You know how sometimes you’ll be talking to a group of people and someone will be like, “Dude, how great was that part in Harry Potter when such and such happens?” and you’re the one person in the world who hasn’t read Harry Potter and you quietly admit this and they’re like, “YOU HAVEN’T READ HARRY POTTER??? What is wrong with you?!?!”
Yeah.*
We all have our “gap” books, those books that everyone in the world has read and talks about all the time and look we are really meaning to read them but we’re all very busy and there are a lot of books to read and no one could possibly be expected to read them all and why do I have to defend myself aha;sldkjf;aj
Anyway, my name is Nathan Bransford. I have not read The Lord of the Rings trilogy. Yes. I know.
What are some of your gap books?
(*For the record I’ve read Harry Potter.)
Easy. Twilight. I've never even picked it up to browse through it.
Chronicles of Narnia is my big fantasy "gap" book. I've also not read Asimov's Foundation series, or anything by Heinlein.
Anna Karenina. No, that's not true. I read it in 9th grade and hated every second of it. I need to reread it as an adult.
But what's even worse, is that I never saw "The Godfather." Talk about a conversation killer.
Count me among the Harry Potter-less folks.
I've also never read a single Nicholas Sparks novel. I just wait for the movies to come out.
I never read any of the Harry Potter books. I know, I know. I should. I will. Eventually.:)
You're not alone. I've never read The Lord of the Rings trilogy either. Nor have I seen the movies.
Harry Potter, Twilight and The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo seem to be mine.
Catcher in the Rye…and nothing by Margaret Atwood, despite being a Torontonian.
To Kill a Mockingbird, or Lord of the Flies.
Missed them somehow in school – most everyone I know has read them.
Ummm… probably most books everyone's read… Definitely Harry Potter and the Twilight series… Devil Wears Prada… And, most of the "classics". If I had to appear on Jeopardy!, I'd hope the Shakespeare category wouldn't come up!
Wizard of Oz books. I actually prefer the movie!
Does not reading it on purpose count? Because if that's so, my gap books include Twilight series and the Wheel of Time series. Twilight was described as "well done fan fic" which is a huge turnoff. I've yet to get past the first paragraph of any of the "Wheel" books.
Otherwise, George RR Martin is my gap.
I've never read LOTR or gotten through a Jane Austen book (something always came up).
Yes, I feel like an epic fail.
Haven't read one Harry Potter book. Seen the movies, though. Have read LOTR three times – I'm a Total Ringhead.
I've never read the Eragon series, much to my students' chagrin. I saw the movie but didn't care to read the books (even when my students swore the book was better).
Probably the Grapes of Wrath or something like that.
The Da Vinci Code.
I've also never read the Lord of the Rings trilogy (or The Hobbit).
Additionally, I've somehow managed to miss out on reading any Shakespeare (though I have seen productions of several of the plays).
WHAT? No LOTR? That's not a gap, its a crevasse into oblivion!
*trembles at the tear in the universe fabric Nathan's omission has made* You will read it someday, right? Yes. Oh course you will. Whew, got a bit freaked out there.
The twilight series. I read the first book and that's it.
I've never read Lord of the Flies or Grapes of Wrath. Those were Honors English books, and I took regular English.
The only books on everyone's list so far that I have read is the Harry Potter Series. I have no desire to read Twilight, but I'd like to at least try the rest of them. Maybe I could be stranded in a deserted library for a year!
The Bible. Heh.
I can't think of any books people rave about I haven't at least suffered through. Now films, on the other hands…
No matter how hard I try, I cannot possibly force myself to read Moby Dick. I can still write an essay over Moby Dick that will knock my professor's socks off and convince him to give me an A. But I cannot read it.
I read the LOTR at least once a year, though.
I've never read the Lord or the Rings Trilogy, the Chronicles of Narnia, and I'm pretty sure I haven't read the entire Bible. I'm a Christian Missionary. Go figure.
Harry Potter after book 2. Twilight. Jane Austen. And more, but no need to embarrass myself further.
I have not read Harry Potter, Twilight, OR LotR.
OR seen any film versions of any of those.
And I call myself an SF/F writer?
It did kind of make me feel better, though, when I saw Stephanie mention Wizard of Oz, and Andrea mentioned To Kill a Mocking Bird. I've read both of those.
I've also read the entire Chronicles of Narnia. At the age of 13. That has to count for something.
Did I say 13? I meant 9 (my teen years were dedicated to the Sweet Valley High books). Either way, it was a long time ago. Haha.
I can do you one better on TLOTR, I got almost to the end of the first book and never finished. Love the movies, didn't care for the books. (Although, this was when I was a teen. I might enjoy them more now.)
In addition, I haven't read a lot of classics that most people read in school. I have no idea why. I've never read any Salinger or Bronte. I haven't read To Kill a Mockingbird, either. *shrug*
My gap books are pretty much all of the ones that have been hot/super popular in the past ten years, e.g., Harry Potter, Twilight, etc. Anything that becomes overly popular by the masses makes me wonder if the books are too over-hyped for my liking.
There are so many (HP, Narnia), but I feel worst about the classics I missed. I grew up in Holland, so my classics are very different from U.S. classics.
Many. The Da Vinci Code, all Harry Potters, Eat Pray Love, LOTR, Twilights 2,3,4, The Help, The Kite Runner. Et cetera. What AM I reading?
I've never read a Nicholas Sparks book…I bought one once, but before I even opened it up, I caught an interview of his and man is he an a**hat! That put me off too much.
Another LOTR refugee here.
(Oh, and when I finally did read The DaVinci Code I wondered what all the hoopla was about. Shoot me.)
The Lord of the Rings? That's baaad, but I guess that's the point of the post.
I've never read anything by Isaac Asimov or Steinbeck.
Recent gap – The Lovely Bones. I read the first page – and it grabs you, but I can't handle that kind of sad.
Classic gap – 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, although I recently perused a revised kid's version (my boys read it for school). Does that count for partial credit?
I tried to read Twilight but could not get further than about half way through the first book. I just wanted to know what my daughter was reading … but it was not written for grown men.
That doesn't really make it a gap book though because other than my 14 year old daughter I don't hang out with teenage girls, and she won't talk to me either so…
I'm not saying the writing is bad (I would never say that about another writer), it just wasn't for me.
Egad. Too many. MOBY DICK and HUCKLEBERRY FINN jump to mind. But I think I read THE HOBBIT and LORD OF THE RINGS twice. Does that make up for my gap? : )
Nathan (your middle name) Bransford! Who are you and what planet are you from? No LOTR? Unacceptable.
I just read To Kill a Mockingbird for the first time recently so you can imagine how many other essential tomes i've missed.
I shall catch up one day. In the meantime, if anyone wants to compare Mills and Boon/Fabio covered books, i'm your man.
Twilight, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and 1984.
I'm Kourtney and I never read the Da Vinci Code or anything else written by Dan Brown.
loads probably! lotr (haven't seen the movies either), wuthering heights, the davinci code. however i have no plans to read any of these!
Ditto about Lord of the Rings–and I love fantasy, too! I hang my head in shame.
Hm. Well I only read book the first books of LotR, His Dark Materials, and Twilight (due to apathy, loathing, and a wish to pretend it didn't exist, respectively).
Da Vinci Code, though I've yet to meet anyone who was all "What? I can't believe you haven't read that, it's awesome!"
Working in the book biz, there's a billion other books that people are shocked I haven't read, but those are the more widely known.
Gasp! You haven't read The Lord of the Rings? What is wrong with you, man? 😉
I've never read anything by Dan Brown, though I'm told frequently that I really must. Just not that interested.
Twilight (and I'm not going to remedy that one), The DaVinci Code (or that one), Huckleberry Finn (always mean to read it), and Anna Karenina (will definitely read it at some point).
I've also never read 1984 or A Brave New World… but I'm going to have a Dystopia Month very soon. 🙂
I haven't read "The Outsiders," or "The Catcher in the Rye," "A Tale of Two Cities." Really, how I was able to graduate with an English major is beyond me. I have, however, read LOTR several times!
The Life of Pi and Atlas Shrugged…both on my bookshelf, can never make it beyond page 30
Harry Potter is one of the books I've never warmed up to, although I watched a couple of the movies. Also the Twilight series. I think the YA designation is correct — not for me. LOTR on the other hand, I could read many times, and it was written by a master. I first read the Hobbit in college so that set the stage for the rest of the story.
I've also never read Tale of Two cities by Dickens, or the Heart of Darkness. There probably are others, but I've tried to read a broad range to make up for the gaps. Books are a very personal choice.
I read what interests me, and I read to learn. Science fiction is my preferred choice of escape.
If everyone else has read it, I haven't.
