Woulda Coulda Shoulda... Tried and Failed...Faked It

My book group met last week, and while we had differences of opinion on the book we met to discuss, I was enthralled, exhausted, mystified and downright jealous listening to the list of titles everyone had read since we were together last.  In fact, that happens to me each time we met.  My head spins listening and wondering - How?  I am an incredibly slow reader and so I have made rules for myself to simplify sorting and picking.  No books with dogs on the cover, no novels that begin with descriptions of weather, no series books, and generally, read around - try not to read too many books by the same author.  Still, I'm always behind.  In fact, I only made it though half a book last week, and it's a good one.

That frustration got me thinking about  all the books I haven't read and why. Here are my lists:

Woulda Coulda Shoulda

 1984...not my fault.  Some high school teacher should have forced this one on me.  As a sophomore, I was in an experimental English class for 9 weeks.  We read novels.  Of our choice.  We wrote down the number of pages we read each day.  Honor system. Then we got a A for the class and moved on.  I don't even recall if there was a teacher present, but I do know that the class was not taught again.

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer - thanks to William Kent Krueger for retelling this story for me in This Tender Land.

Ulysses - didn't read; I prefer Greek drama to narratives/epics poetry.  However, I caught up with the concept in The Little Paris Bookshop.  If you enjoy journey and searching stories and are up for some simple allegory, give this one a try.

Lolita - didn't  read that one but I did muscle through (and was horrified by) Dangerous Liaisons.  That balances things, right?

Speaking of trying - here's a short list of books I have...

  Tried and Failed

Anna Karenina - I know I attempted this one 18 times, because my tattered copy had 18 bookmarks inserted between pages 1 and 75.  That was enough.  I tossed it.

Clarissa - suggested reading in my History of the Novel class.  Written in 1748 and regarded as the longest English novel.  I needed a chart to keep all the characters straight. According to the list in one old college notebooks, I left off tallying at 41.

Lord of the Rings - nope to sci-fi and fantasy

Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - does seeing the movies count?  I know Basil Rathbone, Robert Downey, Jr, Jeremy Irons, Will Farrell, and Benedict Cumberbatch have all play Holmes.

Then there's the...

  Faked It list...

...most notably Julius Caesar and Richard III

Just dawned on me that I could have read thirty or so pages while I made this list of books I haven't read.  Maybe my problem isn't slow reading...hmmm...oh look, a squirrel.
What's on your list?

Thanks for stopping by.
Stay safe. Stay Healthy. Stay hpayy.