My list this week is a little varied. Some of these books were hard for me to read because they were so good. Beloved and Lolita are probably the two best books I’ve read. But the fact that they are done so well and dealing with such difficult subject matter really made me feel edgy and nauseous the whole time I was reading them. The Bell Jar kind of falls into that category too. Other books were hard because I found them boring or had a hard time understanding what was going on. Anyways, here are my top ten books that I had a hard time reading. Feel free to ask me why in the comments.
Thank you to The Broke and the Bookish for hosting this weekly book meme.
Alison Doherty 
Agree with you on Beloved and Lolita – important books, but hard to read alright.
Definitely. I felt sick to my stomach reading both of those books.
I reread The Scarlett Letter a few years ago and I was relieved that it was as hard to get through as an adult as when I was a teenager.
It is just so dense, and the subject matter leaves a lot to be desired as well. I have a friend who’s favorite book is The Scarlett Letter, and I just don’t get it at all.
Water for Elephants was SO hard for me to read with the animal cruelty in it. I mean, I get that this is how it was done back in the day but I found myself skimming some scenes.
Curious why you found On the Road hard to read!
Yes, the animal cruelty was so hard. I definitely skimmed as well.
On the Road, felt very repetitious to me. I really enjoyed the first 100 pages, but then the rest of the book felt boring and I had a hard time finishing.
I really want to try Lolita, but I am afraid to too. I definitely feel like its one of the books I “should” have read by now.
I understand how you feel 100%. It is a really good book, but the subject matter is so hard.
Brilliant list! I keep thinking I should read Lolita, but I am nervous to…
I mean, it wasn’t emotionally scaring. I just read it as fast as I could because I hated having that narrator’s voice in my head.
There were a few topics I couldn’t get past in Water for Elephants and didn’t make it through. I really tried to read The Scarlet Letter but just couldn’t make myself care about it. I think I may have Cliff Noted that one! Great list!
Thanks!
Why did you find Wicked hard to read? I found that it really dragged and the story was so hit and miss. I had to force myself to finish it after a couple of previous attempts.
Wicked was so long and complicated, and I never really felt like I connected with the characters enough to care about them. It was a long slog through.
Most of these books seems like heavy subject matters (And many I haven’t read)
Yeah, I think subject matter gets to me more than dense writing. And so many of these books are so well written that it makes the hard topics even harder to read about, because it feels so real.