Catching up on Classics (and lots more!) discussion

I hesitated on this question, but here I go anyway!! I do not mean politics or religion. I am not thinking of moral objections. I am thinking along the lines of books that you have no objections to, but you simply don't pick it up. Why?

I am going to start by thinking about the book Foundation by Isaac Asimov. I love Science Fiction and Asimov, and I even bought this book. I have not started it. Why? Some series are an immense investment. Do I have room for another universe-spanning empire? I loved Dune and read seven books. I read Harry Potter. Each one of these books requires learning about an entire new world of people, rules, etc. Sometimes I just don't have the mental energy for all of that.

On the other hand, once I have invested the time and energy I really want to continue with the characters in a series.

So there are some wonderful books that I own, but I just don't have the energy to read now.

I'm don't find myself holding off on series because I can break those up over months or years, but I do find myself delaying any single books in the 600+ page range. Anything over 600 pages is a huge time commitment for me with my job and all my other obligations. Generally, I'd rather read one of the many great shorter books out there. But occasionally, I can sneak one of those chunksters in. Books close to 1,000 pages will sit on my shelf a very long time, usually years, before I get around to them.

Greg wrote: "I'm don't find myself holding off on series because I can break those up over months or years, but I do find myself delaying any single books in the 600+ page range. Anything over 600 pages is a hu..."

I agree on that as well Greg. I really do want to read Lonesome Dove , but you know.

Sometimes I just can't fit it into my reading schedule and I find that overcommitting means I read less overall because I get overwhelmed. Sometimes I'm just not in the mood/headspace for a book even if it would normally be my cup (if I'm in the mood for something emotionally poignant, I'm not going to pick up something terrifying; if I'm in the mood for something intellectually stimulating, I'm not going to pick up something fluffy and distracting; and vice versa and so on). Sometimes it's a matter of it being A vs B and A just sounds better right now, no slight against B that's just how it worked out.

Honestly, I also try to know my own tastes well. I like to go outside my comfort zone, but there are some things I can just tell won't be to my taste, and I'll put off reading it indefinitely unless I learn something about the book that makes me think I may have misjudged it or that my tastes have shifted since I last considered reading it. There are so so so many things out there that I want to read that I just don't feel like it's worth lingering over things I really don't have that interest in.

Another thing I find myself hesitating on is children's books. I love them, but since I just retired a month ago, I find I want to read other types of books for a while.

I hesitate at times to pick up a second book by an author if I seriously disliked the first book that I read. I don't assume I will like every book an author writes, but as I get older I am looking more for quality than I used to so I am less likely to give an author a second chance if the first book was bad.

Lynn wrote: "I hesitated on this question, but here I go anyway!! I do not mean politics or religion. I am not thinking of moral objections. I am thinking along the lines of books that you have no objections to..."

My reasons in a nutshell. We have so much in common :) Or not :)

I agree wholeheartedly about the time commitment angle to why I do not take up a book I've owned and want to read. I agree about Lonesome Dove. I've had it for a few years but would like to pick a suitable time when I know I can make some good progress on it. I think sometimes I just have a certain genre I want to read, and maybe that book (while I do want to read it at some point) just doesn't fit into my reading mood at that particular time.

Most of the time, it's my lunkheadedness that has me not reading a book. Winter's Tale, Les Misérables, Don Quixote: The Ingenious Gentleman of La Mancha, The Count of Monte Cristo, and The Three Musketeers sat on my books shelves for 30+ years before I read them (all have made my favorites shelf).

Other than that, it's mostly genre that will make me decline to read a book.

And cats. I will decline to read a book that prominently features cats in the story, the blurb or on the cover. I'm a dog person. (A very traumatic and painful experience with our family cat growing up sealed my fate on this issue,)

Lynn wrote: "... I do not mean politics or religion. I am not thinking of moral objections...."

I would love to read that discussion. I have discovered how much thinking material there is in books written from an extremely different perspective.

I understand why you exclude them. Maybe we could start with religion and moral and it that goes well, go on to politics some other month?

Or maybe simply exclude US specifics?

What are sensitive matters depend very much on country. We Danes love to talk politics and it is commonly considered a “safe conversation topic”. For example at a lunch party on Sunday we discussed both the EU election and a debate that was shown in television recently.

On the other hand in Denmark religion normally not something you talk about with strangers.

I tend to avoid:

1) Series that are not finished: I started out A wheel of Time (first book: The Eye of the World) and read the first 11 volumes the later 5-ish as they where published. Then the author died.

