A Book You Started But Never Finished

[Elizabeth]

Hello! This is one of the pages for the 2015 PopSugar reading challenge, especially for the pick, 'A Book You Started but Never Finished'. Post what you're reading for this one down below, and discuss with others, share your thoughts on your pick, give suggestions for others, etc.

[Jemma]

Ooh I have many books I have started but have not finished; I am going to do The Mortal Instruments Book 2 - City of Ashes

[Nerdish]

Dreamcatcher by Stephen King. It is the only book that has beaten me before. I was getting so angry at it that the book was confiscated from me and hidden!

[Lydia]

American Gods for this one!

[Melissa Ann]

I am embarrassed to admit what I will be reading for this one, but as I really tend to force myself to keep reading the only book I have ever not finished was the last Fifty Shades one. My brain just wouldn't let me keep reading. D:

[Nerdish]

@Melissa Ann I read the whole trilogy because I wanted to make my own opinion and yes it was badly written, information was wrong, characters were....I don't even have a word for them. So yeah I understand why you didn't finish!

[Jodez]

The Silmarillion by Tolkien, started it on many occasions, never finished... probably save this til last since I know how much it drags.

[Fay]

So I just finished City of Heavenly Fire for this. I read books 4 & 5 back to back last year and found the plot lines weak, Sebastian/Jonathan unconvincing as a villain, and Jace and Clary increasingly annoying and insipid as the leads. As the books jumped from one melodramatic scene to another filled with yearning, angst, and soulful gazing I felt like yelling out "Oi, Cassie, your FanFic's showing". 2 chapters in to CoHF I met Emma and Julian and thought "Hello heroes of the next trilogy!" and gave up. I guessed the plot was going to be "yada, yada, yada, lots of yearning, yada, yada, yada, defeat evil, yada yada, yada, bit more yearning."
I assumed I just wasn't in the mood because I loved the first trilogy and adored the Clockwork one.
To a certain extent I was pretty spot on with my plot guess but hey, that is what I signed on for when I picked up the book in the first place. The plot was a lot tighter, there was a lot more action, Jace and Clary were a lot more likable and the narrative plugged up some gaps from her other books. It isn't my favorite of hers but I'm glad I read it.
On a side note I am taking bets on the next books centering on Emma and Jules as she seeks her revenge for her parents deaths and he struggles to bring his brother Mark back. I also predict that the romantic conflict and angst ridden yearnings center around the fact that love between Parabatai is forbidden and that Emma has a crush on his half fairy brother Mark......Oh the angst! I actually can't wait......

[Samantha]

Fay wrote: "So I just finished City of Heavenly Fire for this. I read books 4 & 5 back to back last year and found the plot lines weak, Sebastian/Jonathan unconvincing as a villain, and Jace an..."

Haha brilliant and i agree with a lot of what you wrote. I too adored her clockwork series and quite looking forward to reading her next series. I really did think Clary and Jace's story was over with after her original three so i was quite surprised when i found out she had wrote more.

I still haven't got round to reading the Bane Chronicles yet.

[Fay]

@sam I got the Bane chronicles out of the library over Christmas but only managed to read the first one before getting fed up. They aren't written by her so even though it's in her "style" the voice is distinctly different. Might pick them up again now though, it's possible I just wasn't in the right frame of mind.

[Amber]

The Princess Diaries was something I had started and never ended up finishing. glad i finally got around to mark that off my tbr

[Jennifer]

American Gods

I read American Gods for this one. I've tried to read it twice before and never managed to get more than 50 pages or so in. I got all the way to 150 ish before the brick wall appeared. But, I struggled on and finished it.

I'm not sure what it is with Gaiman as I can see his books are well written and the plot was interesting, but they just don't travel from page to brain easily.

I am very glad that I chose this book though and managed to finish it.

I'm now happy to accept that I won't be reading Gaiman any more and can move onto books I find easily to digest. I've tried 4 of his books now and none were easy for me to get into.

I was told that the audiobook version of this is good, so I'll try to find that somewhere. Or, see if the local library has a copy of the BBC radio version of Neverwhere, to see if the change in medium helps.

[Elizabeth]

Finally got around to reading Haruki Murakami's Norwegian Wood. What a beautiful, beautiful book. I saw where someone had described this book as the answer to a sad love song, and I couldn't agree more. The whole time I was reading it, I felt reflective, sentimental, like I was going through the heartache Toru was experiencing. Murakami's writing allows one to fall into Toru's place, and this helps pull off the story.
However, I will make one point: this also makes Toru the least accessible character. He fades into the background, overshadowed by Naoko, Reiko, Midori. The women in this story are really the characters that provide it it's soul - especially Midori and Reiko. While we empathize with Toru and his plight to find what makes his journey in life - love - complete, Midori and Reiko are the characters I truly wanted as friends.
Regardless, this is an excellent story, and also I think the perfect starting point for me to jump into Murakami’s works. With his trademark writing style, but a little less heavy on the odd and the fantastical, I was able to get a first glimpse at probably one of my new favorite authors. And stories like this - seemingly simple, but packing more of a powerful punch than ever imagined - are always the best. Now, I just want more Midori. Also, I can't wait to dive into his more... odd works. 4.75/5 stars.