Lord of the Rings also. And — *folds arms over head and ducks* — To Kill A Mockingbird. I think that might be a capital offense.
The Godfather. And a lot more, but I just can't think of them right now. (I read Twilight just to see how bad it was. Never doing that again…)
hmmm. I have never read Brave New World. Considering dystopian is sort of my thing right now, I guess that might be a problem.
I have never read "Gone With The Wind" or "Pride and Prejudice"
Not a single Jane Austen. I'd do so much better on the Goodreads trivia quiz if I could just read Pride and Prejudice. I swear I will someday.
Also: nearly any children's fantasy you can think of, besides Narnia and Harry Potter. I mistakenly thought I hated fantasy when I was a kid, and stuck to humorous contemporary books almost exclusively. Now I'm 29 and trying to get caught up on all the classic kids' fantasy books, but it sure is taking a while.
Any of the Uncle John's Bathroom Reader series. I know. This means I miss out on many fabulous hours of male conversation with guys named Ed and Harvey at cocktail parties, but–hey, a girl's gotta draw the line somewhere.
I have lots of gap books I'm afraid. The one that kills me these days is The Help. I've given it as a gift TWICE and gotten due praise for passing on the wonderfulness and yet I haven't gotten to it yet myself.
ON THE ROAD. But I'm going to read this eventually.
TWILIGHT. Probably won't read this, but I'll check out her new novella.
For a YA writer not to have read either Catcher in the Rye OR Twilight seems wrong, but there it is. I admit it. It's likely I will read CitR. Probably not that OTHER one, though.
Adult book: everyone talked about Corrections, and I just couldn't get there. Also, haven't read either The Shack or The Secret, but I'm okay with that.
I've never read anything by Tolkien. I've started The Hobbit several times, but never got through the first chapter. I don't, however, feel my life is diminished by not reading his books. After all, not everyone likes the same things, and I don't like Tolkien's writing.
Catcher in the Rye, JD Salinger.
Constantly being referenced in movies and general conversation and I never know what is being discussed.
As a former English major, I hate to admit I've never read Milton, Dickens (except A Christmas Carol), Moby Dick, or most of the famous Russians.
As an SF/F writer, I hate to admit I've never read the Foundation series. I'm sure there are others whose omission is also an unforgiveable sin, but I'm blanking at the moment.
I've also not read Catcher in the Rye, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Grapes of Wrath, or The Old Man and the Sea, but since I'm not American, I figure I might get a pass. 😉
I recently read Pride and Prejudice, Faulkner, and Dune for the first time.
There are other, more recent books that I haven't read yet and really should (Hunger Games comes to mind), but those are at least on my TBR list of doom….
Da Vinci Code and Twilight
Charlotte's Web… and I've been told how it ends many times, so never quite manage to pick it up.
Dante's Inferno. @Deb and David I have never seen "The Godfather" either and I know the exact tune the crickets are singing in the silence that follows that statement. 😉
Oh, so many! Ditto on Lord of the Rings. Also, Narnia books, Jane Austen, anything by anyone Russian. I feel intellectually inferior for forgoing Ulysses, Gravity's Rainbow, Moby Dick, and Lolita.
Oh, and I have yet to read anything else by Cormac McCarthy besides The Road. They have been on my to read list forever.
Dune
I know I'll probably want to, because I'll probably enjoy them immensely.
No Lord of the Rings for me either. I also feel like the only person I know who hasn't read the Secret Life of Bees.
"Catcher in the Rye", "Moby Dick", and "Uncle Tom's Cabin" to name a few. I don't think Harry Potter counts as a missed classic, though it may be great fiction and counts as a gap book I suppose. I did listen to the books.
I've read LOTR several times through my life and find new things to enjoy at every age. Same goes for Dune trilogy.
Some books like "Of Mice and Men" I have certainly read, but can't remember for sure if I have read them or only saw the movie.
I've read all the biggies mentioned here. My biggest gap is popular literary fiction. I haven't read Eliz. Strout or Barbara Kinsolver or Jonathan Foer or Michael Chabon etc etc. I read THE LIFE OF PI, but didn't like it.
Twilight.
Only interested in vampires if they're alien in origin.
Harry Potter until just a couple of months ago. Something clicked and I just had to have it. Glad too. Great story. Rowling totally nailed the emotional needs of the Middle Grade child.
I stay away from bestselling novels, in general, because I've learned I almost never like them.
Both the Twilight series and Catcher in the Rye.
Too many to mention: Moby Dick, Wuthering Heights, War and Peace, Emma, . . . and this is having even been an English major. I feel a guilty conscience coming on. What have I been doing with my time?????
I haven't read The Lord of the Rings either… I do however, LOVE the movies. I've never read Jane Eyre, either and everyone I know has. Someday maybe.
I never read Lord of the Rings either. And I'm ashamed to say that I couldn't make it through 'Robinson Crusoe'. I'm pretty sure he's still on the island….
Speak. And I love Laurie Halse Anderson's novels. I've just never read that particular one. Which is so WRONG since I'm a YA writer and all. Sigh.
Need to go make an Amazon purchase now…
Alright. I see a lot of you are in the same boat with Nathan regarding LOTR. I would recommend reading them unless you hate Fantasy, but do you start with The Hobbit or Fellowship of the Ring?
I really need to read a lot more, including Harry Potter. I'm not really interested in reading the Twilight Saga. Sorry Twilight fans.
I haven't read Harry Potter, or anything by Nicholas Sparks,or anything by Neil Gaiman, or anything by Dan Brown, or Eragon (and that shall never change…) Wuthering Heights, or the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, or Wings (which as a YA-writer type person, I should read post haste, but… I don't want to.)
I haven't read The Lord of the Rings books and have no plan to. Not there is anything wrong with them, they just aren't my cup of tea.
I've not read a LOT of the classics and it's kind of embarrassing. I did just read 1984 for the first time recently, so I'm trying to whittle that list down some. 🙂
Macbeth.
There, I feel better now.
Snow Falling On Cedars.
… not a totally shameful admission, except that I lived in Seattle for ten years. Whoops.
@ Jeremy Robb: Not reading "Twilight" should be a point of pride, man! I have not read it either, but I have pre-teen/teenage cousins who have, so I have (unfortunately) heard the gory details of every sparkle and plot point.
The Twilight Series. Although it's not for lack of trying. I've attempted to read the first and second and I just couldn't do it. It was painful. I doubt I ever will read them or understand why they're such a big deal.
Catcher in the Rye. I tried it once, but it's not my thing.
Twilight for me. And Pride and Prejudice.
To Kill a Mockingbird *blushes*
Twilight. Probably will never read it.
I haven't read Harry Potter, but I will definitely be reading those at some point. I've seen all the movies with my younger sister and loved them!
I don't have GAP books, but GAP endings. I have an embarrassing tendency of starting things and never finishing them. For example:
Harry Potter Series
Twilight Series
Eat Pray Love
One Flew Over the Cucu's Nest
Electric Cool-Aid Acid Test
anything by Shakespeare
anything by Norman Mailer…
I haven't read LOTR, either. I tried to start with The Hobbit and couldn't get into it.
But my real "gap" book is Pride and Prejudice, especially because I own it. I just haven't gotten around to it yet.
Life of Pi, Wuthering Heights, David Copperfield. Also, I've read nothing by Dumas
Let's see, any of Dan Brown's books, LoTR (I did read the Hobbit though), Twilight (not even curious)(I had a friend who was curious, she now has a facial tick), Narnia, Anne of Green Gables, heck, I didn't read mid grade books until I worked in a book store so there's a whole list there alone…
I don't consider missing Twilight a gap, just a choice. I do consider LoTR a gap but Tolkeins just so darn wordy…
Too many to count.
I only noticed the hype around Twilight after the fourth book had been out. When I finally looked it up, I remembered having picked it up before. The cover spelled "romance with dark elements" to me, and that's not my genre at all. And when the blurb mentioned teenagers and vampires, I dropped the book and ran. That explains that gap.
There are loads of books I still mean to read, though. The trouble is, the more I read, the longer gets the list.
I never read Moby Dick, Robinson Crusoe, no Don DeLillo, and I tried Updike once and didn't like him. And I don't read romance or chick lit, so any hypes in these areas will probably pass without my noticing.
Lord of the Rings for me, too.
LOTR and Anna Karenina. At least I'm eclectic in my gaps. 🙂
I am embarrassed to admit that the list of classics I have yet to read is rather lengthy…
As far as contemporary literature goes, I rarely read anything based on a "best sellers" list. Unfortunately, a lot of currently popular literature has too much sex, violence, and obscene language for my personal tastes.
Or vampires. I've never been into the whole blood-sucker thing.
