Ohh wow, without pausing I could instantly reel off a long list of at least twenty or so books that I have wanted to read for the longest time but still haven’t, maybe even more. As a general rule I never impulse buy, I will ponder for a long time over whether I want a piece of clothing, if an expensive piece of technology is worth it (Most of the time it isn’t!) and also if I need or will use what I am buying. However there are two exceptions to this, sparkly things (I swear I’m a magpie) and books. If I see a book I want, all logic seems to fall away and I will make a snap decision to buy it, even if I know I won’t get round to it for years because of everything else I’ve got to read! And if I don’t buy it, I will PINE over it, badly.
So here are a few of the books I have wanted to read for a least several years but still haven’t gotten around to!
Ohh also, I’m in a random mood so expect lots of Caps Lock and brackets… 😉
Allow me to move on from my previous nostalgic day 11 post and kick off day 12 with
POSSIBLY EVEN MORE NOSTALGIA. Here I direct you to The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle
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When I was younger around the age of seven my mum recorded on video tape (Yes, VIDEO!) a cartoon called The Last Unicorn about um, a unicorn, who was uh, the last one… Anyway, the unicorn along with the help of a talking butterfly, a random woman, and an epic fail of a magician named Schmendrick followed a vague lead about a Red Bull (no, not the drink) who took all the unicorns away, covering up their footprints so no one could ever find them again. I was transfixed! And you know what? I asked for the DVD for my birthday last year and I was STILL transfixed. There’s something so magical about the tale, it’s perfectly paced with fantastical ideas, memorable characters and wonderful mythology! And to the guys out there, don’t switch off just because it’s got a unicorn in it, I know you’re thinking it! The film isn’t really girly and was made by the same creators of the The Hobbit cartoon. The imagery and music used is beautiful and atmospheric too. Ohh, and the whole thing may or may not be available to watch on Youtube, but you didn’t hear it from me. 😉
So, fast forward to late 2011 when I first started this blog and imagine my surprise when I came across Adam’s book review of The Last Unicorn! Like holy crap! Mind. Blown. NOBODY TOLD ME IT WAS A BOOK FIRST. WHY DID NO ONE TELL ME THIS?! From that moment on I desperately wanted to read the novel, yet almost two years later I still don’t even own the book! How’s that for procrastination? I probably own enough literature to start up my own library but this book has still slipped through my fingers. Why you ask? Well, because I’m vain. I want a specific edition of the book which is the image used on this post, but it seems to be very difficult to get hold of, impossible in fact. So if anyone knows where I can get one, please let me know!
Ok, the second book I have wanted to read for the longest time is…….The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank 
Baum which I finally purchased a physical copy of last week for 50p. I wrestled with whether I should even buy it because I’m a cheapskate (I mean come on, it’s 50p idiot brain why are you spending half an hour debating this!?) but also because I want to read the whole Oz series and the only way you seem to be able to do that is to buy them in volumes, unless you have a kindle. So yeah, this copy will probably end up redundant but it had so much character I thought I would buy it anyway. 🙂
I love the old 1939 film adaptation with Judy Garland singing about rainbows and yellow brick roads. In all sense of the word the film should be cringe worthy, but for some reason it never fails to put a smile on my face. Everyone is always so happy, and everything is so colourful! It’s a world where something as simple as clicking your heels with solve all your problems, a world that is more about the journey than the destination, helping people realise that what they’ve been searching for all their life (like courage) has always been inside them and they just haven’t realised it. You know, all that cheesy stuff. 😉
I can’t wait to discover the book version with lions and tigers and bears, oh my! I’m just worried if it will live up to my expectations…
Finally, remember that series I’ve gone on and on about in the past? You know, that silly little one called A Song of Ice and Fire that I’ve wanted to read for ages and my friend told me I shouldn’t buy so I borrowed the first book off a another friend to get around the technicality? Yeah, just as I was leaving the bookshop the other day someone donated the first five books.
And I bought them didn’t I?
Of course I did. 😀
Is there a book out there that you’ve wanted to read for a longest time but keeps escaping your grasp? 🙂
What’s the 30 Day Book Challenge you ask? Click here and find out.
