Top Ten Most Intimidating Books

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by The Broke and The Bookish and this week the topic is about books that I find intimidating.  I find that it's not always size of a book that's intimidating, (although in most instances that is the main reason I defer reading certain books!) but genre, language or complex themes covered.  

 

Books That Intimidate Me
 

1. War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy

The ultimate intimidator!

2. Outlander Series - Diana G

 I've seen so much love for this series I'm scared to start it! 
 

3. Ulysses - James Joyce

I attempted to read Ulysses at Uni but then I had to abandon my quest once I started my dissertation.  Since then I can't seem to put aside enough time to be able to even attempt another go at reading this massive stream of consciousness.
 

4.The Stand - Stephen King

Have you seen the size of The Stand?!  I'm sure my upper body strength would improve after reading Stephen King's hefty tome...

 

5. American Gods - Neil Gaiman

 I've seen a lot of negative reviews since I purchased American Gods, and this has somewhat put me off reading it.

Books That Once Intimidated Me

6. Life of Pi - Yann Mattel

I had no interest in reading Life Of Pi at all when I was younger, as I used to think that all Booker Prize winners were just for the literati.  Then I saw the movie and I just knew that I had to read the book.   

7. The Passage - Justin Cronin

There was so much hype surrounding The Passage when it was first release.  Too much for me in fact, as I backed away from reading Justin Cronin's epic vampire tale for over a year.  Not a small book by any means, it took me a while to be convinced that this was worth sticking with for 600+ pages.  Trust me, it is.
 

8. Zoo City - Lauren Beukes

I get it in my head that I'm too stupid for SF.  Then when I actually read it, I'm all like, hey I understood that and enjoyed it too!
 

9. Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy

Again, I always felt that I'm too much of an idiot to read classic Russian literature.  I may not have understood all of the farming chapters and some of the political parts, but I still enjoyed reading Anna Karenina very much.
 

10. Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell

Reading Cloud Atlas was hard work, but very rewarding.


What books intimidate you?