E.S. Raye

They say buying books and reading books are different hobbies.

If that’s true, then I indulge in both, and thus have a shelf full of books I fully intend to read. I even actually get around to reading some of them too.

But, alas, there are still a number that haunt me, and yet I keep putting them off.

Here are the top 5 books I physically own that I really need to get around to reading (with bonus Cosmo!):

The Hobbit – J.R.R. Tolkien

Starting off strong with an obvious choice!

No, I have never read this, nor The Lord of the Rings (though I am a fan of the films). High fantasy has never been my go-to genre, and Tolkien, as the highest of fantasies, has gathered dust on my shelf.

I tried to read it in university as part of a literature class, but I’ve always struggled to read things I have been told to read, rather than chose for myself.

I really need to get around to choosing this one.

Contact – Carl Sagan

As a lover of both science fiction and science fact, it amazes me that I haven’t read Contact by Carl Sagan yet.

I have seen the 1997 movie, starring Jodie Foster, and my understanding is that while the movie was generally faithful to the story, it simplified complex science and added an element of spirituality the book did not contain.

I’d really like to see for myself what that means, exactly.

The Hero With a Thousand Faces – Joseph Campbell

I first encountered the works of Joseph Campbell in university. I don’t remember the specific course, but I know it was an elective because I was studying psychology, not mythology or literature.

But, I found his ideas about how humanity keeps telling itself the same stories over and over very interesting.

Fast forward to a few years ago when I decided to make an effort to write a novel. Joseph Campbell came up again in my studies with regard to story structure and archetypes.

I bought this book because a lot of the websites and blogs about the writing craft I was reading referenced it, and I fully intended to read it.

Gas Giant Gambit has been published, but it’s never too late to learn something new to help with the next book.

Cain’s Jawbone – Torquemada

This book is the newest addition to my book collection on this list (it was a recent gift), and is, somewhat ironically, the book I am most unlikely to ever actually read.

If you’re unfamiliar with this title (as I certainly was), it’s both a murder mystery and a sort of word puzzle. It is only one hundred pages, but they are printed entirely out of order.

It is up to the reader, using “logic and intelligent reading” to sort the pages into the one and only proper order. Doing so will reveal who murdered each of the six victims.

As of this writing, only four people are officially recognized to have solved it.

This one may have to wait until my retirement.

Adventures of Sherlock Holmes – Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Don’t ask me where I got this beautiful, leather-bound and gilded copy of Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, because I don’t remember. It may have been a yard sale or thrift store. Either way, I knew what I was looking at when I saw it.

This book has a place of honor on my bookshelf–behind glass, where it is at least partially protected from dust and grime.

If I’m being honest, any real experience I have of Sherlock Holmes comes from Looney Tunes, Star Trek: The Next Generation, House, M.D., and any of the countless TV shows and movies that have tried to copy or retell these tales.

I’d love to see where it all really started.