Image Sources:
Header banner: My own image, please do not reuse.
The Last Unicorn Book Cover: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13124003-the-last-unicorn
Blogs-Of-A-Bookaholic 
Insurgent by Veronica Roth…. I even own it, but every time I go to read it I get distracted by something else.
I have the same problem but with Divergent! For some reason I can’t convince myself to pick it up, and the film release is going to be here before I can read it at this rate. 😛
I’ve been wanting to read The Wizard of Oz forever too and it just keeps alluding my grasp. (Darn my forgetfulness and lack of money)!
The Last Unicorn was made by the same creators as The Hobbit cartoon? I HAVE to see this movie. Like today. Great picks for today’s post. We’re doing a good job at keeping up with the challenge, eh? I feel quite proud of us! Go us! 🙂
It does! Maybe it’s a particularly sneaky book. 😉 I used to forget about it for periods of time but would always come back to desperately wanting it again.
It was! You’ll definitely have to let me know what you think if you watch it, I would love to hear your thoughts. 😀 I have to say even now as a nearly adult it is one of my favourite films. Thanks, you too! I think we are doing very well, this challenge is tough, yay to us! Thanks for reading. 🙂
OMG THR LAST UNIVORN I DODNT KNOW IT WAS A BOOK! That was like my favourite childhood movie <3<3
Ahem sorry i got so excited i didnt bother checking my typos .. *sigh*
HAHAAA! That was MY reaction the first time round! I can’t believe you’ve seen it too, maybe this film is more well known than I thought?!
No worries, I make typos when I get excited too. 🙂
Okay, since I’m an obscene movie fiend and apparently spend my life hermitted away watching cheap 60s films and reading fantasy novels, it shouldn’t be too shocking to confess but I have seen this movie!!! I was realllly young though when I did so I forget everything except that “atmospheric” (great word) feeling to it like you said it had. The three cartoons that conjure up this “feeling” for me are The Last Unicorn, The Hobbit, and Wizards – a very bizarre and wacky 70s movie by Ralph Bakshi. The film summary says “Earth has been devastated by a nuclear war instigated by five terrorists, and it has taken two million years for the radioactive clouds to once again allow sunlight to reach the surface. Only a handful of humans have survived, while the rest have changed into mutants who roam the radioactive wastelands,” but elves and fairies and wizards are still on earth, and there’s a war that ensues. To be honest I didn’t see it from beginning to end because at the time I saw it I was up late working on a paper and became so excited by something (it may have been a spider) that I spilled Coke all over my binder -.- The binder is still, literally, sticky to this day, despite the hot-water-cloth rubdowns it got! Anyway… I’m the queen of digression… I have not read The Last Unicorn book, but that sounds like a good story! Sadly, I did think the drink when I saw Red Bull.
On the other hand, I have read The Wizard of Oz and it’s really different from the movie. I don’t know if I really like it
But I really want to read the other Oz books because I love the movie “Return to Oz” (another weird favorite) that is apparently more true to the books based on what I’ve read.
I have not seen the Game of Thrones show or read any of the Song of Ice and Fire books! I am very displeased with myself, I must get on that! I hear phenomenal things about both so hopefully you’ll let me know what you think!
P.S. That Wizard of Oz cover IS full of character and it’s really sweet! There’s nothing like bargain book shopping!!! 😀 Great post!
P.P.S. Another obscenely long comment. Gah.
You’ve seen this movie?!?!?! That’s great! Most people I speak to have never heard of it. 😀 In that case you should pop on over you Youtube or Amazon and rewatch it, I was so amazed that it still held up years later when the film industry has gone crazy over special affects and making everything look lifelike. One thing’s for sure, The Last Unicorn was made with so much class and attention to detail, it really is beautiful!
I haven’t actually seen The Hobbit one I just knew they were by the same person, but now that this post have reminded me of it I’m going to make sure I watch it at some point this year. Ohhh no! Poor binder, ha! I bet it resents you and your Wizard film to this day. 😉 It’s funny, when watching it the Red Bull drink didn’t even occur to me but as soon as I wrote it down it clicked and I just thought ‘…well this is awkward!’ 😛 I’m putting Wizards on my to watch list right now!
