the first few pages about a dozen times, and I always give up. I am pretty certain that I would love it if I stuck with it, but it's the forcing myself to commit which is the issue!
2) War and Peace, Leo Tolstoy
I haven't got anything against Tolstoy, promise. It's not his fault his books intimidate me - but seriously, have you seen the size of this one?! No more explaining is needed.
3) A Game of Thrones, George R. R Martin
I don't know what it is about this book that scares me so much. I think it's because there are six equally hefty books that follow on in the series, and so I am basically committing my entire year to it. Although I don't suppose that's a bad thing, I live for the TV show (seriously, it's great).
4) The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, Anne Bronte
This is such an irrational one. I couldn't really tell you what is stopping me from reading this book, but I do find it really intimidating. It's not even a long book compared to Jane Eyre, but every time I tell myself to start it, I end up giving up.
5) The Canterbury Tales, Geoffrey Chaucer
I love the thought of saying 'I'm reading Chaucer' - but I still can't seem to pluck up the courage to read this book. I mean, it was written in the Middle Ages. Can you blame me?
What are your most intimidating reads? Comment below.
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