[najida]

I've read about 20 or so of the list too....
But I have no urge to read them again. The issue isn't dull, its lack of connection.

That's what I'm saying. There are the books you read and you say "Great writer, classic story" and you never read that book again. They sit like unapproachable monuments. Important landmarks, but you have no desire to sit with them.

Then there are the books you keep you your shelves and reread for years until they are in tatters. You lend them out to friends in excitement. You chat about them on line with all kinds of "what ifs and if onlys".

Funny, but I sincerely believe the list of those books would have almost nothing in common with the first list.

[Borges]

Why be intimidated by reputation. I can't imagine reading something like War and Peace or Moby Dick just once. I don't know how many times I've read re-read Dickens with equal enjoyment.