lou's library

Sometimes I’m a silly little goose and avoid books that I’m almost certain I will enjoy once I have gathered up the courage to read them. Certain books I want to keep for a rainy day, others I know are gonna require a certain amount of focus and perserverance and so I keep delaying the inevitable and let them gather dust on my shelves. As I don’t particularly like this habit, I am telling you all about these books in the hopes of it helping me to get my shit together and just read them.

1984 by George Orwell

Sigh. This would be a reread for me, but it would be my first time reading 1984 in English (I read it in German as a teenager) and it’s been so long since I read it that I only remember the bare basics of the plot, aside from the stuff everyone knows about 1984, even if they’ve never read it. Obviously, George Orwell was a genius and I know 1984 is a hugely significant book, not just because of its cultural and societal impact, but also because of its warnings about totalitarianism. It’s just not a particularly fun book to read, even less so in the year 2025, when the real world is starting to resemble that of 1984 a little too much. Needless to say that fact makes it an even more important read. And I know that my silly little brain will be blown away by the story and Orwell’s writing once I have gathered up the courage to start reading 1984 again. Let’s hope that will be sooner rather than later.

Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens

Mr. Dickens and I have a real love-hate relationship. I thoroughly enjoyed Hard Times and love A Christmas Carol, whereas Great Expectations was such a letdown (perhaps my expectations simply were too….great?). I love his social critique, and his characterisations but my god, does the man ramble on about insignificant details for pages at a time (unless someone can convince me that a three page description of a house is actually vital for the atmosphere of the story?). To me, Oliver Twist is the ultimate Dickens novel, based on absolutely nothing other than it being the first of his books I ever heard of. Do you really know his writing if you’ve not read Oliver Twist? Me thinks not, although I might be very wrong, of course. I might hate it. The odds seem fifty-fifty. But as I’m a tad worried it might be a bit of a drag, Oliver Twist has been looking at me accusingly from my classics shelf for years now. For all I know I might love it, seeing as all I know about it is that it’s about a poor boy growing up in an orphanage (might not even be an orphanage but a poor house, I truly couldn’t tell you). It all sounds rather bleak, but I say it’s high time I get over myself and find out if this is a Dickens I love or if good old Charles will let me down.

Babel by R. F. Kuang

You know when you see a book everywhere, to the point where you think you don’t even want to read it anymore? It’s stupid, really, but that’s how I felt about Babel by R. F. Kuang for years. Whenever I opened Youtube or Instagram, someone would be recommending this book, which slowly but surely made me think it couldn’t possibly be worth the hype. That theory doesn’t make a lot of sense, seeing how the reason Babel blew up in the first place is most likely that it is a genuinely great book. So it’s a good thing I finally caved and asked for Babel for my birthday. And now it’s sitting next to all the other books my family and friends so generously gifted me and I am waiting for the perfect moment to read it. Because now, the expectations are obviously high, so I don’t want to ruin it by reading it when I’m not in the right mood, especially as it seems to be a bit of an intense read. But something tells me autumn might be the best season to read Babel, which means I’ll most likely pick this up soon. Finally!!

Almost Everything by Hemingway

No, that’s not the title of a novel by Ernest Hemingway, that’s my way of saying I am avoiding the vast majority of his literary work. I have read two of his short stories (one of which I loved), as well as For Whom The Bell Tolls, which is one of the most captivating books I have ever read. Based on my positive experiences with Mr. Hemingway, you might wonder why I continue to not read the rest of his books and stories? I have not the slightest clue. I own a bunch of his novels and all of his short stories, so technically I am good to go. It just never seems to be the right time, something else always seems more important. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not on some deadline here, but it’s been seven years since I last read anything by Hemingway, and that’s no way to live, I dare say. Because that man could write. So I’m depriving myself of literary masterpieces here, really. If any of his other books are only half as good as For Whom The Bell Tolls then I am in for a treat!! If I can get over myself and pick up something by him, that is. We shall see.

There you have it, the books and authors I have been avoiding, for very silly reasons indeed. Are there any books you keep putting off (maybe also without knowing why)? Let me know down below!! ❤