The Close Reads podcast has been reading Kristin as a bonus for paid members. It is well worth a paid subscription to be able to listen to these discussions and the insight and encouragement they bring. I've also found the Adudible version quite good.
I’ve been reading Kristin Lavaransdatter with Close Reads. What a difference it has made in my enjoyment of this very long book. I have two chapters until I finish, and it feels like quite an accomplishment. I highly recommend the book and the podcast.
If I only knew which one is it. Every year I tell myself that I will read form my own shelves, but then I work at the library and have an e-book subscription.
haha I have a similar problem in that I "work" at the library — since I work remotely, I bring my computer and grab a desk, but then inevitably browse the stacks when I need a break.
I have the same problem. I volunteer at the local Friends of the Library every Monday morning and I usually find something to bring home to put on my TBR pile. 😁
I have dozens. It's not that I don't want to read them or are intimidated by them, it's usually just that I haven't gotten around to them because there are so many tempting shiny new books.
One of the oldest is Too Late the Phalarope by Alan Paton, which I found at a second hand bookshop shortly after reading Cry, the Beloved Country, probably in high school or maybe my first year at uni. And apparently I've forgotten about it.
There's also some Umberto Eco which I bought because the editions looked nice - The Name of the Rose, The Island of the Day Before and Foucault's Pendulum - but the books don't really appeal to me. I bought them in high school and they moved house with me five times by now. At this point, I'm too stubborn to give them away, I feel like I just have to read them because of our shared experiences. It might take a few more years, though.
Me too! Though I admit Foucault’s Pendulum has made several moves with me now, and I haven’t gotten to it once yet. I too say every year that this will be the year that I finally read more from the miles and miles of piles of unread books I have strewn all over my house, yet every year the siren song of the bookstore lures me in to buy yet more books I’ll probably never find time to read, given how easy it is to access even more books online (and for free!).
My problem is I have so many unread books but keep buying more! Lots of Dickenses, many history books - chunky biographies and surveys, a three-set history of the Crusades by Runciman, War and Peace, Middlemarch, The Gulag Archipelago. But I’m listening to The Count of Monte Christo on audiobook and am reading Les Miserables now. Slow progress.
First impulse was to say Under the Volcano, which I bought in 1984 and still plan to get to one of these days. Then I remembered that I bought Dune in approximately 1978 and still haven't made it all the way through.
Nah, it was just one of the regular Berkeley editions found in B Dalton and Waldenbooks and other now extinct mall bookstores. They were everywhere back then - the books and the bookstores.
Yeah, I have a nice gilded and artistically bound volume of David Copperfield that has been in the family since I was a kid. It came to my house at some point... so I guess Dickens is haunting me too. So is Thomas Mann. I need to read Doctor Faustus for my own writing work on music, but I just haven't cracked it yet.
The Count of Monte Christo (since about 543 BC - just joking)
Middlemarch (since about 2007)
Any Given Day by Dennis Lehane (I cannot understand why I have taken so long to read this - it has been on my shelf since about 2010. I have read all his other books which I adore).
Until last month it was Le Morte d’Arthur by Sir Thomas Mallory. The longest now is several from the Wordsworth Hardback library collection (1995) which I started collecting in the early 1990’s. Only one left to collect, Barchester Towers by Anthony Trollope, but it’s now out of print! There are about 26 in the collection, several I have read include Sherlock Holmes, Dracula and several Jane Austin. The not read yet include some Thomas Hardy, Daniel Defoe and several Dickens ones.
Uncle Tom's Cabin and the Complete Works of Arthur Conan Doyle. They are right next to Beloved and Bullfinch's Mythology. Then, there is the rest of Agatha Christie.
Two that i finally did read are Gone With the Wind and The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich. I have in mind to read all of Dickens in order of publication, but the edition of Pickwick Papers that I bought in London in 1976 (!) still awaits! There are more: Brothers Karamazov, The Adventures of Augie March and Quiet Flows the Don. All were paperbacks belonging to my mother and were all purchased sometime in the 60’s. I’ll get there!
I really enjoyed it. The author was in Berlin so besides lots of historical background, the reader gets his personal observations. It’s quite readable. His Berlin Diary is on my TBR list.
I have to do all audio books and have books on my Wish List on the library going back 15 yers. OnAudible i hav books i bought from a year ago. Jessica by Bryce Courtenay is the oldest. He wrote The Power of One. He is a brilliant author but his books are chunky. Two others are Mr. blood’s Last Resort by Jess Kid and Dog of the North by Elizabeth McKensie.
I would've said the Bible but I finally read the whole thing in 2022 using one of those year-long reading plans.
