Communal DNF list for "A DNF'ed book from your TBR list"

[Christine]

Contribute your own personal DNF books to this thread/listopia, to create a big ol' list of things to qualify as "A DNF'ed book."

Then anything on the list that is also on YOUR TBR qualifies for this prompt! This avoids the common problem of us all just taking our own personal DNFs off our lists and definitely not wanting to read them!

Obviously this is a bit of an interpretation that might not exactly fit the original spirit of the prompt. But it does technically fit the wording! You can trust me - I used to be a lawyer ;)

(Also, Popsugar explicitly instructs, "Most importantly, have fun with it! At the end of the day, you make the rules, so feel free to break them.")

Here is the listopia: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...

[Brandon]

Great idea, and thanks for setting this up, Christine! I added some of my DNFs for the past couple years. Some of them have decently high Goodreads scores but were just not for me or were not the right book for the moment. I think everyone should be able to find some inspiration from the listopia.

[Nadine in NY]

LOL I added all of the books I started and did not finish this year (including some I plan to get back to someday).

[Nadine in NY]

Christine wrote: "Contribute your own personal DNF books to this thread/listopia, to create a big ol' list of things to qualify as "A DNF'ed book."

Then anything on the list that is also on YOUR TBR qualifies for t..."



Uh-oh! You DNF'ed The Cloud Roads & Just One Damned Thing After Another??? I have pretty high expectations for both of those. Are they not that great? Should I lower my expectations?

[Cecreyn]

This is a great idea. And there are some interesting books on the list already! Thank you for setting this up, Christine.

[Melissa]

Added my books, so there's an odd mixture of history non-fiction in there now.

[Erica]

Way to be. I'll go add my books.

[Christine]

Nadine wrote: "Uh-oh! You DNF'ed The Cloud Roads & Just One Damned Thing After Another??? I have pretty high expectations for both of those. Are they not that great? Should I lower my expectations?"

For The Cloud Roads, I'm just gaming the system - I impulse-borrowed it, started it, and then decided I should set it aside to finish my 2020 challenge. I liked the little bit that I've read so far!


Just One Damned Thing After Another I actually disliked. I felt it had major Mary Sue-itis, as well as squandering some interesting concepts and forgetting the "rules" of the universe. :(

ETA: I generally added a mix of things I didn't like and stuff I've started and been meaning to get back to, and it sounds like others are doing the same, so definitely don't shy away just because something appears on this list!

[Teri]

I added the books I didn't finish before they had to go back to the library, but that I hope I get to this year.

[poshpenny]

Christine wrote: "Just One Damned Thing After Another I actually disliked. I felt it had major Mary Sue-itis, as well as squandering some interesting concepts and forgetting the "rules" of the universe. :("

I finished it but was so annoyed I wouldn't read more of the series.

[Drakeryn]

Christine wrote: "I generally added a mix of things I didn't like and stuff I've started and been meaning to get back to, and it sounds like others are doing the same, so definitely don't shy away just because something appears on this list!"

Mine are a mixed bag too.
- I was enjoying this book, I just got distracted and wandered off
- I read a couple chapters and realized I wasn't in the mood for this kind of book, but it's still a perfectly fine book
- I had to return it to the library
- I wasn't really into it, but book reviews make it sound so good, maybe I just didn't get to the good parts yet?
- I disliked it and will not be continuing

[Johanne]

I only added two, since I generally don't dnf. Those were a case of 'got halfway, got distracted by life, forgot details and couldn't be bothered with reading it again from the beginning'. I do sometimes give books a test run - like read a couple of pages etc. and not read the book, but I don't consider that started.

[Johanne]

I do often dnf series, like read the first book and not the next, but that's another thing.

[Nadine in NY]

Drakeryn wrote: "Christine wrote: "I generally added a mix of things I didn't like and stuff I've started and been meaning to get back to, and it sounds like others are doing the same, so definitely don't shy away ...



Mine are a mixed bag too.
- I was enjoying this book, I just got distracted and wandered off
- I read a couple chapters and realized I wasn't in the mood for this kind of book, but it's still a perfectly fine book
- I had to return it to the library
- I wasn't really into it, but book reviews make it sound so good, maybe I just didn't get to the good parts yet?
- I disliked it and will not be continuing "



LOL mine are all pretty much the same as Drakeryn's reasons! I added notes to a few that are really very good books, but they were just too dense for me to read at that time.

In fact, I DNFed a fluffy contemporary romance, just because I wasn't in the mood at that time, and that's probably the book I'll read for this Challenge.

[Heather]

poshpenny wrote: "Christine wrote: "Just One Damned Thing After Another I actually disliked. I felt it had major Mary Sue-itis, as well as squandering some interesting concepts and forgetting the "rules" of the univ..."

I third this opinion of Just One Damned Thing After Another. I finished it, but I wouldn't read the sequels. The best thing about it is the title.

