Ultimate Popsugar Reading Challenge discussion
2021 Challenge - Advanced
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49 - A DNF'ed book from your TBR list
I'm treating this one as a book I have low expectations for/that I think could be a DNF. I DNF books for a reason so I don't want to try one of those again.
I have so many of these I don't even know where to start. I'm a big mood reader, so there are plenty of times I'll pick up a book, read part of it, and then put it down and wander off to read something else. Doesn't mean I didn't like the book, just that it wasn't the right time for it.I started to make a list, but there really are too many! Apparently I do this even more than I realized...
I don't usually DNF books... a few years ago I started reading The Book Thief, read 1 chapter and never picked it up again, so maybe that is what I will read
I also don't really DNF books, and when I do, it was for a good reason. But, I may read Serpent & Dove. I picked it up a couple months ago and read like a chapter and then set it aside cause I wasn't in the mood. So, guess that will work for this challenge.
Sara wrote: "I also don't really DNF books, and when I do, it was for a good reason. But, I may read Serpent & Dove. I picked it up a couple months ago and read like a chapter and then set it aside cause I wasn..."I listened to this on audio and loved it...maybe that would help too.
@Alicia I'll have to check it out! I know my library has the audiobook so it may be worth trying it if I'm still struggling with my physical copy.
I suggested to my mom that she pick a book that is on her TBR that someone else DNF.. There is a DNF shelf and I might just pick something that is on my TBR from that.I had been trying to read Anna Karenina for what feels like a decade and finally finished it this year.. with the help of Audible and Maggie Gyllenhaal. I have a couple of books that I started this year and never got around to finishing, so I may pick one of those.
I don't suppose they mean you can allocate a book that you DNF in 2021 to this prompt?? I don't really see the point of it otherwise, but it seems an odd idea.Having said that, I finally finished The Lord of the Rings this year after several previous attempts, so maybe it could be a book you just weren't in the mood for at the time. Will probably go with The Hobbit, or There and Back Again I think, as haven't tried it since I was in my teens.
I'm going to pick a library book that I had to return before managing to read. Seems close enough. I almost never DNF, can't even remember one...
I've just added this as a bonus extra random from the TBR pile for reasons same as stated here by others. A DNF in the TBR is surely an oxymoron?
Michelle wrote: "I don't suppose they mean you can allocate a book that you DNF in 2021 to this prompt?? I don't really see the point of it otherwise, but it seems an odd idea.Having said that, I finally finished..."
I'm a fan of that interpretation. There's usually a few books every year that are duds, and they DO go on my TBR list when I add books for prompts.
I could try to finish Sarum: The Novel of England 
by Edward Rutherfurd. It is a good read but I keep putting it aside.
Michelle wrote: "I don't suppose they mean you can allocate a book that you DNF in 2021 to this prompt?? I don't really see the point of it otherwise, but it seems an odd idea.Having said that, I finally finished..."
I really like that interpretation! That actually makes a lot of sense. I actually might use that interpretation because I do dnf a few books.
Sarah wrote: "I'm a big mood reader, so there are plenty of times I'll pick up a book, read part of it, and then put it down and wander off to read something else. Doesn't mean I didn't like the book, just that it wasn't the right time for it."Same here! Gonna try and make a list for my own reference:
Thunderer - also the oldest book on my TBR
Jade City
The Gutter Prayer
Blackfish City
Johannes Cabal the Detective - also a locked-room mystery
Worm - also the biggest book on my TBR OOF
chaos;child - also a format I rarely read (visual novel)
I tried some books at the beginning of the pandemic that were just too heavy for me at the time. Maybe, just maybe, if we make it out of this in 2021 and have some lighter times, those would be good ones to try again.
I have no idea how to tackle this one. I don't have any books that I DNF'd.
I have an idea that a multiple-author short story or essay anthology that does not grab my attention right away could get temporarily moved to DNF and tried again later. Since they are different authors in the later part of the book, the quality could be better.
I have three to choose from here, Emma, Far From the Madding Crowd, and Mary Barton. Made it halfway through each, set them aside, and never got back to them.