I guess it's Hannah Arendt's The Origins of Totalitarianism. It's been on my shelf since college, and I only ever read brief extracts for a couple of classes. It was on deck for a pandemic-era read-through, but I never got around to it...not the sunniest tome, alas.
Haha, I actually finally read A Secular Age back in 2018, believe it or not! Highly recommended but it took me 2 months to really work through it properly.
Shogun by James Clavell is definitely among the ones I've owned longest that I bought myself, which I did early in college. I have since managed to gather two of the other entries in the Asian saga, without making any headway on actually reading it. I know I'll enjoy it, it's too up my alley for me not to. I loved the recent TV series as well. The way I tend to consume things means that I'll want to do the whole series without large breaks between them and since they're each large as individual books, it's a daunting commitment.
Besides that, in high school my girlfriend of the time's grandmother gave me about two dozen military history books that belonged to her recently deceased husband. They're mostly WW2 history, which is genuinely an interest of mine, so I was and am grateful to have them. I've read quite a few in the almost 10 years since then, but I'm sure I still have more than half left to read. Someday!
I was once told books are the most patient things in the world. They wait to be picked up
So true!
Kristin Lavransdatter by Sigrid Undset purchased in 2006. This is next up on my big book project.
Ah yes, I'm sure that's unread on *many* shelves.
The Close Reads podcast has been reading Kristin as a bonus for paid members. It is well worth a paid subscription to be able to listen to these discussions and the insight and encouragement they bring. I've also found the Adudible version quite good.
Thank you for the suggestion and podcast information. I am very interested in pursuing that information to help while reading the book😃
I’ve been reading Kristin Lavaransdatter with Close Reads. What a difference it has made in my enjoyment of this very long book. I have two chapters until I finish, and it feels like quite an accomplishment. I highly recommend the book and the podcast.
I ran out of gas on that one only a couple of hundred pages from the end!😂🤪
I've done that before (though not with this book).
Oh no! 😱⛽️
Kristin Lavansdattar is on my unread shelf, too, although it has only been there for about four or five years.
If I only knew which one is it. Every year I tell myself that I will read form my own shelves, but then I work at the library and have an e-book subscription.
haha I have a similar problem in that I "work" at the library — since I work remotely, I bring my computer and grab a desk, but then inevitably browse the stacks when I need a break.
I have the same problem. I volunteer at the local Friends of the Library every Monday morning and I usually find something to bring home to put on my TBR pile. 😁
I have dozens. It's not that I don't want to read them or are intimidated by them, it's usually just that I haven't gotten around to them because there are so many tempting shiny new books.
One of the oldest is Too Late the Phalarope by Alan Paton, which I found at a second hand bookshop shortly after reading Cry, the Beloved Country, probably in high school or maybe my first year at uni. And apparently I've forgotten about it.
There's also some Umberto Eco which I bought because the editions looked nice - The Name of the Rose, The Island of the Day Before and Foucault's Pendulum - but the books don't really appeal to me. I bought them in high school and they moved house with me five times by now. At this point, I'm too stubborn to give them away, I feel like I just have to read them because of our shared experiences. It might take a few more years, though.
I've never read Eco! If you get to them, let me know what ya think. :) Good luck!
I have the same problem.
The Name of the Rose is one of my favorite books
Me too! Though I admit Foucault’s Pendulum has made several moves with me now, and I haven’t gotten to it once yet. I too say every year that this will be the year that I finally read more from the miles and miles of piles of unread books I have strewn all over my house, yet every year the siren song of the bookstore lures me in to buy yet more books I’ll probably never find time to read, given how easy it is to access even more books online (and for free!).
I feel like I should read The Name of the Rose but the cover (which I am clearly judging) makes it look boring.
My problem is I have so many unread books but keep buying more! Lots of Dickenses, many history books - chunky biographies and surveys, a three-set history of the Crusades by Runciman, War and Peace, Middlemarch, The Gulag Archipelago. But I’m listening to The Count of Monte Christo on audiobook and am reading Les Miserables now. Slow progress.
Not a problem at all. Keep at it! :) Gulag Archipelago is high on my list.
The longest hold out for me was The Hobbit. I bought it at a Scholastic book fair in the 5th grade and finally read it in my late, late 30s.
Nice! Great one to have finally gotten to.
So there's hope for your TBR pile..
First impulse was to say Under the Volcano, which I bought in 1984 and still plan to get to one of these days. Then I remembered that I bought Dune in approximately 1978 and still haven't made it all the way through.
Wow! Might take the cake. That copy might be worth something. :) Is it a Chilton printing or was it with another publisher at that point?