Brandon Sanderson finished the series, but years had passed and there are a load of details to keep track of. I never read the last 3 volumes. Some day i might read the whole series again. But.... 14 volumes of 600-1000 pages....

I burned my fingers there. Not doing it again.

2) Laurie wrote: "I hesitate at times to pick up a second book by an author if I seriously disliked the first book that I read. ..."

Exactly. I have made one exception I can think of: Charles Dickens.

3) Books that are extremely likely to become group reads. I rather wait for the group read. For instance Michel de Montaigne.

J_BlueFlower wrote: "Lynn wrote: "... I do not mean politics or religion. I am not thinking of moral objections...."

I would love to read that discussion. I have discovered how much thinking material there is in books..."

The reason I joined Goodreads and love reading in general is to escape from politics and the absolute nonsense and the world in general. So, I always avoid any author who pushes this.

Thinking about it: Jane Austen and any England 1800-1890. I am a bit overfed with that world-view. (I did already read Pride and Prejudice and Northanger Abbey).

Some of the reasons already mentioned would certainly apply to me, but sometimes I have a hard time knowing why I pushed a particular book aside and picked up the one next to it. I did this repeatedly with Corrag and when I finally did read it, it went immediately to my all-time favorites list. I had heard wonderful things about it, I bought it (so I wanted to read it), and yet I hesitated. I wonder if the name just didn't appeal?

I do tend to alter my plans if a book on my list comes up for a group or buddy read. It is always so good to have other intelligent opinions and views.

Sara wrote: "I do tend to alter my plans if a book on my list comes up for a group or buddy read. It is always so good to have other intelligent opinions and views."

Yes, lately I do find myself guided a lot by what comes up as group reads and buddy reads! If a book comes up as a book read that I haven't read before, and if that book looks interesting to me, I'll usually join in. Probably 75% or more of the books I read are group reads or buddy reads.

The only problem I have is that I've already read a lot of the group reads that come up, and although I re-read often, I try to hold it to one re-read a month and keep the rest of my reads as fresh experiences.

While my family wonders about the merits of doing so, I can usually push through books that I don't really like. So far I have only declined to read a suggested book if I have tried it before and failed to finish. I guess I should qualify that a bit more. Like Greg, I rarely re-read; there are just too many books that I haven't read.

J_BlueFlower wrote: "Lynn wrote: "... I do not mean politics or religion. I am not thinking of moral objections...."

I would love to read that discussion. I have discovered how much thinking material there is in books..."

I love that perspective on being able to talk about politics. I remember those sort of civil, interesting discussions in the past, that focused more on theory than personal insults. I think you are right that perhaps the Europeans are better at having that sort of conversation now than is the case in my country.

I was particularly thinking this month though about how my life is shifting and I was surprised that my book choices are being influenced. Being retired, it may be a long while before I read a children's book. Also, I always had a sense of needing to "budget" my time which influenced my book choices. I must continually remind myself now that it is alright to take on more time-consuming projects.

Other people might find themselves, due to having children or grandchildren, suddenly discovering the world of children's books for instance.

Franky I understand your view that books can be a safe haven from things happening in our culture. Non-stop news events can wear me down, and I need to turn off the media sometimes.

This is a good conversation thread. Besides, graphic sexual content and more cursing than is a page can handle, I think I don't pick up certain books because I just don't read that particular genre. I am not a mystery reader or a science fiction reader. I can be persuaded if a book buddy wants to read a book together, but I probably won't be that into the book. I tried one science fiction book with a friend. I survived, but I did not want to read the sequel.

Overall GR ratings don't mean much to me, but I confess to being swayed by reviews of my GR friends and those I follow. I followed and friended them because we have similar tastes, so I trust them.
If they didn't like it, I'm not going to. Probably.

As far as why I end up not reading books I know I want to read, I think my most common reason is I can't find it in a print version. I do end up reading electronic and audio books, but print is my overwhelming preference.

Another is when it's over-hyped. There are new books I'm really interested in, then get tired of hearing about, and have to wait until everyone has forgotten about it in order to really enjoy it.

But I do also notice that I have a tendency to put off any book that is not due soon at the library ...

I think there's two reasons, generally, that I won't pick up a book.

