The unexpected popularity of Capital in the 21st Century by Thomas Piketty has got us thinking about aspirational books—those titles we’ve only just cracked and will probably never finish. So we asked our readers: “what books have you bought with the best intention to read through to the end, but never actually managed to finish?” A lot of responders seem to be giving Piketty's economic tome a go, although using an ereader might make the task of reading the behemoth work seem less daunting. And while many readers are struggling to get through some massive contemporary books—Game of Thrones being one of the most popular—the majority seem to be stuck on the classics. Check out some highlights from the conversation.
“The Tale of Genji” - Theresa Kaminski, via Facebook
“Queen of the Damned by the great Anne Rice. I'm right there too!” - Brandon Jose, via Facebook
“I must admit: "The Power Broker."” - Alex Heard (@alexheard), via Twitter
“Phantom of the Opera and a few other classics” - Chani @chani_isaacs, via Twitter
“Howard's End and Room with a View” - Maria Booth (@mwabooth), via Twitter
“Fear Itself” - Tom Lowenstein (@tklowenstein), via Twitter
“Robinson Crusoe” - Leah G (@lovely113z), via Twitter
“I so badly want to read Bleak House, wonder if I ever will.” - Sean Pidgeon (@pidgeonwriter), via Twitter
“Hobbes Leviathon #unread ...waiting for a rainy day!!”- Dan Prendergast (@Dan_Prendergast), via Twitter
“War and Peace. I'll get to it one day...” - Melissa J (@Avid_Reader_MJ), via Twitter
“Shelby Foote's Civil War Trilogy. Just too long.” - Sam (@samazzouz), via Twitter
“Anna Karenina and The Three Musketeers. They look good on my bookshelves though...” - XU Connection Center @XUConnectCenter, via Twitter
“Most of the contents of my Kindle.” - CL Holland (@clhollandwriter), via Twitter