My gap books include the Twilight series, anything by Norman Mailer, and most of Dickens (read enough of Boz as required in high school and college to know I never wanted to read any more). Ugh!
I haven’t read THE LORD OF THE RINGS trilogy either – I seriously regret that and plan to read them. I have read THE HOBBIT, though. 🙂 I haven’t read THE DA VINCI CODE, but have purchased it to read eventually. I haven’t read any books by Jane Austen, so I recently downloaded some into my Kindle and hope to read them soon. I’m currently reading the TWILIGHT series (so far, I’ve read TWILIGHT and NEW MOON and am currently reading ECLIPSE) – more as a sociological study, since the books are so popular, than as real "literature". 🙂
Anna Karenina. I don't know that I've even tried.
I read a couple of chapters of a Harry Potter book to a friend's son once, I think.
Tried to start The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, and simply could not. Anyone else having trouble with that one?
I'm probably going to be reamed for saying this, but I'm saddened that fellow writers would be so rude about not reading certain books. You don't want to read Twilight or (insert hated title here)? Fine, don't read it, but people put a lot of themselves into their books. No one is saying you HAVE to love them, but as writers you could have a little more tact.
My gap books are the Harry Potter series. I have them in a stack next to my bed, but they keep getting pushed to the bottom.
The Chrysalids and Hamlet, which for a long time it seemed like everyone else in my generation had read in school.
Reading LotR as an adult, after loving it as a child, was a little depressing.
hi. my name is tahereh & i've never read the LOTR trilogy. or any dan brown books.
i feel better now that that's out in the open.
hehe.
The ones I blush over are the classics – there are just too many that I haven't read to list.
In terms of modern, anything sad or even remotely distrubing – I get way too much of that in my day job – so, I haven't read Sparks, the Lovely Bones, the Book Thief. well…most literary fiction, actually.
I read YA predominately….as an adult, in many ways, it's what I DO read rather than what I don't that makes me blush. 🙂
In terms of LOTR, Madara, I'd probably recommend starting with the Hobbit – it's funny and more accessible.
LOTR are probably the books closest to my heart, but I think there's no 'shame' in not reading LOTR. His writing style is dense and not for everyone. If anyone does pick it up, I've found the secret is to just skip the parts where he takes eight pages to describe a mountain and get back to the story.
First of all, LOST. I know its a TV show not a book but your post reminded me of how worked up people get when I–a TV junkie–tell them I don't watch. Apparently it's life changing. But it's also time consuming and I just feel like I'm too late to the game.
But that's not even what you asked. As for books, basically the whole Dickens (read half of Great Expectations in high school) and all John Irving other than Owen Meany.
And I am one of those people who gets worked up when someone hasnt read Harry Potter. But even more worked up when they say they read the first one or two, but then gave up. Three is where it gets brilliant!!!
But I have not read LOTR either. Just never realized how many felt so strongly about it. (Never saw the movie, either… )
Anon @12:00 PM –
Have you actually read the Twilight books – all of them? WRITERS, more than anyone else, have a right to sample them and criticize them. They are rife with grammatical errors, tons of repetition, lots and lots of flaws. Here's what Roger Ebert said about the New Moon movie, something that pretty much summarizes the books: Roger Ebert's Review of New Moon movie.
LoTR, Twilight, Harry Potter, Dan Brown – there are just so many other books out there that appeal much more and that it's difficult to find enough time to read.
Dan Brown's books, the Lord of the Rings, and the Twilight series.
Harry Potter.
Pride and Prejudice.
War and Peace.
The Lord of the Rings.
Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.
In popular fic: Twilight and DaVinci Code.
But the one I feel like I SHOULD have read but never have: Moby-Dick. It's about some old guy whining and chasing a whale–it just doesn't scream "intriguing" to me.
(and thanks for this topic, I feel so much better knowing others haven't read everything…)
Twilight
The Scarlet Letter
Huckleberry Finn
People get really upset when you say you haven't read Mark Twain.
All of my friends and family think I'm this huge fantasy lover and therefore have automatically read Lord of the Rings. Well, I started it, but after 20 pages, I put it down and have never read it.
For the record, I've never seen the movie Titanic and never seen the Matrix movies. More people have gasped and jumped at those.
Oh wow, I didn't much like Twilight. I read it to see what my daughter was into. Mostly, I'm not much into first person storytelling. It seems surprising to me the venom expressed by so many people. Rather intriguing.
Like Tahereh, I felt like I was reading a 12 step program for the literate illiterate LMAO.
Like Mira, I don't read/watch things too harsh like shindlers list (sp?)because of real life (although it is my life, not my job) but for me it seems as if 99% of currently popular books have passed me by. I did read Girl with a Dragon Tattoo because my Uncle bought it.
I haven't read LOTR since I was a teenager, although the movies are a huge hit in my house. My youngest, whose ears are pointy, has a nickname of frodo (for us, it was kind of like having the christ child in the house. He was the king lol That is how fanatic LOTR fans we are :D) I keep thinking I need to reread them, but there are so many books, so little time 🙂
The Great Gatsby and Catcher in the Rye
I'm not ashamed to admit this. I have NOT read the Harry Potter series. Not one book, not one line. I know, I know, what IS the deal with me?
As far as the classics go, I've never read The Jungle, and I've always considered that a gap.
As far as my science fiction reading goes, I've never read anything by Philip K. Dick, and I've also always considered this a gap.
I have not read Harry Potter beyond the first book or Twilight beyond the first page, but honestly it wasn't for lack of trying.
To Kill a Mockingbird. I never had to read it in school. I own a copy, but when I sit down to read it's just never what I grab. I know, I should, I will.
I love SF/F but have never read the Wheel of Time series or Frankenstein. My biggest "gap" in popular culture is that I've never seen an episode of American Idol.
I have never read Jane Austen, Chronicles of Narnia, or any books by Dan Brown.
The Twilight saga–I've seen enough excerpts of it to know that I don't like what I've seen and won't like the rest of it. Eragon. The Enchanted Forest Chronicles, which apparently everyone I know has read but which just wasn't around when I was growing up. And I've tried to struggle through Asimov's Foundation series, and have found that though I love most of what the man wrote, this series is better than a sleeping pill.
Harry Potter and Twilight
Di Vinci Code
Hamlet (!)
Winnie the Pooh books (!!)
The Phantom Tollbooth
LOTR, Catcher in the Rye, Gone with the Wind. Only made it through the first 3/4 of Twilight before I leapt to the end (it was a gift, and I had to read it).
MOBY DICK. I was an English major. I've read everything else by Melville, including his (decent!) poetry. But we studied BENITO SERENO in high school and then again in college, as my profs assumed I'd read the Great White Whale in high school.
In popular fiction, my gaps are TWILIGHT and the Stieg Larsson books. I tried with both but couldn't get into them.
I, too, have never read the LOTR series.
I started and vehemently stopped "Memiors of a Geisha," which everyone else loved.
Harry Potter. I tried. I really, really tried, but I couldn't get past chapter two. My son devoured the series though. Maybe someday I'll try again. 🙂
The Time Traveller's Wife
Why haven't you read LOTR?
Less than 48 hours needed, if you just take time for reading and to breathe.
Pride and Prejudice. We got Sense and Sensibility-ed at school and after that I just couldn't take any more.
Disclaimer: until the age of eight, I did believe that Jane Austen and Jane Eyre were relatives.
Harry Potter!
I just SO hate to go with the flow :-))
Anything by Jack Keroack. Heck. I don't even know how to spell his name. And I've been trying to get up the nerve to read The Road by Cormac MacCarthy, but after someone said something about eating babies, I don't know if I can do it.
Twilight et al.
Also, I can't believe you haven't read Lord of the Rings. : )
Lately, it's been The Lightning Thief series, but that's likely because I have 3 kids who have read them, plus I have a lot of YA fantasy writer friends. I'll get to it–I SWEAR! (Someday.)
I'm E. Elle and I've never read any Charles Dickens. *Lowers head in [mock] shame… with a smirk*
Not only have I never read LOTR (and I feel better now that I haven't since so many of you haven't), but I've never read any Stephen King. Not a word.
For the love of God, Nathan! What kind of Nerd are you if you haven´t read LOTR? In fact, here *rips off your sticker with the words 'NERD' emeblished on it*
BANNED. Banned to the depths of Mordor.
I'm for the Harry Potter series. I've never even picked one up. I own The Chronicles of Narnia, but I haven't read those either.
Romance. The entire genre. Including all the ones they assigned in AP Lit in high school, like Wuthering Heights.