If you like those kind of wacky fantasy films I would definitely recommend if you haven’t seen them – Little Nemo Adventures in Slumberland (kind of studio Ghibli style but less wacky/out there storyline) The Labyrinth with Jennifer Connelly in, The NeverEnding Story and The Dark Crystal, they’re all along a similar sort of line. 🙂
Ohh no, I had a feeling that might be the case.
Ohh well, I guess I’ll find out soon enough. I haven’t seen Return to Oz but I did watch a cartoon when I was younger called The Lion of Oz which I loved.
Love the TV show, hoping I love the books!
P.S. THANK YOU. 🙂
P.P.S. You never need to apologize for long comments on my blog, I love them!
I’m definitely going to check out Little Nemo Adventures in Slumberland! That sounds like a good combo because I love studio Ghibli – ermagerd Spirited Away, um, I cried SO HARD. I am a sap, really it’s pathetic. AND I love The Labyrinth (I think you have ESP because I mention it in the blog I’m posting tomorrow!!!!!!), The NeverEnding Story and The Dark Crystal!!! *fangirl croak* I was especially fond of The NeverEnding Story 2 because I had a crush on Jonathan Brandis as Bastian. I want to read the book some time but I’ve never actually even seen it anywhere!
I read the whole storyline and it looked like it could have been a very decent fanfic in print but in film it just wouldn’t fly, especially with all the over-the-top CGI they do to compensate for less focus on the acting. I can’t wait to check out Game of Thrones/A Song of Ice and Fire, and I’m really glad these comments aren’t unwelcome! haha Off I go to read more about Katniss Everdeen, the girl on fiiiiiiiire. XD
The Lion of Oz?! I never saw it! But I bet I’d like it. I like almost anything Oz… well… excluding that recent James Franco movie
Spirited Away is the only one I’ve seen and it was the most bizarre yet excellent thing I’ve ever seen! Haha, now way that’s so funny, maybe I should start charging to pay my student bills. 😉
I loved the second one as well but I think the first still remains my favourite just because as cute as he was in the second he started being mean to everybody! Hmph *grumpy face* I know it was for a reason but my childhood brain was like MANNERS. Lol.
I disliked the James Franco one as well.
Not up to scratch at all, very slow moving, didn’t really add anything new and and I guessed the whole green witch twist before it happened and just no! It was bad, very bad. 😛
I hope you enjoy more Katniss!!!
What? “The Last Unicorn” is a book? I have to read it now! I have a long list of books that I want to read, but just haven’t yet. I missed out on a lot of classics in high school like animal farm and farehheit 451. I really want to go back and read those as well as, the Chronicles of Narnia. How sad I haven’t read any of the CoN books!
It is! It’s amazing how these things aren’t advertised isn’t it?! If I’d know at the time I would have rushed out to buy the book, and I wouldn’t have even cared about which cover it had. So glad I could let you know it exists, it almost seems like a well kept secret. 🙂
I can so empathise with the long list to read, it can get a bit out of hand sometimes can’t it? If anything is worth adding to the pile it’s got to be this book though!
I missed out on pretty much every classic at school, amazingly we read barely any books for English. I got Of Mice and Men and two Shakespeare plays and that was it, hmph.
Hehe, I’ve read two of the Narnia books and keep meaning to get back to them! I have to admit they weren’t my favourite but a lot of the story ideas in them were awesome.
Thanks for reading. 😀
Holy crap!!!!! So many things to say – I am going to forget something.
1) You are definitely my twin because I do the exact same thing shopping for books. I get it in my mind that I have to have a certain book, and then if I can’t find it, I pine over it badly too. I actually kind of obsess over it. Like the Wicca series for instance. I kept telling myself that I didn’t need it because I have them all on my ereader, but I just couldn’t stop thinking about them and just had to have them in real book form. So, I said what the heck, and I ordered them.
