49 - A DNF'ed book from your TBR list

[Drakeryn]

Childhood DNFs work too. When I was like 8, I would sometimes read my dad's books, especially when we were away on summer vacation and I was out of other stuff to read. I read some of One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, but it never really grabbed me; but parts of it have weirdly stuck with me and it would be kinda cool to go back and read it properly now.

(From his collection, I liked Animal Farm a lot better. Talking animals! Yeah!)

[Christine]

Here's the thread for the communal list, with listopia link!

https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

[Laura Lynn]

I only have 5 books on my DNF list and I refuse to read any of them (that's why I put them on my DNF list instead of just deleting them from my TBR).
For this prompt I'm going to pick a book from my personal library that I once started and never finished. Plenty to choose from for me.

[Christina]

I think I might give A Star Is Bored another chance. After all I did get an e-copy from Netgalley last month... but I also saw the audiobook is available on scribd so hopefully that'll make things easier!

[Ruth]

I'm not really happy that this prompt is even on the list. I'm a voracious reader, and if a book is "meh" I'll finish it anyway, just to find out what happens next. If I truly put a book down and don't finish it, it's usually for a very good reason and it's better for my mental health to NOT pick it back up!

But this year, I did read a page of Skin Game in preparation for reading the two new books in the Dresden Files. Then I decided I couldn't pick up the story from that point and truly get into it, so I put it back down and reread from the first book in the series. I'm up to Skin Game now, but am waiting to start it until Friday. I've got some short stories in the Dresden Files (Side Jobs) to read until then.

Had that not happened, I would have intentionally read a few pages of something, put it down, read something else, then read the first book from the beginning.

[Gina]

I don't keep a DNF list per se, but I definitely have some titles on my shelf that I have not finished— mostly because they were assigned in sections for ever-further-away college Spanish-language literature classes, and we never finished the books in the class. Takes me a LOT longer to read in Spanish or Italian.

Rayuela by Julio Cortázar is one I've wanted to read for years because of its unusual formatting (called "Hopscotch" in its English translation): it invites the reader to either read the first 2/3 or so sequentially, and then stop, or to follow the hopscotch-like directions of how to read chapters in a very strange order.

One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez I read probably less than a third of, before the semester ended and I just never finished it.

[Lilith]

OMG, I am soooo looking forward to reading Rayuela this year, for any prompt or none at all!

I try to read some Spanish, French, and Welsh each year. I don't want to lose the reading skill. I hope that you enjoy One Hundred Years of Solitude. I really enjoyed it, but I know that everyone's experience varies.

[Roshan]

I dnt DNF when am atleast 20 pages through but I have carried around few books intending to start start them or started reading few pages but lost interest! One of which is The Golden Legend by Nadeem Aslam

[Miriam]

whoops, I made a big effort at the end of 2020 to finish up all my half-read books before the new year. There was one I had read halfway through in summer and then finished on like the 30th of December that would have been perfect. Oh well, I'll have to come up with another interpretation...

[Claire]

I also have been making an effort to clear some books that have been on the shelf for ages and that have been ignored in favour on newer (easier) material. I didn't use to DNF but I started about 3 years ago with Anna Karenina. this year I have 8 marked, Milkman was one, also the Holder of the World. Snow by Organ Pamuk is hanging in the balance. I also don't want to return to them, although A little life is also in a holding pile so maybe I'll try and finish it.

[Milena]

Claire wrote: "I also have been making an effort to clear some books that have been on the shelf for ages and that have been ignored in favour on newer (easier) material. I didn't use to DNF but I started about 3..."

I also DNFed Milkman. That seems to be a common one.

[JessicaMHR]

Jen K wrote: "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..."

OMG until I read this I was dreading having to finish one of my DNF's that were put aside cause I just couldn't do it anymore. But this reminded me that in Dec I had the privilege to get one of those library lucky reads, were you only have 7 days to read it cause it is a super popular book (yes my library does this). It was Dear Girls: Intimate Tales, Untold Secrets, & Advice for Living Your Best Life by Ali Wong and I just was too busy to get it read in time so, I think I will try to read this. I already have it on hold but, it has like a six month waiting time! I'll just have to wait.

**Update: A little after this first post I managed to get the book again from the lucky reads and got it finished!!! Yeah me!**

[Sherri]

I used Midnight Library by Matt Haig. I gave it 2 stars. It was a struggle.

[Jennifer W]

I have a "started but had to return" shelf. It's far from complete, I'll try to think up some others, but I think there's a good mix there (I may be biased! ;) Feel free to borrow from my sporadic reading!!

https://www.goodreads.com/review/list...

[Meagan]

I have two DNF lists. One is an actual TBR (like a try again later TBR) and the other is a reminder to "never pick these books back up because you tried them once and they were trash". If a books goes on my "try again" TBR it usually has something to do with me and not the book. Maybe I was just in the mood for a different pace or genre or it was due back at the library etc...

I am reading Semiosis by Sue Burke for this prompt. I DNFed around 23% the first time. I am really enjoying it ☺

[Tanaya]

I DNFed Circe by Madeline Miller, somehow I just couldn’t keep reading it.

