Top 5 Wednesday was created by Lainey and is currently hosted by Sam from Thoughts on Tomes. Make sure you check out the goodreads group.
This week’s topic is: Book You’re Intimidated By. Man, oh man are there a ton of books that I am intimidated by. I’m talking downright terrified to the point that I wonder why I have these books on my shelves. I’m going to keep this focused and only mention the books that I actually own. However you should probably know that there are more that my fear has kept me from even attempting to pick them up. Every last one of these books I want to read desperately, but then I look at them and ice cold fear begins running in my veins. I look nervously around my collection and find something a bit more palatable to pick up.
As always, in no particular order, the books I’m intimidated by.
The Name of The Wind by Patrick Rothfuss
This book is enormous. Sure, I’ve heard wonderful things about it, but whenever I start thinking about actually reading this I’m reminded of just how long it is. It doesn’t hurt that it is a Mass Market Paperback and I know that I tend to read those even slower. I’m scared even though I know I won’t regret the experience once I dive into it.
A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin
Sometimes when you know how sprawling and complex a thing is it is even harder to get into it. That is most certainly the case with this one. I love the show and I know how dark it can get and also know that the book gets darker. I know how dense it is on the show and know that the book is even more dense. I tried reading it previously, but only got 100 pages in before I promptly gave up. Now I tell myself that I’ll finish it once the show is over. That gives me a few years to build the courage.
Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clark
This is a big book. When I realized, I didn’t know how dense it actually was. It is over 1000 pages of Mass Market Paperback, which means it will easily take weeks for me to finish. Maybe even a month. It is kind of terrifying to jump into something that difficult. I will say that I am very intrigued by this one. As it seems like it would be right up my alley based on the kinds of books I used to love.
The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson
You may be noticing a trend with these books, they are all long. Extremely long. I tend to not be too intimidated by books that are difficult to read. Thankfully, everything I have heard about The Way of Kings points to it sports Sanderson’s almost trademark easy readability. The problem for me of course is the length and how massive it looks on the shelf. It’s bigger than my dictionary and that scares me.
The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch
This is probably the one book I’m least afraid of. That doesn’t mean I don’t get palpitations at the look of it. It also happens to be the shortest on this list, but that’s not to say it is short. With this one I’m the most nervous that I won’t fall in love with the characters. I’d love to get reassurances, but I also don’t want the book spoiled for me.
What book do you think I should read first? What books are you intimidated by?
So, I pondered... 