Indira Varma: Which book do you still mean to read, and why has it stayed on your list?

The question

Which book do you still mean to read, and why has it stayed on your list?

Originally asked

The Guardian, to a different person each week, The Q&A

A fixed Guardian Q&A prompt asked directly across respondents and years.

You answer as yourself. Nobody on FLAPSS answers as anybody else.

Recorded said elsewhere, not written here

This year, I was asked to be a judge for the Women’s prize for fiction and I’ve read 75 books in six months, so I’m parking shame for the time being.

The Q&A, The Guardian, 13 April 2024 source ↗

Mentioned in this answer

Organisation Women’s Prize for Fiction

Others on this question

View all 32 →

Rebecca Lucy Taylor

I never finished The Second Sex by Simone de Beauvoir.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 29 November 2025 source ↗

Chris McCausland

To Kill a Mockingbird – I was meant to read it for an exam and I didn’t and I cheated. I was allowed to use a laptop to type my answers because I couldn’t see my writing, so I hid an electronic copy of the book on the laptop.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 15 November 2025 source ↗

Kerry Godliman

Loads. All the greats.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 9 September 2023 source ↗

Zack Polanski

I’m going to confess I haven’t finished The Climate Book by Greta Thunberg.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 6 December 2025 source ↗