Top Ten Tuesdsay: Intimidating Books

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted at The Broke and The Bookish.  

Each week a new top ten list is posted, and to participate all you have to do is fill in your top ten for the list.

This week the topic is:

Top Ten Books That Intimidate Me:

These are the ones that I really want to read, but am intimidated because I don't think I will be able to comprehend what the author is trying to say: 

1. any works by Dietrich Bonhoeffer
2. any works by Soren Kierkegaard
3. Gravity's Rainbow by Thomas Pynchon
4. Ulysses by James Joyce
5. Remembrance of Things Past by Marcel Proust
6. Orthodoxy by G.K. Chesterton

These intimidate me for other reasons:

1. Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand
   I like her philosophy, as I understand it, but I am intimidated by her reputation as a not-always-lucid writer.  
2. That Hideous Strength by C. S. Lewis
   This is the third of his space trilogy.  I read the first two, and started this one.  I had a nightmare about it and (well over 20 years later) have never been able to bring myself to try it again.
3. Dogsbody by Diana Wynne Jones
   I love Jones, absolutely adore her, and yet cannot bring myself to read this one.  It's about a dog!  I just can't do animal stories!
4. Deerskin by Robin McKinley
   Another author I love, but I'm nervous about the topic and can't get started.

On the other hand, I often see War and Peace, Lolita, and Les Misérables listed as intimidating.  I've read and loved all three, so even if I am scared to death of these guys, I've conquered my fear of those.

Top Ten Tuesday

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted at The Broke and The Bookish.  Each week a new top ten list is posted, and to participate all you have to do is fill in YOUR top ten for the list.

This week the topic is:

Top Ten Books I’ve Read So Far This Year

I've not read a lot of literary/notable books this year, as I've been on a vintage mystery kick, but these are the ones I have enjoyed the most.

Mine are not in any particular order, just written down as I've thought of them.

1. The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce
   This IS the best book (excluding rereads) that I have read this year and I recommend it to everyone, regardless of their preferred genre.  
2. The Black Thumb by Constance and Gwyneth Little
3. The Black-Headed Pins by Constance and Gwyneth Little
   I am so in love with the humorous mysteries of these ladies!
4. The Enchanted April by Elizabeth von Arnim
   I reread this beloved classic; it gets better every time.
5. Dead Men Don't Ski by Patricia Moyes
6. Down Among the Dead Men by Patricia Moyes
   My introduction to her mysteries; she is fantastic.
7. Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
   Another reread, and another fantastic favorite.
8. The Collector by John Fowles
   I can see why this has become a classic!
9. Mrs. Dalloway by Virgina Woolf
   Yes, another reread.  I'd often rather reread an excellent favorite.
10. Cleopatra: a Life by Stacy Schiff
    Fascinating biography.