1) I'm not interested in reading it due to content, subject matter, or genre. This includes books that I might find offensive, but also includes books that just generally don't carry much appeal to me. Examples, as mentioned above:
- authors I have tried and not liked
- genres that don't interest me (childrens' books, chick lit, romance, spirituality, and probably a bunch more)
- topics that don't interest me (my mom reads a lot of quilting books whereas I'd rather stick needles in my eyes)
- memoirs just don't do it for me, sorry - I'm sure someone had a fascinating life but you know what? So did I. And I'm not going to bore someone with a 500-page self-indulgent book about myself. I made an exception for the audio version of Matthew Perry's story after he died and I was glad I did but it's just not going to change my mind about the topic.

2) I want to read it but it just frankly intimidates me. Usually this might be due to length, but it could also be a notoriously difficult book to read. I would also include starting a new series, especially an UNFINISHED series (and I am looking at you here, George R.R. Martin), in this category if I feel like I am already reading a lot of series, which I always seem to be doing.

Interesting thread, I feel compelled to comment.

I may be weird in this regard, but…..sometimes I don’t pick up books that I think I will like because I don’t want to lose the feeling of reading a book for the first time. I don’t even know if that makes sense. An example - in college I read Catch-22 for the first time. I have such fond memories of reading that in the student union building and laughing out loud. I loved that book. On a second reading I still loved it, but it didn’t carry the same feeling it did the 1st time.


In my twisted way I think it’s better to not read something than read it and lose the chance to read it for the 1st time.

I immediately think of Les Miserables, Gone with the Wind, The Three Muskateers.

Obviously they are bigger books too, but it’s more the feeling than the size that keeps me from picking them up.

Shawn wrote: "Interesting thread, I feel compelled to comment.

I may be weird in this regard, but…..sometimes I don’t pick up books that I think I will like because I don’t want to lose the feeling of reading ..."

@Shawn The feeling is quite common. You have good instincts. Your hunch about classics disappointing you the 2nd time around... it simply means that you will be able to detect the flaws on a reread. For you, the Emperor is in skimpy clothes. This means that you are quite intelligent, regardless of training in critical theory.

You just need to get books that don't rely on their glowing classic status.

Subject, writing style and it should be available in print. If I have read the book recently, that's also another reason for refusal. I don't like to re-read books, at least not in the same decade.

Luffy Sempai wrote: "Shawn wrote: "Interesting thread, I feel compelled to comment.

I may be weird in this regard, but…..sometimes I don’t pick up books that I think I will like because I don’t want to lose the feeli..."

Thank you for kind words and the succinct explanation. Much better stated than I did. I find myself doing this with all types of books, but often they are the classics. In the last few years I’ve really worked on overcoming this and picking those books up.


It’s still a work in progress but this group helps me with that!

The #1 thing that will keep me from reading a book is that it’s not available on audio. I occasionally make exceptions for graphic novels and other books that lean heavily on the print medium, but generally, I don’t read physical or electronic books. I listen to audio while commuting, doing chores, etc., and that’s my reading.

Otherwise, there’s the author. I’m usually willing to give an author a couple of tries. But if I’ve read two or three books from them and thought they were garbage (ahemJaneAusten), then obviously I’m not going back.

Certain genres will stop me. I’ll stretch myself here—I’ve read & enjoyed scifi, fantasy, etc., in spite of repeatedly stating that I don’t like those genres. But at this point, there are certain genres I’m not going to try again. I hate celebrity memoirs (used to think it was all memoirs, but I’ve discovered this distinction in the last year or so), I’ve given up on medical nonfiction, etc.

One thing that’s cleared some of my roadblocks has been the habit of reading multiple books simultaneously. At any given time, I’m consistently reading 6-12 books. I don’t find it hard to track, and it helps minimize the sense of commitment involved in starting a new book. I’m more willing to take on an iffy author or genre, because I know I’ll only be reading a chapter or two per day from them, mixed with other books that I’m already into. And I’m far more willing to take on a 1000-page book, because I know I can stretch it over 6 months or whatever, and I’ll read numerous other books in the meantime. Everything is just less of a liability.

Matt wrote: "Enjoying reading this thread. I thought of a few reasons for why I’d personally hold off on choosing a book to read.

I sometimes have a tough time picking up a book from an author whose books I h..."

Hi Matt, it was great to read your thoughts. I will be briefer, in case I turn into a caricature of a witch doctor here.

Here is the thing... "art is subjective" and its companion "you can't compare apples and oranges", were simple sayings that have been turned into ideologies. Powerful ones that rake in billions. Don't rely on pop culture telling you what to do with your precious free time. Hope that helps.

spoko wrote: "The #1 thing that will keep me from reading a book is that it’s not available on audio."