Oh gosh. About ten years ago I bought and started reading Surfaces and Essences: Analogy as the Fuel and Fire of Thinking, but it isn't an easy read so I put it aside. It is literally the only book I have that I started and haven't finished so I'll give it another try.
You all make me feel sloppy for constantly half-reading books, haha. That's one of the reasons I love the challenge, though - I get to learn about how other people approach reading!
It's not on my TBR but I did start an audiobook of The Book of M last year and hated the narrator, so I guess I could go get a copy so it's on my TBR before year end and read that in a different format. According to my kindle I also started The Black God's Drums at some point but never finished, I can't remember doing that, so there's that.
I think I'm going to go back to high school lists, and read a book I was supposed to do in high school, since I often started and did not finish them!
I guess I'm going to read a book I returned to the library before I had a chance to finish it. I can't imagine picking a book that I DNF. Time to go download my library history for 2020 before the end of the year.
I have a bunch I've started and intended to come back to at some point so I love this prompt. I've been thinking of attempting Chernow's Alexander Hamilton again. I only read a few chapters back in 2016 but I got it on audible ages ago and I'm thinking if I listen to about 3 hours each month I could get it done next year.
Maybe if you start a book this month, but don't finish it in 2020 you can count that?
I looked over my list, and I had a couple pop up.The first was one that I had checked out from the library but just wasn't in the right mood for: Creativity, Inc.: Overcoming the Unseen Forces That Stand in the Way of True Inspiration
The other was one that I read the prologue or first section in the bookstore but did not end up reading it later: The Eye of the World.
I take this prompt to mean any book that you are willing to give a second chance to, no matter when in the process you abandoned it (even dismissing a recommendation but reconsidering later).
I rarely DNF books and I am not about to pick them up again this year.My plan is to start a book on December 31st so that I DNF it before the end of the year? It is cheating a little bit :)
Mod
I am planning to do the same thing. Given that I greatly disliked Chronicle of a Death Foretold and then viciously DNF'd One Hundred Years of Solitude, but wanted to go ahead and give Love in the Time of Cholera a try anyway, that is what I'll read for this prompt, assuming I may well not finish it or award it only 0-1 star! :)
Ellie wrote: "It's not on my TBR but I did start an audiobook of The Book of M last year and hated the narrator, so I guess I could go get a copy so it's on my TBR before year end and read that i..."That's a good idea actually, I started listening to A Beautiful Life (the story of John Nash) ages ago, but the narrator drove me bananas! I'll try get a physical copy to read instead, because he's a really interesting person!
I feel like there's a listopia somewhere of "the most started but unfinished books", maybe people who aren't DNF-ers could check that out and if a book from that list is on your TBR then that could count as a DNF/TBR book?? If I want to be really adventurous (and I'm not saying I do), Ulysses is still on my currently reading list, even though I don't think I've touched that book in 3 or 4 years. But I have tons of books that I don't finish before they come due at the library, so I can go much easier on myself than that!
I like the idea of reading something that someone else has DNF'd that's on my TBR. I think that's how I'll approach this one, since I rarely DNF books.
I read the first chapter of a book and put it back on my shelf to finish next year. I always try to persevere with a book, especially as I'm likely to be using it for a challenge, so if I DNF one it must be terrible.
I have remembered I read a chapter of I Contain Multitudes: The Microbes Within Us and a Grander View of Life on my phone while waiting for a haircut last year. I didn't consciously DNF it, just went back to reading whatever I was in the middle of, so I have another option.
Michelle wrote: "I don't suppose they mean you can allocate a book that you DNF in 2021 to this prompt?? I don't really see the point of it otherwise, but it seems an odd idea."I'm using this interpretation!
If it turns out I don't DNF anything on my TBR this year - and I may not because they're mostly series books left - I have a backup. I DNFed Next Year in Havana and still own it because it's an Audible audiobook. I hope I don't have to finish it, though.
I quit reading A Game of Thrones a few years ago because I had already watched the series and got to a chapter where I knew one of my favorite characters was going to die. I think I'm over that now, so I'll finish that one and continue the series!