2) I just downloaded The Last Unicorn for free!!!!!!!! (it’s the night for exclamation marks)
3) OK, make sure you are sitting down. Are you sitting down? They sell that exact edition of The Last Unicorn at http://www.chapters.ca (Chapters is a Canadian book chain). I don’t know if you can order from England, but let me know. If you can’t I would be more than happy to order it for you and mail it to you because you are my bestest book buddy!!
4) Yayyyyy!!!!! You finally got the Game of Thrones books. That’s awesome :).
5) As for your question, there are too many books to even know where to begin. Tons of books that I want to read but haven’t yet.
Hahaa that’s exactly what I like to hear!! 😛
I don’t think the world could have made us more similar with book related habits if they tried! It is truly a match made in literature. 😉 I obsess too when it comes to a book, if I can’t get it and I really want to buy it I just can’t stop thinking about it! So I’ll try and come up with all these excuses that will allow me to get it, LOL. Sometimes after a while it will wear off but with something like Game of Thrones it doesn’t. I think if I ever did feel out of character and bought an eReaders I would end up buying all the books in physical form too, and that would not be good for my pockets!!
YAAAAAAAAAY. I love exclamation marks, I know it’s bad to use them in writing in terms of books etc but for internet comments like this it’s the best way to show how you’re feeling! And it’s not like we’re being graded so I say hell yeah to the !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I was sitting down, BUT NOW I’M SITANDING UP. Thank you so much for the offer Cindy you are too kind!!! I am going to research this website and another one someone else has mentioned lower down the page to see if they do shipping to here even though they’re not the UK sites, but I may get back to you. 😀 THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE LINK CINDY!
Don’t worry – if you ever buy an ereader, I can tell you where to get all your books for free, so even if you bought the real books too (like I often do) you wouldn’t be spending any more money :).
About The Last Unicorn, I was totally serious. If you can’t get it, I would send it to you in a heart beat :). That’s what book buddies are for!!
Ohhh it’s good to have connections. 😉
Thank you, you’re the best Cindy! (Also I’ve just noticed your email come though, looking forward to reading/looking at it tomorrow. 🙂
Great choices! I love The Last Unicorn and the Song of Ice and Fire series. I hope you can find that copy of The Last Unicorn. It is a beautiful cover that fits the majesty of the story. I know amazon.com stocks it, but you are in the UK right? Can you buy from amazon.com, or do you have to buy through amazon.co.uk?
I have a lot of books that I have wanted to read, but haven’t gotten around to, because my “own, but haven’t read” pile is massive. I buy them quicker than I can read them.
Thank you Tanya, I’m so happy to have found another The Last Unicorn fan! Me too, it has been calling to me for a long time but someone always remains just out of reach. I mean, the other aren’t bad but they don’t have the same majesty and beauty about them that the film version at least, certainly deserves. 🙂 Yepp I am in the UK and the UK seems to have something against making the book cover easy to get, lol. I’m not sure if I can buy it thought .com but I’m going to try and find out, thanks for the idea!
I think it’s a world wide bookish problem. 😀
First off, thanks for the plug for my blog, that’s always nice to see.
Secondly, the version of The Last Unicorn that you’re in search of is the version that I own (it’s even complete with the Rothfuss quote at the bottom), I believe I bought it from my local Barnes & Noble, but not sure if they have that exact version in the UK or not. And it’s been a while since I read the book, so I had to dig it out from my stack of books to make sure that was the version I had (my bookshelves are very strangely organized, but it works for the space I have for them).
I was also a little surprised when you said the first 5 books of ASofIaF and I didn’t see A Dance With Dragons, but then I saw that they split up A Storm of Swords into two books, which is kind of odd, I don’t even remember offhand if it’s the largest book in the series, and yet that’s the one they split up. It’s been quite a while since I’ve read those books as well, but they’re quite well done. Personally I think that The Wheel of Time is the better series, but that’s also the one that I read first, as an added bonus though, The Wheel of Time is actually finished with the 14th and final book having come out in January of this year, and it was fantastic.
Lastly, perhaps I’ll have to look into reading the Oz books at some point in the future, we’ll see what happens with that though, there’s still some other stuff on my shelf that I’ve been meaning to get to.
