Top Ten Books That Were Hard for Me to Read

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature hosted by The Broke & the Bookish

This week's topic is the top ten books that were hard for me to read be it subject matter, difficult book, cringeworthy, etc.

So it got me thinking. What have been some books that have been hard to read for me? My first response is anything non-fiction,  but then I realized that there are some fiction books on the list. So here they are - a mix of nonfiction, fiction (both Christian & secular), and classic literature.

1.  The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership by John Maxwell - This was  being read as a book study for a Mary Kay thing I was going through. I love my best friend. She ADORES nonfiction, and agreed to read this with me so that I could actually read it and stay in the class. I can't remember when I read a more boring book. In fact, I don't think we finished it. Reason for top 10: difficult to read

2. The Casual Vacancy by JK Rowling - I knew going into it that it wasn't Harry Potter and not to expect Harry Potter. But I can't remember what I expected, but it sure wasn't what I got! I really felt dirty after reading this book. Reason for top 10: cringe-worthy

3. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte - I read this in 8th grade. I remember hating it. I've not picked it up to read again since. On the flip side, when I read Wuthering Heights my senior year, I LOVED it! Reason for top 10: boring

4. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald - This was also required reading in school. Sometime in high school I believe. To this day, I still don't know what it's about as I don't remember a thing about it.

Reason for top 10: probably boring

5. Great Expectations by Charles Dickens - I've actually suffered through this book twice. Once in high school and once in college. I remember some of it (Pip, Miss Haversham), but that's it. I've read other works by Dickens that I have enjoyed, but this one was just not for me. Reason for top 10: struggle to read

6. Veiled Rose by Anne Elisabeth Stengl - I love fantasy. It's one of my favorite genres. I understand that Christian Fantasy has some high expectations to live up to (ie Chronicles of Narnia & Tolkien). But this one. It kept putting me to sleep. Often. And I was completely lost. It probably would have been helpful to have read the first book before this one. Reason for top 10: put me to sleep

7. Do You Think I'm Beautiful by Angela Thomas - The first time I attempted this, I got to page 11 and couldn't go on. Not because it was cringeworthy, but because I didn't want to hear the message. It was causing me to face things in my own life that I didn't want to face. Fast forward five years, I gave the book another chance and did manage to get through it. Thanks again to my best friend. She and I would read a chapter and talk about it together. It really ended up being a really good book. Reason for top 10: difficult to read

8. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by JK Rowling - I'm sure that this shocks most of you. Especially if you've known me longer than a minute. But when the first book came out, I really wasn't all that interested in it. In fact my college roommate had to read it for her Children's Literature Class and asked me to read it out loud. By the time we got to chapter 5, she asked me to read and give her enough info to pass the test, which I did. I liked it, but didn't love  it. It wasn't until I was teaching and my students were talking about seeing the movie, and I decided to see the movie, that I fell in love with the series. I now count this series as one of my favorites. Reason for top 10: wasn't interested

9. Wings of Glass by Gina Holmes - The topic of this one is very hard. It's not one for the light-hearted. The book deals with abuse and how the victim chooses to stay in the relationship. This was a book that surprised me. It really drew me in. I gave it 5 stars last year. This one is probably the only one on the list that I've got on here because of the subject matter.  Reason for top 10: subject matter

10. Kingdom Come by Tim LaHaye & Jerry Jenkins - I recently wrote a post where I ranted about this book and you can read my rant here. I did find it hard to read. And I was so disappointed in this. Which as a result, has made me disappointed in the authors.

Reason for top 10: cringe-worthy (for me at least)

And there you have it. My top ten.

What are yours? Tell me in the comments section. Leave me a link to your post and I'll stop by for a visit.