Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.
I am once again a day late with my Top Ten Tuesday. Oops! Even though I had made the list in advance, I didn’t write the actual post yesterday. I still wanted to do so, though, so here it is! My top ten books that were hard to read, for whatever reason. As always, this is in no particular order (although American Psycho definitely tops the list…).
- American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis
Anyone who has read my review on this novel will know why it’s on this list. I couldn’t even finish American Psycho, it was so gruesome and awful and just… left me feeling really sad and scared. - Cinnamon and Gunpowder by Eli Brown
I didn’t even post a review of this novel on here (I read it in Dutch for another website), but it was bad. Perhaps it had to do with the translation, but I don’t believe I can blame it all on that. This novel had me rolling my eyes pretty much every two pages. - Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer
This book was so touching and raw. I loved it, but it was also really sad, being both about the aftermath of 9/11 and the Second World War. - Sonny Boy by Annejet van der Zijl
Sonny Boy is a Dutch novel based on a true story about interracial love during the Second World War. It’s a heartbreaking story, and knowing it’s all based on something that actually happened makes it even harder to read. - Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
I had to read this novel for my studies, and absolutely despised it. It left me with a bad taste in my mouth and I seem to remember a discussion in class about Conrad’s racism. - The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
I read The Kite Runner when I was still in high school (I must have been about fourteen or something), and man, did it home. There are two scenes in particular that I will probably never forget. That doesn’t mean I don’t think this is a great novel, though. - My Sister’s Keeper by Jodi Picoult
This one’s still fresh in my memory, as I wrote a review about it only last week. I thought this novel was really good, but at sometimes it was hard to keep reading because of all the despair and hopelessness. - A Dry White Season by André Brink
This was the first novel I’ve read about apartheid, and just like with My Sister’s Keeper the despair and hopelessness of the situation sometimes made it hard to keep reading. - A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce
I had to read this novel for another one of my university courses and I just thought it was quite dull. It was okay, I guess, but I had trouble to keep on reading since I just didn’t want to, really. - Prime Deception by Carys Jones
This novel clearly needed to be looked at by another editor before publication because it was riddled with spelling mistakes and typos, which made it quite frustrating to read.
And that’s my list! Do you agree with my choices, or do you think I’m completely wrong about some of these novels? Let me know!
Books Baking and Blogging 
The Kite Runner – amazing, loved it! It was hard to read in some points, though, I agree. I studied Heart of Darkness as well, and I sometimes think that studying a text can ruin it for you (depending on the teacher!)
I disagree with you on the James Joyce front, only because I have a massive soft spot for him! I love reading your top tens, because they remind me of the fabulous books that I’ve read/am yet to read 🙂
I thought the Kite Runner was amazing as well, and it definitely left a mark on me, I think partly because of those hard scenes. I’m pretty sure I will never read Heart of Darkness ever again, though.
I’ve never read anything else by James Joyce (I believe), and I did enjoy parts of A Portrait etc. but I think my not liking it had to do with the time frame in which I had to read it as well.
Thank you so much, Gabby! I’m glad to hear that 🙂
Have read three of these, and yes, they were tough to read at times.
Sometimes tough books are the best books, though. 🙂
True. Bleak House was tough at the beginning but really became amazing soon after.