This won't prevent me from reading something, but it will certainly delay it . . . a whole lot.

I usually get both an audio and physical copy and listen to portions on my commute and read other portions with a physical copy at night. If there's a book not available on audio that is 500+ pages, I am unlikely to read it because it will take a month or two and absorb all my non-audio time. Between heavy job commitments and caregiving for my spouse, I just do not have huge stretches of non-audio time available for reading.

The exception is long plane flights. I usually try to bring some paperbacks unavailable on audio when I fly overseas so I can make full use of the plane time. Flying to Taiwan involves two 16 hour reading stretches.

My answer is: there are and will always be about 90 % or more of books published that I will never pick up. It simply is not possible, there are too many books out there, and the flood is rising what with mass-production and loads of authors out there seeking self-fulfilment and a livelihood besides.

That thought has been liberating for me: if it's not possible to read more than a fraction, and not even possible to know about more than a (somewhat larger) fraction, picking a book is sheer serendipity.

That said, I avoid current bestsellers. I generally avoid some genres: biography and autobiography, for instance; fantasy and SF with some specific and much loved exceptions. I avoid translations where I am able to read the original. There are authors I come to detest after one book - I would not touch a second one (Hesse and Houellebecq are prominent examples). And then I avoid, or put down after a few pages, badly written books (and, oh boy, how many there are! With: meagre vocabulary, simplistic syntax, forced metaphors as taught in creative writing courses, etc.).

Reasons I decline to read:
1. I have already read it and there are too many other books I want to read.
2. It is a genre that I don’t like that much. Fantasy and sci-fi lead this list, but horror, crime and spy novels follow. Genre is frequently a reason, but I do try to throw in something different from time to time.
3. It was written before 1850. I just haven’t loved these. There are notable exceptions.
4. It is not available, or not economically available, in a format I enjoy. I prefer physical books for serious reading, and tend to avoid Kindle formats.
5. It is not available as an audiobook when that is the slot I am trying to fill. I listen to books when I commute, and I am frequently looking for books that are in audio format, and are not too long, because lengthy audiobooks sometimes lose my interest.
6. The book is a chunkster when I am already committed to reading too much to fit it in. Sometimes, I will come back to it though. I am not opposed to reading 1000 pages — it just depends on what else I have in the lineup.
7. The book is too short when I crave something to sink into.
8. It’s a pop culture novel that just doesn’t sound appealing to me.

Terry wrote: "Reasons I decline to read:
1. I have already read it and there are too many other books I want to read.
2. It is a genre that I don’t like that much. Fantasy and sci-fi lead this list, but horror, ..."

My answer would look exactly like yours and in the same order!

Kimberly wrote: "Terry wrote: "Reasons I decline to read:
1. I have already read it and there are too many other books I want to read.
2. It is a genre that I don’t like that much. Fantasy and sci-fi lead this list...

My answer would look exactly like yours and in the same order!

"

With even all the stars (1 to 5) aligning! :)

I can completely agree with:

- no to celebrity memoirs (This made me giggle.) I would also throw into this group celebrity how-to, self-improvement books.
- no to starting new series unless I plan to finish - being a complete-ist.
- not economically available - I rarely purchase a book if there is a free or less expensive copy of something else vying for my time.

In short, I’m lazy. Classics/modern classics like The Bell Jar, And Then There Were None, Murder on the Orient Express, The Help, and No Longer Human were books I could finish in a single day or less than 24 hours because they were short or interesting/entertaining. Many other novels of their time appear boring, since many writers somehow managed to drone on about the same problems for hundreds of pages. It’s all about the topic(s), writing style, and pacing.

My reading appetite is like my love for food. Sometimes, I want a full blown meal, a lengthy, meaty, rich and dense novel. I won't even mind bones if the taste is worth the work. Other times, I don't need much. A short straight forward tale will do. So, I can't say 'never this' or that book. Even violence won't hold me back if like in Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye, it arises truly from the story and is beautifully rendered in its cruelty to pierce my heart.

Style. Or an unappealing cover.

Sometimes, I think, it comes of a hesitation to move out of one's comfort zone. If you only like vampire and fantasy literature (though this is old-fashioned stuff - Shakespeare had his witches and Mary W Shelley had her 'Frankenstein'), it's pretty hard to read Tolstoy or Proust.

An intellectual laziness, not a physical one, puts you off some books.

