Tuesday 23 January 2018

TTT (22) - Books I Liked But Can't Remember Much About

Once upon a time Top Ten Tuesday was hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.

Now, it's moved to the wonderful That Artsy Reader Girl. The rules can be found here. And this week's post here.

This week the topic is Books You Liked But Can't Remember.

OMG! This topic is basically one of my main problems when it comes to book series. I read the two or three books that are available, love them, but either have to wait for the author to write the sequel or (for whatever reason) don't end up reading the next book just yet. Years later I feel like I have to re-start the series from scratch, because just reading a Wikipedia article would totally feel like cheating. And might even spoil me (Wikipedia has done that more than once!) But then the wait for the next book is even longer and a few years later I'm faced with the same dilemma once again!
This is why with Outlander (Diana Gabaldon) for example, I am now waiting until all books are published before I will read the entire series from scratch. I don't remember anything from book 4-6 even though I've definitely read them.

Mostly though this topic is about books I read in my childhood. I grew up in a no video games and almost no television environment and mostly just read books. My parents had an extensive library filled with the Classics and I read a lot of big books that I know I liked but don't really remember all that much.

  
  
 
  1. Stephen King's Bag of Bones. I remember for a long time telling everyone that this was my favourite Stephen King (besides It) during my King phase. I don't remember anything of the story though? I should probably re-read.
  2. Jane Austen's Mansfield Park. This was my least favourite Austen. I read all her other books at least five times. This one only once. I should probably see what I think of it today.
  3. Umberto Eco's Name of the Rose. It's too dense and I remember there was too much Latin for me to honestly consider re-reading it. But apart from there being a murder and monks nothing stuck.
  4. Dostoevsky's The Gambler. But also the other books I read by him: The Idiot and the Brothers Karamazov. I remember loving his writing and his books but I don't remember the story. What did stick with me was the story of Crime and Punishment.
  5. Ken Follett's Pillars of the Earth. I remember they built a cathedral. And I found the sex scenes exciting as a teenager. Nothing else stuck with me. I should probably give this one a re-read.
  6. Uncle Tom's Cabin by Stowe. Couldn't even have told you the author. Whoops. All of the plot has left my head.
  7. Charles Dickens' David Copperfield and Oliver Twist. I know I read them both. I remember gasping a few times. But I can't remember why the gasping happened or what the plot of either book was.
  8. Cooper's The Last of the Mohicans. I enjoyed it a lot, I remember that. But that's literally all I can remember. But when I see the title the soundtrack music starts playing in my head. Great, that's my ear-worm for the rest of the day.
A lot of these books look daunting to me as an adult. I guess I was a stubborn child with nothing else to do.

How about you? Let me know in the comments.

24 comments:

  1. I read all of Jane Austen's books back-to-back at the start of last year, and Mansfield Park is the only one that I can't remember at all. In fact, I think I was forcing myself through it because I just wanted it to be over! Other than that, I'm yet to read any of the other books on your list. I want to read both David Copperfield and Bag of Bones, but I haven't had the time to read either of them yet.

    You can see my choices here.

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    1. Hmm, your reply makes me NOT want to re-read Mansfield Park. Hopping over to look at your list :)

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  2. I haven't read any of these but they look quite interesting. I guess we have limited brain storage to remember all the bookish information :P I hope you get to re-read a few of them soon :P

    I definitely have to start reading Jane Austen this year :D

    My TTT :http://flippingthruthepages.com/2018/01/ten-bookish-websites-apps/

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  3. I’ve read Pillars, too, and I’m with you...I don’t remember much about it.

    I am definitely planning to reread the Dickens. Everyone says they are wonderful...I want to remember something about them!

    https://readerbuzz.blogspot.com/2018/01/books-i-really-liked-but-cant-remember.html

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    1. I remember loving them, but that's about it... hopefully I'll get to re-read some of these books soon!

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  4. I'm glad I'm not the only one who has read but then forgotten a lot about so many beloved classics. I was looking at my shelves while coming up with titles for this post and realized I probably could have done a top 20 or 30 just of classics I've read and loved but forgotten.

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    1. Yeah, I could have included a load of German ones but then figured no one will have heard of those!

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  5. I have the same problem with big series! Trying to remember all the details- argh. I remember seeing The Name of the Rose movie, but I've never read the book. Same w/ Mohicans- and yes that theme is a definite earworm!

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  6. I loved Pillars of the Earth, but it's such a massive book, it's hard to remember everything! And I have problems remembering stuff from classic books; I mean, the language and words can be quite different from how we speak today, so sometimes, I don't even KNOW what was going on in the book, let alone remember it!

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    1. It's so MASSIVE. Most of these are... I dread to think I'd have to re-read!

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  7. I loved Bag of Bones but yep, could probably do with a rereading. Have you seen the movie adaptation? It wasn't horrible but like with 99% of Stephen King adaptations, the book is better.

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    1. I gave up on King adaptations after too many let downs. Why are they still trying to adapt his stuff?

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  8. I remember nothing about Bag of Bones. Just... nothing.
    I’m in the same boat with the Outlander series. I’ve read up through The Fiery Cross (#5 I think?) but that was 10 years ago or more and I’ve lost all details by this point. I’m going to have to start from the beginning again (ugh) or find some pretty in-depth spoilers.

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  9. Oh gosh, I hate forgetting things about books especially when I know I loved them, but it happens all the time! LOL

    -Lauren
    www.shootingstarsmag.net

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  10. I've not read any of these, but I do have Bag of Bones at home somewhere. But I've read so much Stephen King over the years that sometimes it's hard to separate his books from each other.

    Here is our Top Ten Tuesday. Thanks!

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  11. I actually haven't read any of these books and Mansfield Park is the only Jane Austen book I ~haven't~ read so it is taunting me. I do feel you though. There are so many books I read when I was younger that I loved but cannot remember much about. I recently found out this book I loved as a kid actually has sequels but I have no idea how to get my hands on them *cries*

    Thanks for sharing! :)

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    1. Oh, there's one book from my childhood that I can't find...and I tried to Google it so many times and I can't remember enough for Google to throw up any results!

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  12. 'Bag of Bones' and 'Uncle Tom's Cabin' are still on my to read-list :) One day, I'll get to them!

    Good to see that you remember liking the King :D

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  13. I've not read any of these if I'm honest but some of them I hear about all the time so maybe I should check them out and broaden my horizons.

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  14. I read Mansfield Park years ago-- and I'm not entirely sure why I read it, considering how I technically haven't finished Pride and Prejudice (and I enjoyed what I've read of that far more than Mansfield Park!)
    I'm the same way about long series-- I hate feeling like I need to reread the entire series before I can understand the next installment.
    My TTT

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  15. Despite being an avid BBC or ITV Austen story fan, the only of her books I've read is Sense and Sensibility. I just can't seem to "get past" the older style that classics so often have. I admire those who read classics (like Austen or Dickens) because I know they do tell great stories.

    Thanks so much for visiting Finding Wonderland. :)

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    1. That older style didn't bother me as a child but now bothers me as an adult, how weird is that?

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