[Robin H-R]

Heather wrote: "poshpenny wrote: "Christine wrote: "Just One Damned Thing After Another I actually disliked. I felt it had major Mary Sue-itis, as well as squandering some interesting concepts and forgetting the "..."

I actually enjoyed Just One Damned Thing After Another, and I have read the next two in the series.

[Christina]

whoever added Hocus Pocus & The All New Sequel I feel you haha! it took me almost two months to read it and I only finished it (just a few days ago) because I started it for a team challenge + also planned to use it for the map prompt this year!

[Wendy]

This is a great idea! I have a hard time remembering which books I started and wasn't quite in the mood for and put back, since my "abandoned" GR shelf is all books I definitely don't plan to continue. I have had some success with putting down a book in one format, but having it work for me when I try another (like switching from print to audio, or vice versa). I might give up on a dense/complex audiobook, or find that flat/clunky writing style with a good story works better on audio where I'm not so focused on it.

I also am considering reading the full book of a book I (inadvertently) read an abridged version of when I was younger, since technically I didn't finish the book! (The Count of Monte Cristo)

[Ashleigh]

I tend to read everything I start but one I'll probably use for this prompt is European Travel for Monstrous Gentlewomen by Theodora Goss. I read the first book but I wasn't in the right mood for the second one but would like to give it another shot!

[The Bookish Vixen]

Nadine wrote: "Christine wrote: "Contribute your own personal DNF books to this thread/listopia, to create a big ol' list of things to qualify as "A DNF'ed book."

Then anything on the list that is also on YOUR T..."

I personally ADORED Just One Damned Thing After Another, and I got a friend and my husband into the series too, so I'd say give it a try! I thought it was a lot of fun and it had me on the edge of my seat in places. It's one of my personal favorite series.

[Gabi]

I guess for this prompt I'll wait till the Hugo/Nebula and other SFF nominations are out. I dnf'd quite a few of the newly released Fantasy books that could very well end up in one of those lists. Whichever makes it there will be my choice for picking it up again.

[Sara]

Interesting, it seems like there is pretty split opinions on Just One Damned Thing After Another. I think I'll try that one for this challenge. I've had my eye on it for awhile, and I love wacky ensemble casts and time travel so who knows, it may work for me.

[Lynn]

I only have one, A clockwork Orange, as I hate to DNF any book. I’m stubborn that way! I’m going to try it on audiobook this time. Wish me luck!

[Ruth]

I really don't like this prompt, at all. I'm a prolific reader, and I tend to finish everything I pick up. I want to see where the book is going, even if I'm not completely enjoying myself.

If I don't finish a book, there's usually a darn good reason for it! I'm a fast enough reader and have enough reading time at this stage of my life that "I didn't finish it before it had to go back to the library" isn't a common problem. I've kept books out an extra day or two, and paid the fines, to finish a book I was in the middle of. And I've put books back into the return bag, unread, if I knew I wouldn't have time to read them before they were due.

So, if I've started a book and chosen to put it down, it's usually a smart thing for my mental health to NOT pick it back up again. If it's a boring book, why should I keep reading? If something in the book bothers me, why should I keep reading it?

However, this year I happen to have a book that works. I'd heard about the two new books in the Dresden Files, and decided to reread the last "old" book (Skin Games) before reading the two new ones. After about a page, I realized that I just couldn't get into the story at that point, and restarted the entire series from the beginning. Since hearing about that prompt, I made a point to save that book for next year. I could have started it this past Shabbos, but decided to read some short stories and save Skin Game for next week.

If that hadn't happened, I would probably have picked up a book I felt like reading, read a few pages, then put it back down to save for next year's prompt. Ideally, I'd do this in 2020 so it's already a DNF going into 2021, but if I had to, I'd have done this in 2021- read a few pages or a chapter, then put the book down and read something else, then pick the book back up from the beginning.

This is my second-least favorite prompt this year (the one about reading in another format is my absolute least favorite, because of ableism.)

[Natasha]

Roberta wrote: "Nadine wrote: "Christine wrote: "Contribute your own personal DNF books to this thread/listopia, to create a big ol' list of things to qualify as "A DNF'ed book."

Then anything on the list that is..."

I like the series too. you have to go into it with the right expectations. It's not "literature" it's not delivering a higher message, or treatise of our times. It's just funny, has a few interesting historical things, and overall nuts. I'd classify it in the "beach read" genre.

[Allie]

I am adding a "finishing under duress".
The audiobook version of "The Greatest Love Story Ever Told" by Megan Mullally.

This feels like I am trapped with two drunk swingers trying to force themselves on me.

[Nadine in NY]

Allie wrote: "I am adding a "finishing under duress".
The audiobook version of "The Greatest Love Story Ever Told" by Megan Mullally.

This feels like I am trapped with two drunk swingers trying to force thems..."



LOL uh-oh! I've got that on my list of audiobooks to listen to someday. I thought they would be funny together!