I just left the Publishers Weekly site. Yesterday they posted the 2009 sales records. Of the top 100 or so hardcover fiction titles from 2009, I only read 1. I read every day yet I find myself a little surprised that I read so little from that list. The exclusion is not intentional, now I am self conscious about it. Have I been sub-consciously avoiding purchasing Sparks, Grissom?
Hello, My name is Jennifer Bennett and I have never read or watched "Pride and Prejustice". (Yes any of the versions!)I'm sorry Jane Austin…
From the last two posts, I am going to assume you have either been to, or are thinking a lot about cocktail parties as of late.
And don't feel too bad. I haven't gotten past The Hobbit.
Harry Potter – yes add me to the list. (I know, I know. But I will.) Little Women. Until last week, Plath's 'The Bell Jar' – now could be one of my all time favourites. Great Gatsby (but is on order.)
@Hilary – The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo reads better in the original Swedish (and was/ is titled The Men who hate Women which may be a better title to get a handle on the book).
Hello, "Nathan Bransford." Pleasure to meet you. haha. I will have to go with Harry Potter on this one. I am unfortunately a pseudo-prisoner nearly every morning while my friend and our fitness instructor wax poetic about JK and her books. I have no choice but to smile and nod, all the while wishing I had brought my iPod to my workout.
I plan on reading Twilight at some point, just out of mere curiosity. And, OF COURSE, Jacob Wonderbar.
I'm trying out my first YA novel-to-be, so I should probably read more YA books, just to get a feel for the language and what's been done and hasn't, although I'm sure at least ONE of those lists is quite long.
Yeah, the Harry Potter cult is everywhere. Anyone who utters the words, 'I haven't read Harry Potter' or worse 'I've only seen the moves' is ambushed.
I'll attack someone who hasn't read Harry Potter like a Gazelle at a watering hole.
LORD OR THE RINGS trilogy. I kind of cringe when I say that. I will read them this summer, maybe not so much because I really want to but because I want to say that I've read them.
Pride.
How about the books we wish we could say we've never read? Okay, that's not positive at all. Don't do that.
Nothing published in the last five years.
There are many books I've yet to read that I'd either like to or have been told I should, but the gap that makes me feel the most guilty is:
Little Women
Heidi
The Secret Garden
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
My aunt gave me the first three as gifts when I was a kid. Fancy, shiny versions with gold edged papers that looked way too frou-frou for me to want to read. They still sit on my bookshelf and mock me. A copy of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn lives on the shelf below them, a used copy I picked up because that title, more than any other, is the one that's elicited the most "You've got to be kidding me how could you not have read this you call yourself a fan of children's literature!!!" type reactions.
I'm quite sure I would enjoy all of these titles. Just haven't made it a priority to read them yet.
Jane Eyre. Despite having read several books that reference/draw upon it heavily.
This past year it has been 2666, but it's in my queue – just a few books away.
best,
philip swanstrom shaw
I haven't read a lot of popular books. I've only read the 4th Harry Potter book. (Does that still count?) I got halfway through the first LOTR book and quit. I've never read Jane Austen or Twilight. Never read the Chronicles of Narnia. Hm. Seems liks popular or 'classic' books I tend to avoid.
Jane Austen, Lord of the Rings. I started both, but it was summer… fatal mistake. I only read difficult books when the other alternative is schoolwork, apparently!
I have also never read the Lord of the Rings. I read the hobbit, but every time I start reading the trilogy I get distracted by something else.
Pride and Prejudice… and every other regency novel.
Classics – there are certainly more, but I feel especially bad about these:
Brothers Karamazov
Moby-Dick
Lady Chatterley's Lover
Pride and Prejudice
Dante's Inferno
The Greek Myths
And even though every woman anywhere close to my age (40) has told me Prodigal Summer by Barbara Kingsolver is the "best book ever," I tossed it aside less than halfway through. Loved The Poisonwood Bible, though.
There are a lot of "gap" books… not including the ones I WANT to read eventually. but maybe the "biggest" book/series I have not read yet, is Harry Potter (and I'm not planning on reading it anytime soon. Someday though… maybe).
Nathan, you should pop on over to the 'fill-in-the-gaps' blog, the brain child of moonrat and andromeda!
http://fillinthegaps100.blogspot.com/
Basically we all have 100 FITG books (books that we've always meant to read but usually never got round to reading) and aim to read them in five years.
Animal Farm. 1984. My apologies to Mr. Orwell.
emily-
Thanks, hadn't seen that! What an awesome idea.
I found LOTR horrifyingly tedious. Tried 4 times to work my way through it. Gave up on page 65 every time. Likewise Moby Dick. After "Call me Ishmael", it was all downhill from there.
Yeah, it's great for all us procrastinators out there lol who never get round to these books.
Anyone is welcome to join up.
Both Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass. I always get angry when someone talks about a Jabberwocky as if I should be impressed by their even mentioning it.
Moby Dick. I have started it a couple of times and it bothers me that when it is referenced I have no idea what people are talking about. Though, I have gotten really good at faking knowledge of the book.
Chronicles of Narnia and The Lord of the Rings. I always divert to Harry Potter or Twilight in these conversations because I have read these several times over. Usually I find these are the other person's gap books and then that puts us both on the same page. We're gappers. 🙂
Twilight (though I did finally read part of them).
I must be a lemming… once I hear enough about something, I pretty mcuh always check it out. Maybe I'm just a really avid reder. 🙂
Lord of the Rings as well, for me. It makes things awkward because I have the kind of friends who are forever making references and I refuse to even watch the movies, having not read the books.
At the same time, from everything I hear they are books I would probably enjoy…
Last week, when I went to the bookstore and discovered sooooooo many new titles and then checked out my Kindle and found sooooooo many more titles, I suddenly realized that the benefit of living in the Information Age is that there are an endless number of books to read. I suddenly realized that, since we can’t possibly ever read them all, there’s no longer any reason for shame in having a list of books we haven’t read. Is there anybody alive today who’s actually read ALL the books now available – including ALL popular, literary and classic books? I doubt it.
Stephen Hawking's "A Brief History of Time" I have tried, I truly have but I cannot understand enough to get me through more than eight pages.
Hush, Hush
Emma
Sense and Sensibility
Northanger Abbey
Really any Jane Austen but Pride and Prejudice
Gone with the Wind
Steinbeck
Faulkner (if I have I've blocked it)
Wuthering Heights (I've tried. Really, I have.)
Hunger Games
There are bunches I'm leaving out, I'm sure.
Gap books tend to be a gap for a reason. Every time I've caved (Angels & Demons, Twilight) I have been less than interested. Got bored. I tried Zen & The Art of Motorcycle Maintenance (which was all the rage back in the undergrad years) and couldn't finish it.
No DaVinci Code. And a variety of others. If the urge isn't there for me, I probably shouldn't bother.
Celebrate the gap books I say!
Haven't read a bunch of them! w00t! w00t!!
Lord of the Rings (haven't even seen the movies…any of them. Yikes!)
Twilight (I've seen the first movie though…which astoundingly did not make me rush out for the book.)
A few folks have been chatting about those Percy Jackson books, said they're really good. Haven't seen them…didn't see the movie. For shame.
I'm proud to say I own and have read ALL the Harry Potter books–the 7th twice. And I see all the movies on the first day of release.
Twilights, Narnias, Rings, or Potters. They're just not the genres I'm interested in reading or seeing on screen.
nancy
My name is Mandy, and I hate the classics.
I haven't read Harry Potter.
Haven't finished the Twilight saga.
Refuse to pick up Stephen King.
I love books, I really do! I'm just picky 🙂
-Mandy
Dude. Every time you mention "Moby Dick," I want to hide. Good to see I have some company on here!
I have yet to read any books by Homer. However, I own many of his books in various forms. Ironically my 16 year old daughter recommended him (her? oh yes the speculation is out there)to me. Since we have similar tastes I quickly downloaded and bought a few of his books to enjoy.
I have not read Harry Potter- and nor will I ever. Harry P. came out when I was in high school working in a book store. After lugging around thousands(and I do mean thousands) of Harry Potter books and dealing with half-crazed Harry Potter fans- I vowed to never read them.
Twilight.
Harry Potter. *hides face from the shame*
I have SO many books on my list to read that I have a terrible time committing to a series of books.
Harry Potter. *hides face from the shame*
I have SO many books on my list to read that I have a terrible time committing to a series of books.
Twilight and The Girl with the Dragon Tatoo.
And seriously, you haven't read LOTR??
Twilight and Chronicles of Narnia. I've tried to read both and could not get into them. :]
Farenheit 451 (is that the correct temp?). I'm a librarian. The books is about censorship, so duh. But, you know. I haven't read Time Traveler's Wife yet or The Hunger Games because I can't hold onto it long enough. Someone's always wanting to check it out the second I get it back in! Ender's Game is another. Fun thread, Nathan!
