The book recommendations site Goodreads had an interesting feature on books readers start but don’t finish. Here are their top five “abandoned classics”:

1. Catch-22, Joseph Heller

I have it on my shelf but have never read it.

2. Lord of the Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien

Read it for the first time the fall before the first movie came out. Once they got out of the Shire I couldn’t put it down.

3. Ulysses, James Joyce

I’ve read parts of it, and been to live readings of parts of it on Bloomsday, but have never managed to plow through the whole thing. One of my best friends is a big Joyce fan and even read Finnegan’s Wake (shudder).

4. Moby-Dick, Herman Melville

Best book ever, obvs. I’ve read it twice (or two-and-a-half times if you count a rather halfhearted effort in college).

5. Atlas Shrugged, Ayn Rand

What’s this doing on here? I thought these were classics.