Top Ten Tuesday - Books I Just HAD To Buy

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature / weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. Each week we make a top ten list from a given topic.

This week's topic is

Top Ten Books I Just HAD To Buy ... But Are Still Sitting On My Bookshelf

My first thought was, only 10? I could make a list at least five times that size (I probably shouldn't admit that, huh?). To narrow it down somehow, I tried to find the books that have been gathering dust on my shelves the longest.

1. The Complete Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
A frind lent me the first two (or was it three?) books in the series eight years ago, and I immediately went and bought the omnibus edition of all five books. I haven't picked it up since.

2. The Book With No Name by Anonymous
"An untitled book by an anonymous author brings death to anyone who reads it." Of course I had to buy it. Still haven't read it (no, I'm not scared).

3. When the Lion Feeds by Wilbur Smith
I had to buy this one. No, literally. Amazon was having a 3 for 2 deal and I needed one more book to get the discount. At the time it sounded interesting, but today I couldn't tell you why it caught my attention even if you gave me a $10 giftcard. Obviously it has failed to catch my attention ever since that first time.

4. Dangerous Lady by Martina Cole
I bought this in a wonderful bookstore somewhere in Covent Garden eight or nine years ago. A 17-year-old girl who is the queen of organised crime in London's underworld; sounds fascinating, right? That's what I thought – until nine years passed and I'm suddenly no longer in the same age group as the heroine. That, and the book is huge.

5. The Cryptographer by Tobias Hill
Huh. Don't even remember getting this one. Wonder what's about?

6. Raven Queen by Pauline Francis
A few years back I was going through a Philippa Gregory phase and wanted to read more about the Tudors. Not so much any longer.

7. Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson
I honestly don't know why I haven't read this one yet. It's got pirates, damn it!

8. The Templar Legacy by Steve Berry
I think this one came from the same haul as number 3 (seems I would have been better off not placing that order). I keep hearing good things about Berry's books, but I still haven't read this (or the next one in the Cotton Malone series, which I interestingly enough also own).

9. The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley
Oh my God, I actually had to blow dust off this one. I love Arthurian legends, so when I spotted this at a sale I had to get it. It has survived moving house twice, so it really deserves to be read one of these days (preferrably before I move again, because it is HUGE).

10. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
Yeah. Maybe one day.

Now I feel ashamed. And a little sad. I think I will go and hug a book now.