Catch-22. I even have a copy that I've cracked a couple of times. I just need to give myself enough time to get into it.
Also, Tess of the d'Urbervilles. Own that, too. Have read the beginning about 4 bazillion times.
Most modern work is a "gap" for me.
I've read relatively little published since the early nineties. I'll typically re-read my old favorites in preference to newer material. Basically toss a dart in a Barnes and Noble and you'll hit some well-known book I haven't seen. Easier to list the few exceptions to that. (For instance, I have read Scott Westerfeld's Uglies series and Michael Connelly's Harry Bosch books.)
-Steve
Wowswers! I love this post.
Now I don't feel so ashamed about not reading….oh, you really don't want the complete list, do you?
LOTR
Harry Potter
Twilight
and many many more
tnx
The Kite Runner, Moby Dick, The Shack, and Eat, Pray, Love. Although, being a middle school librarian, I have now read so many things and am really catching up. A couple of years ago I did a Newberry Challenge where I tried to read as many winners as I could, and I think I got up to around 25 or so of them.
Next question for everyone: What book did everyone rave about that you just couldn't stand yourself? That would be an interesting one.
Goethe's Faust (which is an achievement – given that I went through the German high school system)
It's embarrassing to admit, but I have yet to read The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger. I know, it's time I do.
Watership Down (and Harry Potter)
Where do I begin…Harry Potter, LotR/anything by Tolkein, Twilight, Godfather movies, daVinci Code/anything Dan Brown, traditional classics (Huck Finn, To Kill A Mockingbird, Catcher in the Rye, etc). I do sometimes wonder about what I'm missing, but I'm too busy reading other stuff to find out.
I've never read anything written by William Shakespeare or Jane Austen. Even in high school, I cheated by reading only the Cliff Notes.
I've never read Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, The DaVinci Code, Twilight, most thrillers, etc. My taste leans toward more reality-based stories, I suppose.
The Library of mye Gap books and the library of Alle Knownee Tomeees are strikingly similar, but for the mouse in the former.
Probably I need shooting.
Alice in Wonderland stands out for me at the moment. I've also never read Wuthering Heights or anything by J.D. Salinger.
For a long time, it was To Kill a Mockingbird. Somehow, it wasn't one of my high-school requirements.
Now … and I am afraid to say this … it's Moby Dick.
Please, please Nathan, don't ban me from your blog. I know it's your favorite. I have a beautiful copy I've been meaning to read for years. I will. Soon. Promise.
Nearly all of the above, minus "Catch 22." And I totally wish "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" was a gap–talk about a sucker read; I was bored to the point of laughter. (The movie, however, was great!) As for "The Lord of the Rings," I couldn't even get through the first movie, how could I ever be expected to read the book(s). I do feel terrible about not having read "The Great Gatsby," but that's next on my list.
My gap books:
Anna Karenina
anything by Jane Austen (gasp!)
The Bible
After reading almost all of the responses, I'm happy to see that I'm not the only one in this boat…and even happier to see, what a big, big, boat we now need!
Oh, and for more contemporary reads, I haven't read The Da Vinci Code or Twilight, but I did watch the Twilight movie.
My name is Beth Hull, and I've never read The Lord of the Rings trilogy. Listened to part of The Hobbit while working in a children's bookstore.
No Dan Brown.
I DID read Anna Karenina, because I thought there would be sex. She commits adultery, right? I was disappointed.
Thanks for this post, Nathan. It goes to show that we have nothing to be ashamed of for not having read a classic or popular novel/series. I've just added more to my list based on the comments. 🙂
So, in the spirit of the post, my "gap" books are:
current that I am looking forward to: The Hunger Games Trilogy (I am waiting for the final book to come out before I begin reading the series), American Gods
Classics: Moby Dick, A Tale of Two Cities, Frankenstein, Wuthering Heights, Catch-22, The Odyssey, The Illiad, LotR (Two Towers and Return of the King), All Jane Austen except Pride and Prejudice, Twain, Faulkner, Kipling and so much more.
The list doesn't end, and I hope it never does 🙂
I'm kind of interested to know what books people WILL NEVER read – even if it's the last book on earth and they're the last person. Hehe. What book would drive you to finish your novel? 🙂
I must admit: I read the first chapter of Moby Dick – and then the Cliff Notes (great apologies to all my English teachers)
The one I get asked about all the time is Nicholas Sparks. I have no interest in his books or his movies, but how do I say that without sounding like a book snob (which I very much am)?
My biggest oversight in reading is Stephen King, which I mean to rectify as soon as possible, along with all the "gap" classics I'm trying to get through (I'm on 1984 right now). It seems like when people know you're a reader, they're always shocked to find out you haven't read everything, especially the classics.
Despite being Spanish, "Don Quixote". It was compulsory at Secondary School, but somehow I never read the whole book…just a few chapters (I watched the cartoons, though….)
I've not read any of the Twilight books nor have I read (gasp!) Catcher in the Rye.
Too funny. A 'gap' book. Somehow knowing that my 'list of books to read' has a name, and other people have those lists, makes me feel less guilty about my growing list of Gap books.
I love this exercise, but the problem is that you never remember a gap book until that conversation comes up. Ok, let me rack my brain…I've never read Catcher in the Rye. And my more current gap book is The Uglies (which I must read since I write YA). I'll add it to my very long list.
Twilight.
I never finished Joyce's Ulysses, although it's prominently displayed on my living room bookshelf.
I always mean to read more classics, As I Lay Dying, Ulysses, etc… but somehow I always seem to just go back to books I know that I love and reread them. Is this terrible? I have no problem reading Fahrenheit 451, the Hobbit, Ender's Game, and even Jurassic Park multiple times
The Elements of Style. Haha, just kidding.
There are so many! No LOTR, POTTER, The Shack, or The Chronicles of Narnia.
I sarted THe Shack – which everyone has raved about – but I was bored out of my mind.
I also have not read The Lord of the Rings trilogy–but that was because I hated Tolkein's style in THE HOBBIT. I might appreciate the books more now. I know movies and books differ, but I did like the story in the movies. Now that my tastes have matured, maybe I can at least stomach the writing style.
I've also never read THE CATCHER IN THE RYE. I was in the advanced English classes in high school, and we skipped over it because they just assumed we would read it on our own anyway. I'd like to, but I just never have.
Is it fair to say that I don't have a "gap" book?
I'm usually in two scenarios:
1. I read the great books before they hit the bestselling lists/become word-of-mouth topics.
2. I read them once they do because everyone says they are good.
I have read all of the classics. I spent two summers tackling every big one and I got through more than 200.
I could maybe mention some YA books that do well enough (not Harry Potter good), but those aren't really "gap" books in my opinion. HUSH, HUSH would be one example. But I'll read that at some point.
I actually forced myself to read LOTR after the first movie came out because I knew that if I didn't read them before I saw the whole trilogy I never would. They were better than I thought they would be.
As for my gap books, it's embarrassing how few classics I've read, so I'll say Jane Eyre, Pride and Prejudice, Wuthering Heights and anything by Charles Dickens. I've read the first four Chronicles of Narnia but that's it. I tried to read Lolita but even though I loved the writing it was too disturbing and I had to stop.
If we were talking movies I'd admit that I've never seen a James Bond movie.
My classic gap is "Rabbit, Run" and the rest of the Rabbits. Honestly, I quit halfway through the first one because I knew I couldn't wait four whole books for Updike to kill him.
My popular fiction gap contains Dan Brown and John Grisham. I actually finished The Firm (the resolution, I kid you not, was photocopying), then swore off any others.
Fun topic, Nathan. By the way, LOTR? Mostly about walking. 🙂
I'm also a Brit and have to admit to never even picking up a Jane Austin novel. Have enjoyed all the movies and TV dramas though
My name is Ishta Mercurio, and I have never read the Harry Potter series. The first one is on my shelf, and I'll get to it soon.
Lit fiction: Long out of college, I tend to avoid the Big Boys: Mailer, Roth, much of Updike, Pynchon, etc. Too much testosterone and not enough insight to interest me. In my 40's, I've finally given myself permission to stop trying to find value.
As a wannabe popular fiction writer, I struggle with my aversion to Twilight, as well as anything by Sparks or Crichton and most Stephen King. I know that people love and buy their stuff in huge numbers, so I feel I should understand the market, but my time is limited.
And life is too short for dystopian novels. No matter how well-written by a writer I otherwise love. Yes, I'm talking to you, PD James. I hated Children of Men and so will not read The Road or The Handmaid's tale or Oryx & Crake. Blech.