I always choose an author I have never read over an author I have read. So there are works by giants like Dostoevsky and others that keep getting pushed back because my Goodreads groups keep introducing me to books like Gentlemen Prefer Blondes or Hallucinating Foucault.

But to answer the question explicitly: If I were to live forever and could read every book ever published, probably the only books I would actually 'decline' to read would be those reveling in gore, and those with repeated descriptions of sadism and cruelty. I just can't read that stuff. Books with tortured logic are hard, too; but I have gotten through them.

Perhaps this delightful quotation under the tag 'Humour' in GR quotations might clarify what we are all saying!

"Sections in the bookstore:

- Books You Haven't Read
- Books You Needn't Read
- Books Made for Purposes Other Than Reading
- Books Read Even Before You Open Them Since They Belong to the Category of Books Read Before Being Written
- Books That If You Had More Than One Life You Would Certainly Also Read But Unfortunately Your Days Are Numbered
- Books You Mean to Read But There Are Others You Must Read First
- Books Too Expensive Now and You'll Wait 'Til They're Remaindered
- Books ditto When They Come Out in Paperback
- Books You Can Borrow from Somebody
- Books That Everybody's Read So It's As If You Had Read Them, Too
- Books You've Been Planning to Read for Ages
- Books You've Been Hunting for Years Without Success
- Books Dealing with Something You're Working on at the Moment
- Books You Want to Own So They'll Be Handy Just in Case
- Books You Could Put Aside Maybe to Read This Summer
- Books You Need to Go with Other Books on Your Shelves
- Books That Fill You with Sudden, Inexplicable Curiosity, Not Easily Justified
- Books Read Long Ago Which It's Now Time to Re-read
- Books You've Always Pretended to Have Read and Now It's Time to Sit Down and Really Read Them”
― Italo Calvino, If on a Winter’s Night a Traveller

Mbuye wrote: "Perhaps this delightful quotation under the tag 'Humour' in GR quotations might clarify what we are all saying!

"Sections in the bookstore:

- Books You Haven't Read
- Books You Needn't Read
- Boo..."

Ha! I am the person that entered that Calvino quotation!

JenniferAustin wrote: "Mbuye wrote: "Perhaps this delightful quotation under the tag 'Humour' in GR quotations might clarify what we are all saying!

"Sections in the bookstore:

- Books You Haven't Read
- Books You Need..."

Hi, Jennifer! Yes, that's where I found that quote, and loved it. Thanks for sharing it. I gave the attribution to Italo Calvino, and to the GR quotations, though. :⁠-⁠)

That’s funny. I missed the quotation marks, and just thought the last section was “Italo Calvino, If on a Winter’s Night a Traveler.” Which was kind of a funny punch line, actually.

Reasons I decline to read -
1. Personal/Professional matters leaving very little time for peaceful reading but I am gradually changing that habit as one can definitely read a bit, at least before going to bed.

2. Already reading a big book, like currently I am juggling between Les Miserables and Don Quixote.

3. I am not in the mood to read that genre at that time. It happens mostly with the Romance genre.

4. If it's a translated work, I opt not to commit myself to it until I have done proper research and found a good translation.

5. Adultery! I don't like reading books that have adultery as the focal point. That's why I have stayed away from one of the classics, Anna Karenina.

6. Non Fiction! Don't know why but I don't feel that much attracted towards non fictional books. If I remember correctly, the only non fiction book that I have read is Kohinoor: The Story of the World’s Most Infamous Diamond by William Dalrymple

Ayush wrote: "Reasons I decline to read -
1. Personal/Professional matters leaving very little time for peaceful reading but I am gradually changing that habit as one can definitely read a bit, at least before g..."

I haven't heard anyone mention issues with translations. I also agree with this one. As a child I had abridged, simplified versions of some books in translation - for instance, The Brothers' Grimm Tales. But now as an adult I do look for reviews of different translations of books and I would not pick up anything that had been altered or abridged in the translation process.

Availability and price are the reasons lately why I won't read a book. Kindle books used to be reasonably priced, but the past few years they've really gone up. Due to space I don't buy physical books anymore. I have an audible membership and mainly listen to the free ones.

Mbuye wrote: "Perhaps this delightful quotation under the tag 'Humour' in GR quotations might clarify what we are all saying!

"Sections in the bookstore:

- Books You Haven't Read
- Books You Needn't Read
- Boo..."
and
This comment.

That was awesome!!

I'm dying to know. What is your favorite book (at least, at the moment)?