[Jennifer Muster]

I read . I started it last year and then I just wandered away. I just came across it and finished it.

[Cassie]

The Upside of Unrequited by Becky Albertalli
Completed: March 1, 2021

(I rarely DNF books, but I hadn't finished this series, so I went with that)

[Linda]

It is time to give Moby Dick another go. I quit 2/3 of the way through the first time because I got tired of descriptions of whale slaughter. I never even got to the part about Moby Dick.

[David]

Erimem - All I Want for Christmas

[Alex]

I don't like to not finish books, so if I made the decision to put a book down, it was very intentional and I'm not making myself pick it back up.

I'm using this prompt as impetus to finally finish The Lies of Locke Lamora which I have been reading bits and pieces of for around two years. It's not even a bad book; I don't know why I'm struggling so much to get through it!

[Harry]

I picked Revolutionary Founders: Rebels, Radicals, and Reformers in the Making of the Nation by Alfred F. Young. This was one my TBR for last year.

[Heather L]

I FINALLY made it through EMMA by Jane Austen. I had made a couple attempts and never got farther than the midpoint. This time, I was determined to make it to the end. Still my least favorite Austen, but rather satisfying to actually finish it. Needing it for a couple of challenges helped. 😐

[Marcella]

At Home: A Short History of Private Life

I liked this book a lot when I read the first quarter of it, but it's long and I had to return it to the library. I want to go back to it though!

[Lauren]

So in undergrad I took a Tolkien and Fantasy class and we were assigned The Darkness That Comes Before. I loved the premise so I bought the whole trilogy, but they were so dense that at the time I did not have the mental energy to finish the first book never mind tackle 2 and 3. So it's been sat on my shelf waiting for me since around 2008 because ever since I have been too intimidated by it to pick it back up again haha. Now is it's time though because there's also a Book Riot prompt to read a book you're intimidated by, super handy!

[Krupa]

These Violent Delights
I know this book is super popular, but for some reason I cant seem to find the energy to go through with it.

[Shriya]

I started 'these Broken stars' but DNFed it around chapter 13.
After that I started 'a curse so dark and lonely' but u felt like that the book is such a drag. So I stopped reading it.

[Patricia]

I did not finish it because the story begins to boring😅😅😅😅

[Gemma]

I only have one book I’ve never finished in my whole life: Midnights children by Salmon Rushdie. Luckily my mum had a copy, as I did not want to buy it!
Once I’ve finished the count of Monte Cristo on serial reader, I’m going to start it and use the same premise of a little every day alongside other books rather than trying to slog through it by itself.

[LeahS]

Gemma wrote: "I only have one book I’ve never finished in my whole life: Midnights children by Salmon Rushdie. Luckily my mum had a copy, as I did not want to buy it! "

I had the same trouble with that book - I think I've started it four times and given up. I don't usually not finish, but something about that book stops me about a quarter in. I'm not going back to it; I'm going to slog through Don Quixote which I abandoned about fifteen years ago, but still have. I'm doing 10 or so pages at a time. My only other DNF is A Brief History of Time, and I've no chance of coping with that!

[Barbara]

I’m going to interpret this prompt a bit differently. I’m in the middle of a random book from my TBR. I hate it and am not going to finish it. So it’s a DNF from my TBR. Otherwise I would probably skip this prompt entirely!

[Heather]

I'm interpreting these TBR prompts as books I own (as motivation to actually read the books I've bought!). I only had one book I DNFed and still own, so I read that one.

Next Year in Havana by Chanel Cleeton wasn't good, but it wasn't as terrible as I thought at first. It helped that it was an audiobook I listened to on a long car trip.

I'm so glad to be finished with this awful prompt.

[Tamara]

I read "Afraid of Everything" by Adam Tierney

[LeahS]

I've now finished Don Quixote, and I enjoyed the second half of the book much more than the first part. Perhaps I just have more time these days.

[Dana]

I will give The Tradition by Jericho Brown another chance.

[Sofia]

The one and only book that I have ever dnf'ed is The Phantom of the Opera. It was years ago and I do plan to read it one day. I just don't think it will be in 2021 😂.

[Laurie]

I started When Kids Lead: An Adult's Guide to Inspiring, Empowering, and Growing Young Leaders during the summer of 2020 but didn't have a chance to finish once school started. As a teacher, reading a book in print during the school year is quite difficult. I finished it this past summer, though, and I'm looking frorward to implementing some of the strategies with my 3rd graders this year.

[Flora]

I just finished Icons on audio I had tried before but just couldn't get into it. And I guess I cheated just a bit this time. I was 50% of the way through the audiobook, I kept zoning out, and then skipped to the last few chapters and finished it. I still don't know what happened but I wasn't really paying attention to the first half. Life is too short to spend it on books you don't like to begin with.

[Dana]

Dana wrote: "I will give The Tradition by Jericho Brown another chance."

I just finished Sorry I'm Late, I Didn't Want to Come: An Introvert's Year of Living Dangerously by Jessica Pan which I dnféd 2 months ago and today decided to continue it.

[Cassie]

The Upside of Unrequited by Becky Albertalli
Completed: March 1, 2021