I'm going to try Rushdie again, though. But not until next month and I've whipped through 3 or 4 romances (Chase, Kinsale, Quinn or Kleypas) to soothe my wounds from taxes.
*Whispers* 1984.
Nathan! LOTR before too much longer. I've re-read it or parts of it nearly every year since I was in High School. YEP, I'M A GEEK! But I'm also a writer! This year, I'm working on Dickens. Finished A Tale of Two Cities, and the longest boring book in the world: David Copperfield. This summer: Oliver Twist!
Oh, and I've tried to read Faulkner a few times, but never managed it. Oh, and A Suitable Boy and also Count of Monte Cristo. OK, I'm an IGNORAMUS. HAPPY NOW, NATHAN?
About half the classics out there.
A CONFEDERACY OF DUNCES
…until I finally stumbled on a copy at my favorite Goodwill Store
My name is Becky and I have never read the Percy Jackson series nor Pride and Prejudice. It took me awhile for Twilight, and Harry Potter, but I was eventually sucked into both.
It's almost easier to list the books that I have read. But Harry Potter and Twilight are the main ones on my list.
For those of you who haven't read LOTR, I have a suggestion.
Find a child you can read to every night and read it aloud to them. It takes about a month and is a peak experience.
If it's a little girl, break it gently to her that "Merry" is not spelled "Mary". Otherwise, she'll be disappointed about a third of the way through.
Which is a shame.
Gatsby. And virtually every book in my Victorian Novel class in college since I met a really, really cute girl who took really good notes and was more than happy to let me, um, "borrow them" frequently. Besides, I took the class pass/fail. And, ironically, I ended up with a better grade on the final exam than that girl got. (This July we will be celebrating 20 years married. Yes, to each other.)
Most contemporary "literary fiction." Nowadays those books tend to dovetail stylistically too closely to commercial fiction for my liking. It took me several years but I finally gave in to the hype and read THE KITERUNNER. (It is generally categorized as lit fiction…?) Yes, a touching and powerful premise. But no, didn't read too well for me. I dunno, I guess it's a matter of personal taste.
I'm no Tolstoy and it's probably because I've never read any.
Lord of the Rings. I've only seen parts of the movies. It's on my long list of things to do.
Lord of the Ring and I can't watch the movies until I read the books or my credibility with the kids will be shot! Just doesn't interest me..I've read the first three Harry Potter but really not all that caught up in it.
Romance. I definitely need to read more romance. As a guy, I feel funky going into the romance section.
Haven't read Harry Potter series, nor Twilight, nor Lord of the Rings trilogy. Still trying to get through James Joyce's books without one eye in a Brittanica!!
I haven't read Lord of the Rings, The DaVinci Code or Twilight. I prefer to find my own things to read, rather than be told I *have* to read a particular book.
Harry Potter. Have always been meaning to read the series, but always seem to get distracted by something else.
For me it's William Faulkner and James Joyce, and I am bombarded with references to their work. I read the first chapter to the Twilight books, and never got any farther.
Adrianne, the LOTR fan
I never read Pride and Prejudice or Jane Eyre. Somehow they slipped under the radar of my high school's reading list. I tried to pick up PP on my own later, but I just couldn't get into it.
I recently spent time working on my Gap list which used to include Bleak House and To Kill a Mockingbird. I have avoided most of Nicholas Sparks so far. My big Gap confession would have to be most of Shakespeare.
I think I'm the only woman on the planet who hasn't (and doesn't want to) read EAT, PRAY, LOVE.
i work in a bookstore – so it seems like every day someone comes up to me and thinks I am seriously lacking because I haven't read his/her favorite author
I haven't read Lord of the Rings either! I honestly have no interest in reading them. The one time I've glanced through the first book, I about fell asleep… and not because I have narcolepsy!
Most of the classics: War and Peace, Catch 22, Tale of Two Cites… YOu name it, I haven't read it.
And I only read To Kill a Mockingbird and Catcher in the Rye last year. I'm currently trying with Anna Karenina, but it's painful.
I didn't read the Lord of the Rings Trilogy either. I read the Hobbit but stopped there.
I didn't read a single Harry Potter book.
I only read the first three Twilight books and each one got more lame than the last, so I stopped.
I also did not read the Chronicles Of Narnia.
There are plenty of others, that even through taking extensive courses on both British Lit. and American Lit. I didn't read.
Vonnegut. All of it.
Twilight. 😉
1st. The Robert Ebert article made me smile, right on target.
2nd. If someone can explain "LOST" to me, that would be awesome, because I'm lost.
And, to the topic:
Okay, I apparently had some very brutal teachers in middle/high school because I'm pretty sure I've read all the classics and my eight grade teacher was a major fantasy fan, so Lewis, Tolkien &c. were mandatory reads, amongst many others. As far as modern? Haven't even picked up a Harry Potter, have seen one of the movies (don't remember which one) Guilty of reading about sparkling vampires, but it just pissed me off. Haven't read Percy Jackson and tried to read the divinci code but apparently I'm too stupid because I could not get my mind wrapped around those first twenty chapters spread out over those first five pages. WTH???
The Fountainhead, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Crime and Punishment
I have so many gap books I can't list them all here.
I hope one day to get to them, but I'm a writer so I have to make time to write and improve.
Lots of fantasy I'd love to read: Mercedes Lackey Valdemar series, Heinlein, ALL of Jim Butcher's books (still trying to get all of my Dresden Files.)
As soon as school is out I have a YA paranormal to edit and a children's book to finish. Catching up the books I bought recently will be my reward to meeting those goals.
Hugs,
Tambra
Harry Potter. I only picked it up about six months ago, bought every book in the series and am on book three–but like you said their are so many books and I just keep putting it down to read something else. Not because I'm bored with the story, it's actually jsut as good as everyone says! Its just, there are so many books, I need to read as much s possible in the short time that I have.
Having at least three books on the go at once is normal to me.
So there. I said it. Now stop asking me what I thought of Harry Potter!
Glynn's having read LOTR three times makes up for you and me, Nathan.
I've never read anything by Stephen King. I love Tolkien though.
I haven't read The Lord of the Rings either. I also haven't read Harry Potter or The Da Vinci Code. I tried to read the Da Vinci Code, but I didn't like it and I rarely read anything I don't like unless I have to.
I read a few mg and ya books per week, but have not picked up Twilight.
Also, I once picked up the first Harry Potter, didn't like it and didn't finish it. The world moved on without me. I'm not going to apologize.
…I'm Elliot, and I've never read anything by Sparks…ever.
Lord of the Rings is overrated. For a more entertaining read, look to The Hobbit.
Well, I finally made myself sit down and read the Harry Potter series a month ago. Took me a week. They actually weren't too bad. I could see why the woman was so successful.
But there's nothing on God's green earth that'll get me to read J.R.R.Tolkien's books. They bore me to tears.
And one of Dan Brown's novels was enough. Pass on them, too.
And I wouldn't have read the Twilight books if my daughters hadn't insisted. I disliked them intensely. Good basic plot but in my opinion you had to hunt too much for it.
You haven't read Lord of the Rings? I can't say any of the things in my head right now. That's…wow…I'll keep my mouth shut.
As for books I haven't read, that's easy. Classics and/or literature. My husband makes fun of me about it all the time. Though last year I finally read To Kill A Mockingbird and LOVED it. It now has a place of honor on the shelf right next to LotR.
The Catcher in the Rye is sitting on my desk at this very moment for the peer pressure placed upon me to eradicate it from my gap list.
Basically if it's a modern piece of literature and it is not Christian Historical Fiction, I haven't read but a few biggies. Not even sure I'd recognize them if you waved them in front of me.
I do feel ashamed that I haven't read Jack Kerouac's On the Road since one of my college professors was a Kerouac expert/biographer and referenced him every class, but amazingly never assigned the author.
As an English major and English teacher, I was quite ashamed that the first time I ever read Romeo and Juliet was when I had to teach a homebound student my third year of teaching, I read it for the first time with him.
As a member of the homeschooling community many are aghast they I have never read Anne of Green Gables. The movies were forced upon me. One day I'll get to them.
But for all my classic novel gaps, I can say that I have read everything ever written by Tolstoy, so that's gotta count for something right?
Now if you'd asked me for gaps in movies and television, I think most of America would be ashamed of me.
Lord of the Rings. (No desire to either.)
Ender's Game.
Catcher in the Rye. (I started to, but Holden annoyed me too much.)
The book I started, and never finished, but always thought I would read, is "Ulysses." I not only have the book, I have a commentary to help me make sense of it. And have had since college. So maybe it won't happen.
