Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Books I've Had On My TBR The Longest

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

Today's Top Ten Tuesday is about the longest books we've ever read. I was trying to make this list, but I found out that according to Goodreads about 6 of those books are 1001 Dark Nights bundles (awesome stories, BTW, sooo worth the read), 2 were Harry Potter books and two were Sherrilyn Kenyon books. All awesome reads, but no one wants to see the same thing over and over again, really, and I personally don't want to write the same thing over and over, so I've decided to tweak the prompt a little bit. I've decided to write about the books I've been meaning to read for a long time now, but for some reason I've never quite found the courage to pick them up. I will say though that some of these books are not on my GR TBR shelf, for no real reason other than I've been meaning to read these since before GR existed or before I knew about it, and I just haven't added them on my TBR shelf. So without further ado, here are

Top Ten Books I've Had On My TBR The Longest

• The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer - I've been meaning to read this book ever since I was in middle school, but for some reason I've always ignored my curiosity. This is mostly because I compare everyone who writes plays to Caragiale, a famous Romanian writer, and to Shakespeare. I have really high expectations towards plays and playwrights, so whenever I read a play that doesn't meet them I get a little bit less inclined to read others. I'll definitely read The Canterbury Tales though, if only to sate my years-old curiosity.
• Mansfield Park by Jane Austen - Actually every Jane Austen book except Pride and Prejudice, if I think about it. I've wanted to read her works for so long, but since Pride and Prejudice is one of my favorite books ever, I'm scared the rest won't be as good or as awesome as that one.
• Border Lord by Arnette Lamb - My historical romance foray started with two authors: Kat Martin and Arnette Lamb. I can't tell you which was the first though, because we're talking 2006-2007 here, so more than 10 years. I've read the last two books in Lamb's Border series, but not the first two. This is because at the time I read those two books, I couldn't find Border Lord and Border Bride anywhere that shipped to Romania (this is pre-free shipping era), and by the time my favorite second hand store had it in their stock, I'd already moved to another country. I'm hoping I'll find the two books I'm missing, as well as her other works soon though.
• The Last Days of Pompeii by Edward Bulwer-Lytton - This book has been on my TBR for the past 17 years (and I know that because my baby cousin was 6 months old at the time I discovered it). I have a strange story for this book though. I was on vacation and the lady we were was staying at had this book on her shelf. And since my grandmother was nagging me to read (I wasn't a reader at the time), I picked this book up. I think I got about halfway through when vacation ended and we headed back home, so I never got to read about the destruction of Pompeii. 
• Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie - I love the movie Hook, and I've always been meaning to read Peter Pan, but at the same time there's something keeping me from reading it.

• Sailor Moon by Naoko Takeuchi - Like many others my age, I grew up watching Sailor Moon, and when I found out there's a book that comes before the show I was ecstatic. Sadly, I have super high expectations, so I don't see myself picking this book up until I can get a handle on them.
• Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom - The Five People You Meet In Heaven is one of my favorite books, so I'm certain I'll enjoy all other Albom books. Sadly, I expect greatness and I know I need to keep those feelings in check before I can truly enjoy his other works. 
• The Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis - I've read the first two books and I loved them, but then for one reason or another forgot to read the rest of the books. Pair that with my indifference for the movies and I'm not 100% sure when I'll read the rest of the story. I'm also waiting to find the issue with my favorite cover art (1. because I already own 3 books in the series and I love the cover art, 2. because I hate not having matching books), but once I get them on my hands I'm definitely reading it.
• The Neverending Story by Michael Ende - I have a very strange relationship with this book. This was the book my 5th grade teacher insisted we all had to read and talk about, and since I couldn't find it anywhere at the time, she kept giving me low grades (the school library didn't have it either btw). Then when I finally found it in the school library about 2 years after that, I got sick and had to stay in the hospital for a week. I got to the point where the boy goes back into the story and doesn't recognize anything about it and he has a conversation with the queen or whatever she was, and then I had to return the book. I'll probably read it, because I'm genuinely curious, but my experience with this book is kind of keeping me from doing so soon...
• The Children of Freedom by Marc Levy - Although I love Marc Levy's works, I have such high expectations for this book that I've not read this book or picked it up to read, not once in the 9 years since I bought it. I'm scared to do so, because I expect the story to be good and heartbreaking and I am expecting an almost perfect story.

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There are many other books that have been for more than 9 years on my TBR, but these are the most important ones. 

What about you? What are the books that have been the longest on your TBR? And why haven't you picked them up yet?