I have a thing about not finishing books. I can’t not finish a book. Even if I really really don’t like the book I’ll finish it. The only book I can remember not finishing is Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace. I knew before read it the book had a reputation for not being finished. I gave myself 100 pages then gave up. I’m definitely not trying again. I think my plan is the first book in 2021 I really don’t like & the normal person would put down I’ll use that one.
Mod
I read that book this year and I enjoyed it so much that I bought a copy to give to my mother !
I ended up setting aside The Happiness Project: Or Why I Spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean My Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun this week because I just wasn't in the right mood for it. It is very interesting though, so hopefully I'll feel inspired to pick it up again next year.
I have so many I can use for this. I check out more books from the library than I can finish, so I have to send many of them back before I've finished them. I put all of them on a DNF shelf so someday I'll get back to them. So this may be my very favorite prompt.My likely possibilities:
Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts
Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow
A People's History of the United States by Howard Zinn
An Autobiography by Agatha Christie
The Feminine Mystique by Betty Friedan
The Great Influenza: The Story of the Deadliest Pandemic in History by John M. Barry
Yeah, the common theme is they are all pretty long. Good thing I won't be working next year and should have plenty of time.
I rarely DNF, and only began this activity last year. It was like discovering a new way to read lol.I DNF'd a book because the MC was tstl. and then became MacGyver a few pages later. Dear writers, give me a believable character.
I did DNF The Mueller Report, only because books came off hold from the library for some tough prompts. and I had to get those bad boys outta the way. Looks like I'll go with that!
I haven't decided if I'm going to use this challenge to get me to finish one of the books on my currently reading list that I have been 'currently reading' since I joined goodreads in 2018 (Allegiant, The Big Screen: The Story of the Movies), or one of the books I failed to finish when I was an over-ambitious 8 year old (Les Miserables, The Count of Monte Cristo) or leave it for a book I will inevitably borrow from the library and fail to finish before it's due back and then have to borrow again.
I have few books I've started, but because of huge book slump I was for a while this year I haven't finished them and by now I need to re-read even the part I already read to remember what happened. so I have a few choices. A Court of Mist and Fury
The 5th Wave
In The Afterlight
I don't DNF...I mean, I even pushed myself through Moby-Dick or, the Whale and American Psycho in the same year!So, thank you for this...
Jennifer W wrote: "Here's the listopia of the most started but unfished books-
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/4..."
...because A Little Life is on that list, and I really want to read it. So that's my pick for this prompt.
OH MY GOSH Y'ALL!We could make a thread/listopia of books we collectively DNF, and then anything on that list is "A DNF'ed book."
Then anything on that list that is also on YOUR TBR qualifies for this prompt!
What do you think?
hahaha that's a fantastic idea, let's do it
hard one obviously, books are usually DNF for a reason. Although I have to admit, I originally DNF Name of the Wind - this year I went back and read it again, and gobbled it up as well as the follow up The Wise Man's Fear. I guess the two books that jump out at me as DNF is Time Traveler's Wife and Jonathan Strainge & Mr. Norrell. Both books have rave reviews, and I could not get into them the first time around. Oh and Dracula - I did not get very far with Dracula (not even 100 pages).
I've decided I will most likely go for a series I DNF'd and pick one of the later books in the Shatter Me series or maybe the Miss Peregrine series. Both are series I've been intending to go back to and haven't yet. It's a bit of a stretch to call it DNF since I never gave up on the series, but it's the closest I could come up with.
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Authors mentioned in this topic
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That's confusing, since when I DNF a book, it's no longer on my TBR list, it's on my DNF list!! I guess they just mean a book we did not finish. And most books I DNF are there for a reason!!
But I do have one really good option. Two years ago, I decided to read a book that my daughter had to read for school. I started it, and ... it's still sitting there on my nightstand, waiting to be picked up again. So I will probably read Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong.
Alternatively, we all have a month to pick up a book from our TBR, start reading it, and then whoops! slide it over to the DNF pile. ;-)