But I've got to say, on a personal level, it almost hurts to hear you have never read "The Lord of the Rings." But to each their own …
1. Twilight.
2. Harry Potter.
3. The Secret.
Well. I was the only person of the sixty taking Honors English my junior year to actually finish Moby-Dick, but somehow I never finished One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, even though I wanted to. I still intend to eventually.
I've read most of the classics mentioned here, and I've been rather proud of not reading Sparks or Meyer, so I don't consider them gaps. (Thanks anon 12:15 for the link to Mr. Ebert's beautifully written review of New Moon: a tractor driven in low gear through Brylcreme, indeed.) I have not, however, ever been able to get through Joyce. Or Pynchon. And I admit to not liking Updike much, although I read all the Rabbit books.
How about that rabbit named Angstrom on LOST last night? How's that for a nod to the book-addicted community?
Hello, my name is Sue B and I haven't read The Lord of the Rings either, nor Harry Potter, Twilight, Da Vinci Code, Grapes of Wrath, Lord of the Flies, and I've only read one Dickens.
i haven't read harry potter, LOTR, any nicholas sparks, any jane austen (this from an English major!), and i pretty much avoid romance (no offense to romance readers, it just happens), so i haven't read the time traveler's wife. or confessions of a fourth grade nothing…
i live in a sad, sad world, apparently.
Ah, now I understand why Nathan doesn't pick up fantasy clients – he hasn't read the fantasy bible! You need to get cracking, Nathan.
I haven't read The DaVinci Code.
I tried to read one of those wildly popular books recently and didn't like it all.
I haven't even attempted a Dan Brown, a Harry Potter or a Twilight, and have absolutely no intention of doing so.
To not read Lord of the Rings is a heinous crime (ooo) – how can you understand Stephen King without it? I haven't read Chronicles of Narnia or Twilight or much of the current genre.
I don't know why TWILIGHT is on the top of everyone's list… it should be a book that we are proud to have not read.
In other news, I've been spending the better part of a year flipping through old classics… working my way through THE IDIOT right now. I can't think of many classics that I haven't read…
Er, that may sound snobby, sorry. A one-two punch of condescension and egotism doesn't usually work for anyone, I suppose. Anyway, in closing, this was a fun thing to read through! I guess what I'm trying to say is that when someone says to you "Have you not read LOTR?" you can respond, "No, but have YOU read Yates' REVOLUTIONARY ROAD?" or some other book that they haven't read. It helps to soften the feeling of inferiority 🙂
Lord of the rings too, and i guess some of the classics like great expectations. I know i will read them one day….but when??
http://www.keremmermutlu.tumblr.com
No LOTR! I can't even imagine. Mine gap would be a lot of classic, like Alice in Wonderland and Moby Dick. Thankfully or sadly, a majority of my friends would never have book discuss so this situation would never arise.
However there is one friend and we got going one day on the works of Phillip K Dick…. That would be the exception.
The Colour of Magic – Terry Pratchett
Mine would have to be Lovely Bones. All my students have read it, and there I was, knowing nothing about it.
The Bible – Though I have read Genesis 27 times.
Never picked up Harry Potter or the Twilight series or any book by Nicholas Sparks. These are my three mainstream "gaps."
Lord of the Rings? They made a book out of that movie?
Great topic, Nathan! It made me think, and that made me write:
http://thedisgruntledbear.blogspot.com/2010/04/novel-approach-to-dating.html
Despite being a huge fantasy fan and a writer of MG fantasy, I have never managed to get all the way through LotR. The sad thing is how close I've come. I read The Hobbit, which I enjoyed, then read something like the first 2.75 books of the trilogy, but I was bored almost the whole time. I only got that far because I forced myself to bring only those books to work, so I had nothing else to read on lunch breaks. When work stopped (it was a summer job), I simply couldn't make myself finish the last bit of the last book. Kept meaning to sit down and do it, but could not.
The funny thing is, I can only roll my eyes so much at people who are frantically upset by this, because I understand where they're coming from. I am frantically upset when someone hasn't read Harry Potter.
I've read Moby Dick, Chronicles of Narnia, Huckleberry Finn, Shakespeare, the first Twilight book (New Moon is my official spider-killing book) etc.
I have not yet read the Harry Potter series. I read exactly one page of Emma, and told my professor he could flunk me cause I wasn't contaminating my eyes with the rest. (I think I was too young to get anything out of it. When the memory fades a little bit more I'll try again.)
Your not having read the LOTR reminds me of how I came to the books way back in the late sixties. I was in the dorm and the younger brother of one of my friends was this total geek who had gone so far into the books he had the book posters on his walls and wore the eponymous tee so popular at the time: FRODO LIVES. He waxed poetic over these books. It totally turned me off. I refused to read them though Sci-Fi and Sword & Sorcery books (Edgar Rice Burroughs/Robert E. Howard were my gods in those days). It wasn't until I decided to stay on campus during the spring break rather than fly home to my parents that I suddenly found myself with too much time to kill. Desperate for something to read one of my girlfriends had long ago left the first book with me so I reluctantly picked it up. I read and read and went out and got the other books and the Hobbit. I spent spring break immersed in Tolkien's world. I suspect that there have been fantasy series written since then that are likely better. I can't say so definitively because I eventually went on to read other genres. But LOTR pretty much kicked it off. You should read them. You won't be sorry.
Wow, I can't believe how many people haven't read Harry Potter or Twilight or the Lord of the Rings Trilogy. I haven't read any of them either!!! But now I don't feel so badly about it. I did read the Hobbit which was excellent but couldn't get into the Lord of the Rings trilogy. However, the only books I actually feel guilty about not having read are Huckleberry Finn, Anna Karenina and Crime and Punishment.
And I see the first comment echoes my own gap book: Twighlight (and the ensuing sequels). No sparkles for me, kthxbai.
Harry Potter. I have one on my shelf but never got beyond the first chapter. And Rushdie – tried one of his and it just annoyed me.
My friends all loved Marnie but I can't read anything where the dog dies in the end -and I know Marnie does. Racing in the Rain, though I liked-that was different.
Never read Narnia, Chick Lit or made it through Moby Dick. I also haven't read most of the children's, YA books a lot of people talk about (Sendak, Judy Blume, etc.), because I went from Dr. Seuss to adult fiction. Like LOtR.
All of the Twilight series. I refuse.
Well I'm one of the ones whose never read Harry Potter. I've only "read" them now thanks to listening to the audio books on long car trips. We have all the books and hubby keeps pressuring me to read them but yet I haven't…
Also haven't read Lord of the Rings.
And I was an English major. 😛
Nabokov. One day…
The Hitchikers Guide to the Galaxy. I did see the movie, and I think it probably makes a better book (not that the movie was bad, but it definitely felt like I was missing something that probably would have gotten in the book).
I think I have friends who would disown me for admitting that outloud, or else shove five copies of it into my hands.
And yes, I'm writing sci fi. Bad, bad Kristi.
Funny you should ask. I'm about a third of the way into Anna Karenina (and loving it — way more than War & Peace). So that gap's about to close.
For anyone who knows they have gaps, but can't remember what they are, I highly recommend Hallie Ephron's "The Bibliophile's Devotional". Not only will it encourage you to pick up and read those canon texts you must get to at some point in your life, it will point you towards books you'd otherwise look at. And you will be greatful!
The buzz one is Twilight, but I did read the first and just can't. Catcher in the Rye, I intend to read.
My big gap is the 'current hot names'–the James Pattinsons. (I'm on the Dragon Tattoo waiting list) I just do most of my reading from the library, and those waiting lists for contemporary are so long.
You've inspired me though, to make my list of missing classics–thanks to your reader with the Fill in the Gaps blog–I am working on my list!
Stranger in a Strange Land. To be fair, I have _tried_ to read the book a few times, and I just cannot get into it. One of the few that I've not been able to finish.
P.S. I have to admit Peter Jackson stayed true to the books, well more so than any other producer out there. You'd not be missing much, were you to see the movies. Not the same, I know, but it's the one that you could probably get away with. Rumor has it he's talking The Hobbit.
My name is Karen Mahoney and I have never read The Catcher in the Rye. I blame being British. 😉
I'll get round to it. One day. I suppose…
Anything by Cormac McCarthy. I tried reading The Road, or maybe it was All the Pretty Horses. Anyway, it was bleak and didn't have any quote marks. After about 10 pages I thought, This is hard and it's depressing. Screw it.
I have read the Ring and the Hobbit more times than I can remember, though.
I might as well be confessing to a murder, since I've never told anyone this – but what is the internet for, if not anonymous confessions? I have a Master's degree in English Literature from NYU and I've never even read Moby Dick. There, I've said it. Now I just need to move through the guilt and shame of it all and try to put the pieces of my life back together. Or I suppose I could just sit down and read the damn thing. 😉
Okay. I finally read TWILIGHT, but I have not (yet. YET) read a book by John Green, E. Lockhart, Libba Bray or Meg Cabot. And my goal this year is to read one book by each of them.