Nah, it was just one of the regular Berkeley editions found in B Dalton and Waldenbooks and other now extinct mall bookstores. They were everywhere back then - the books and the bookstores.
It was Ulysses, but I finally started it months ago and decided at page 120 to officially DNF it. I didn't care about anyone in it. Had to surrender.
I can guarantee you aren't alone in that one!
My sister is the only person I know who has finished Ulysses. I couldn't even get through Portrait of the Artist. Sorry Mr. Joyce.
Yeah, I have a nice gilded and artistically bound volume of David Copperfield that has been in the family since I was a kid. It came to my house at some point... so I guess Dickens is haunting me too. So is Thomas Mann. I need to read Doctor Faustus for my own writing work on music, but I just haven't cracked it yet.
Nice! Yeah, old classics have a way of gathering dust and staring at us. :)
The Count of Monte Christo (since about 543 BC - just joking)
Middlemarch (since about 2007)
Any Given Day by Dennis Lehane (I cannot understand why I have taken so long to read this - it has been on my shelf since about 2010. I have read all his other books which I adore).
"I cannot understand why I have taken so long to read this" --> Happens to the best of us! Sometimes logic eludes our reading tastes!
Until last month it was Le Morte d’Arthur by Sir Thomas Mallory. The longest now is several from the Wordsworth Hardback library collection (1995) which I started collecting in the early 1990’s. Only one left to collect, Barchester Towers by Anthony Trollope, but it’s now out of print! There are about 26 in the collection, several I have read include Sherlock Holmes, Dracula and several Jane Austin. The not read yet include some Thomas Hardy, Daniel Defoe and several Dickens ones.
Nice! Godspeed with your collecting.
Uncle Tom's Cabin and the Complete Works of Arthur Conan Doyle. They are right next to Beloved and Bullfinch's Mythology. Then, there is the rest of Agatha Christie.
Ah I love the Sherlock stories! Read 'em all a few years ago. Very worth it and pretty easy reading.
Two that i finally did read are Gone With the Wind and The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich. I have in mind to read all of Dickens in order of publication, but the edition of Pickwick Papers that I bought in London in 1976 (!) still awaits! There are more: Brothers Karamazov, The Adventures of Augie March and Quiet Flows the Don. All were paperbacks belonging to my mother and were all purchased sometime in the 60’s. I’ll get there!
Nice! I've also wanted to read Dickens in order.
How was Rise and Fall? It's sooooo long.
I really enjoyed it. The author was in Berlin so besides lots of historical background, the reader gets his personal observations. It’s quite readable. His Berlin Diary is on my TBR list.
Good to know!
I have to do all audio books and have books on my Wish List on the library going back 15 yers. OnAudible i hav books i bought from a year ago. Jessica by Bryce Courtenay is the oldest. He wrote The Power of One. He is a brilliant author but his books are chunky. Two others are Mr. blood’s Last Resort by Jess Kid and Dog of the North by Elizabeth McKensie.
Nothing like trying to get through a wish list!
I would've said the Bible but I finally read the whole thing in 2022 using one of those year-long reading plans.
I guess it's Hannah Arendt's The Origins of Totalitarianism. It's been on my shelf since college, and I only ever read brief extracts for a couple of classes. It was on deck for a pandemic-era read-through, but I never got around to it...not the sunniest tome, alas.
Same here on both counts! Though I just plowed through the Bible from beginning to end. Do not recommend. You did it right by using a plan.
Arendt is still unopened.
What about Charles Taylor? I know he's on your shelf.. :)
Haha, I actually finally read A Secular Age back in 2018, believe it or not! Highly recommended but it took me 2 months to really work through it properly.
Hardest non-engineering book I’ve read. Excellent though and similar multi-month effort.
Shogun by James Clavell is definitely among the ones I've owned longest that I bought myself, which I did early in college. I have since managed to gather two of the other entries in the Asian saga, without making any headway on actually reading it. I know I'll enjoy it, it's too up my alley for me not to. I loved the recent TV series as well. The way I tend to consume things means that I'll want to do the whole series without large breaks between them and since they're each large as individual books, it's a daunting commitment.
Besides that, in high school my girlfriend of the time's grandmother gave me about two dozen military history books that belonged to her recently deceased husband. They're mostly WW2 history, which is genuinely an interest of mine, so I was and am grateful to have them. I've read quite a few in the almost 10 years since then, but I'm sure I still have more than half left to read. Someday!
Ah I often see Shogun on used bookstore shelves and just can't pull the trigger on it. I have a feeling it would have a long stay on my shelf as well!