No problem. 🙂
Yeah I think that’s the main issue I’m having, the super pretty cover I want was probably not released in the UK where I live because it seems to be readily available to those in the US and Canada *sigh*. I don’t know why they wouldn’t use it here too because the other cover are so naff and childlike and that must affect his sales surely. Less adults will be less likely to pick it up because it doesn’t look like it’s aimed at them!
Yepp, it’s very weird, I don’t get the splitting up thing other than they were trying to get more money out of the books. It confused me too because I though why isn’t it just book three and book four as opposed to book three part one and two. Odd, very odd. Glad to hear you enjoyed the series. I actually have the first Wheel of Time book but I’m a little scared to start it because again the series is so long so it’s a big commitment money and time wise. I don’t think I will be picking that one up for a while until I have finished some of the other series I have started. It’s so sad that the author died before completing them, but I’m glad it didn’t stop you from enjoying the last books. 🙂
Thanks for reading and commenting!
I checked Alibris – rare book seller – but they don’t have the cover of TLU that you want. Amazon US (http://www.amazon.com/The-Last-Unicorn-Peter-Beagle/dp/0451450523/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1376821047&sr=8-1&keywords=the+last+unicorn) and Amazon Canada (http://www.amazon.ca/Last-Unicorn-Peter-S-Beagle/dp/0451450523/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1376820972&sr=8-1&keywords=the+last+unicorn) have it though.
Let us all know if you find a copy!
Probably the one that has slipped through my fingers the longest is “Escape from Splatterbang” by Nicholas Fisk. I read an extract in a collection of sci-fi stories decades ago(!) and I’ve wanted to track it down ever since. I have cheated and looked the plot summary up on Wikipedia. 😉
In the same collection is “The Keeper of the Isis Light” by Monica Hughes. It took me years (and the invention of the internet!) but I did find it eventually…and the two sequels!
Thank you for the links Tony. 🙂 I’m going to try and work out if I can order from other Amazon countries or whether it has to be for the UK one, because that would make things much easier! I will definitely let you know if I get a copy, no doubt it would get a happy, over excited post all of its own. 😛
Ha ha, that’s an odd name, it definitely sounds like a sci-fi book. Wow it’s interesting that you still want it after all this time, there must of been something that really gripped you about it!
Good old internet, I’m glad you found your book. 😀
Oo! Ebay!
ebay.co.uk/itm/The-Last-Unicorn-Beagle-Peter-S-Author-/141031036609?pt=Fiction&hash=item20d61ad6c1
Hi! I commented, but I put some links in there for The Last Unicorn and I think it went into spam. 🙂
It did put you into spam, how dare it! Bad WordPress. Don’t worry, I always check my spam every time I go on WordPress so I always fish people out if they end up in there. 🙂
What what? I’ve never heard of The Last Unicorn! (Surprise surprise.)
The Wizard of Oz is one of my favourite films! I always end up forgetting that it is actually based on a book. I’d love to give it a whirl 😉
Oo I’ve been so tempted to buy the A Song of Ice and Fire books! Haven’t watched A Game of Thrones or anything so I haven’t got a clue what to expect. I’ve hovered in bookshops looking at them with a rather worried expression on my face because they are bloody massive.
Hahaa, most people haven’t I don’t think it’s very well known, the book even less so because it took me ages to find out about it!
YAY! An Oz lover. 🙂 Everyone in my home hates it because it was one of the only things on every Christmas when they were younger. Nobody here understands the awesomeness, I’m just worried if the book will live up to the film because I like it so much!
Me too! It was the one set of books I said I would allow myself to buy if they came into the shop…sure, I bought a few others along the way but when these turned up I knew I had to have them. 🙂 I love the TV series but I wish I had read the books first.
They are pretty big!
Good luck with A Song of Ice and Fire I have not long finished the second book 🙂
Thank you Jessica, I’m really hoping I’ll like them, fingers crossed. 😀
Their pretty epic books but so far I think they’ve been well worth the effort. I hope you will enjoy them too.
Thank you. 🙂