Atlas Shrugged. But if I took it off my shelf I wouldn't have anyting to hold up the rest of my books.
Nothing by Dickens, none of Hemingway's novels (despite my best friend being a world-renowned Hemingway scholar), no Updike or Mailer, very little Stephen King (or any other horror, for that matter), nothing by Margaret Atwood. I believe I read Moby Dick, but it was ages ago and I didn't find it all that exciting.
I don't read most popular fiction when it's popular, though the above-referenced friend begged me to read the Twilight series (save for the last – no one can make me) so we could attempt to figure out why they were so bloody popular. The fact that they got published pushed me to finish my first novel, which will not get published because it does not deserve to. I did read all the Potter books, prompted first by my children's interest.
I feel that the books I haven't read yet, the ones that everyone has read already, I just can't read. Some times the characters are just so stereotypical.
I haven't read Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings.
I think my gap books are ones written by men in the YA group.
Here's my Fill-in-the-gaps-list
http://fillinthegaps100.blogspot.com/2010/01/laura-elliotts-list.html
I was interested when I compiled my list that I couldn't come up with more female authors. Since I was focusing on the classics, this wasn't a huge surprise. I wanted to include as many female authors as I could and at that I only have 40% female authors on my list.
Just read: The Stranger by Albert Camus, and 100 Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez [my favorite novel of all time, so far], Away by Jane Urquhart [MAD love!] Weetzie Bat by Francesca Lia Block and now I'm reading The Wizard of Oz [centennial annotated addition and LOVING it]
So, don't feel bad, Nathan. I never read The Wizard of Oz!
Mainstream Gap:
I've never made it to the end of any of the classic Russian novels. Lots of Russian short stories, and most of Chekhov's plays, but no War and Peace.
Genre Gap:
Mervyn Peake's Gormenghast trilogy. All the friends who know my taste tell me I'll love at least the first volume. It's sitting on my shelf, haunting me.
Compensatory Geekery:
I've read Tolkien's Silmarillion four times, and included some excerpts on the syllabus for an Intro to Mythology class I taught. That's got to count for something.
Gone With the Wind, Anna Karenina, half of Lord of the Rings, A Christmas Carol, and others.
I haven't read Harry Potter either. I think we are a bigger group than we think. Perhaps we should shed the stigma and unite?
I also haven't read Eat, Pray, Love. I think this means I have to turn in my card and resign from womanhood.
TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD.
I've been meaning to. I should.
I haven't.
New to the blog -Hello. I have read book one of LOTR and could not get into book 2 or 3. I also have not read Great Expectations, even though I loved David Copperfield.
I have a shameful number of gap books – Twilight, Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, The Sound and the Fury, Of Mice and Men … the classics I WILL read one day (Faulkner and Steinbeck), but until my kids are old enough to want Harry Potter read to them, I don't have much interest.
Eat, Pray, Love. I don't even have a clue what it's about.
Twilight. sorry, can't bring myself to read them.
Annnnd, I am on 3rd Harry Potter book right now. Not totally sure if I will finish the series though they are pretty enjoyable!
Read Lord of the Rings for the first time when I was 13, wasn't super impressed, read it again in my 20s and LOVED it.
Did read Da Vinci Code and half of Eragon- hated them both 🙁 is To Kill a Mockingbird good, or just required? (Hello, I am not an American!)
Wow I feel positively "well-read" at this point!
I LOVE LOTR, but completely understand why some people find it wordy. I enjoyed Twilight, it needs some polishing in terms of the actual writing, but it did remind me how it felt to be a 14 year old girl again :D.
I have read loads of "classic books" due to an elective I took in varisty (inter-textual reading). This meant I had to read not only the classic novel, but modern books that referenced it. Vastly enjoyable and eye opening!
I also (sadly) had to read huge amounts of over-political fiction, because somehow (in Africa) anything referencing race or politics, becomes an instant great/classic/must subject students to this.
I have never read The Lovely Bones. I cannot get a copy here and the Dollar exchange rate makes Amazon a pipe-dream. I did manage to catch the movie.
I managed to avoid cheesy Romance books…till this year. My well-meaning hubby bought me a mixed bag of second hand books. I read the first one, because you should always try new things. I read the next one, to ensure the first one was not merely some diabolical attempt to write the world's worst book. I have not read a fiction book since, any fiction. I am too terrified that it might just reminded me of reading those books. If there was ever a time I wish I could scrub my brain…
I'm baffled why people would consider not having read Twilight as something to be embarrassed about.
I can understand why industry folks have to read the most popular books in order to better do their jobs, but readers don't have to.
I'm not a 13 year old girl. Why would I read books aimed at them? Surely that would be more embarrassing.
I never read anything. When you've read intensely for decades, it feels like been there done that for most, and the rest aren't interesting enough to entice. I've had a go at Twilight in the last twelve months but only because it's a genre I'm very interested in and write in, myself. Had a go at Harry Potter and admired the craft but couldn't warm to most of the characters or the cliched elements and situation.
Another confession by an English major – I haven't read Moby Dick or Anna Karenina. About the latter, I knew it would not end well and I just couldn't take another depressing Russian novel after Crime and Punishment.
More recently, a couple of years ago, everyone in my set was reading and raving about Sue Monk Kidd's The Secret Life of Bees. I couldn't get into it.
Asimov's, Heinlein, Lord of the Rings, Lord of the Flies, Scarlet Letter, Moby Dick, any Shakespeare … and the list continues to grow.
Don't get me wrong, I'm an avid reader. I am always devouring a book or two a week but I just have not read much that was written before 1960.
I've never read the Wrath of Flies… Just kidding. I hadn't read enough Faulkner, and am NOW FINALLY reading Requiem for a Nunn, which is VERY funny.
Oh, so many! I haven't read The Great Gatsby. Or Animal Farm. Or Anna Karenina (though I do intend to give it another go–trying to read it in two nights in college was NOT a good idea). And I only read the first book in the LOTR trilogy–I just couldn't take any more of that.
LOL I haven't read LOTR either. The first movie bored the crap out of me. (Maybe it was the monochromatic brown color scheme… yeah that's exciting.)
And I have read Harry Potter.
I read the first Twilight book but not the rest.
Will NEVER read:
Moby Dick.
The Da Vinci Code.
Eragon series.
Lord Of The Rings Trilogy.
Twilight Saga (after New Moon).
Wheel Of Time Series.
The Time Travelers Wife.
Anything by Nickolas Sparks.
The Scarlet Letter.
Have Not Had Time To Read But Want To:
The Hunger Games.
Looking For Alaska.
Chronicles Of Narnia.
Hush, Hush.
Pretty much anything really popular I steer clear from. I tend to hate most best sellers.
Harry Potter. I never seem to find the time. I'm too busy reading other children's books.
Catcher in the Rye. I hear people go on about it and instead I'm like…umm I can talk to you about The Sound and The Fury instead, lol.
The Last 4 Harry Potter Books–I got bored after Book 3
LOTR
Twilight
Moby Dick
Nearly any/all modern "Great Adult Books" : The Help, Kite Runner, etc..
I'm a young female writer, and I've never read Jane Austen. I plan to, I just haven't yet…
I've never read Harry Potter, Dan Brown, Lord of the Rings, or Twilight.
Out of those, I might want to read Lord of the Rings but not the others. Oh, To Kill a Mockingbird & Lord of the Flies are still on my "gap" list.
Oh, and Hamlet.
Hi! My name's Natalie. I'm from Ukraine.
I've never read
The Odyssey (Homer)
Don Quixote (Miguel de Cervantes)
The Old Man And Sea (Ernest Hemingway )
David Copperfield (Charles Dickens)
etc. ((
Mine are Marley and Me and The Pillars of the Earth.
I cannot believe how many people on this thread have not read Pride and Prejudice, or anything else by Jane Austen. Seems like a literary travesty!
I've never read the Lord of the Rings Trilogy. I've only read part of the first book of the Chonicles of Narnia, so that's still a gap for me… a gap I hope to fill, though! I haven't read the Millennium Trilogy either… or The Hunger Games trilogy. Or The DaVinci Code.
*gulp* Pretty much everything Stephen King has ever written is one huge "gap" for me. (I tried reading Misery, but I just couldn't get into it.) I think that's the only "gap" I'm ashamed to admit I have. This has actually prompted people into asking me how I live with myself, lol. Perhaps, someday, I will check out the local library's Stephen King collection. 😉
Also, like Deb and David, I haven't seen the The Godfather, either… or Star Wars or Star trek.