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What's Your Most Recent DNF :(
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I can completely see where your coming from! I liked it but didn't love it. There was something missing for me as well but I coulnet figure out what it was. lol
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- beer is made with a lot of water, duh, it makes no sense they drink beer cause water is little and dirty (plus alcohol dehydrates)
- the brother... I'd have killed him
- the writing style and dialogue was so off, seemed amateurish and kept putting me off the story.
I sometimes feel curious, as everybody else is raving about it, and feel like "maybe I should pick it up again", then I remember that it's really rare for me to DNF a book and it's not worth my time if I didn't like it enough the first time.
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- beer is made with a lot of water, duh, it makes no sense they drink beer cause water is little and dirty (plus alcohol dehydrates)
- the brother...."
Haha! Ya It did start of slow and then picked up about 25% in but, there are so many books out there if you couldn't connect with it I would just try a different one :)
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I can usually push through most books. but just couldn't force my self past 30% of Bewitched. very disappointed after hearing so many great reviews. on the other hand...I LOVED Quicksilver. Just shows we all have very different tastes!
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But life is short...I cant finish them all.
Wheel of Time was one for me. I started and stopped 3 times before I finally slogged my way through it. For me, I just could not get interested. I had no interest in Rand, and I thought it was wordy, and the man/woman dynamic was...well...bad. But a lot of people love them, so....
I do feel for Mr. Jordan though. To get 9 books in, and die of cancer with the story unfinished. That hurts even me.
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A concept I admire in theory but have yet to embrace in practice. For some reason, I have this unshakable compulsion to see every book through to the bitter end. Call it stubbornness, call it loyalty—heck, call it a weird form of masochism.
Sometimes, it’s a good quality. Other times, it feels like I’m punishing myself for sins I don’t remember committing. Because let’s face it: life is too short to slog through poorly written prose or characters so flat they make cardboard seem dynamic.
So, to answer the question: No DNFs for me this year. Not because I haven’t encountered any questionable books, but because I apparently enjoy suffering. Maybe next year I’ll finally learn to let go... or at least develop the courage to DNF something truly dreadful.
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A concept I admire in theory but have yet to embrace in practice. For some reason, I have this unshakable compulsion to see every book through to the bitter end. Call it stubbo..."
ah Walter, this year was the year, for me. I realised it was not only masochism worse than the now popular dark romances, but that I had to stop before ending up in another reading slump. It's a survival thing, really. It's beyond torture when the horrible book you are reading starts making you believe YOU are the problem, and that you won't find a book that you will enjoy EVER AGAIN. So I decided I didn't want to be bullied by bad books anymore :D
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From now on, if a book starts giving me "maybe I’m the problem" vibes, it’s getting the boot. No more literary guilt trips or reading slumps for me. Thank you for showing me the light, book warrior!
Morwen wrote: "by the time I gave up I was already pissed about:- beer is made with a lot of water, duh, it makes no sense they drink beer cause water is little and dirty (plus alcohol dehydrates)
- the brother...."
I haven't read this book, but I've often found references in historical studies to ancient people (and even children) drinking weak beer because the water was very dirty and also full of all sorts of disease-causing micro-organisms. I don't really understand why they thought beer was a healthier drink than such water, but this sort of thing is often found in articles and books.
Maybe the author just read one of these studies and tried to put it in his or her book, but did it very clumsily?
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Beer was more of a staple as it had nutrients and calories, and gave people more energy. Kind of like red bull today. I am sure people of all ages drank beer when it was available, but they also drank water.
Small piece of trivia, but if the people of Jamestown had understood microbes in water, they probably would have lived better. If they had dug their well just another 300 yards in land, they would have avoided the bacteria and salt that pooled where their wells were dug.
No, such studies usually say that it was very difficult to get good drinking water in ancient and medieval cities. In those days, wells were traditionally used, but in the cities, even in the wells, the water was not very clean. So it had to be brought in from outside the city walls, and good quality water could sometimes be more expensive than cheap beer. But I think that even in the cities of ancient Sumer, people could afford much more than one glass of water a day. So the author of Quicksilver obviously exaggerated a bit, lol.
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Of course, even in fiction this seems silly. There was plenty of water in these ancient cities, it was just, as I said, of very poor quality. But brewing beer when you have very little water of any kind doesn't make sense.I think even horror and fantasy writers should follow some logic. If you write that vampires are afraid of silver in one chapter, they shouldn't be afraid of gold in the next.
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Yes! I once read a book that described ships powered by giant domesticated jellyfish, and I've mentioned that crawling little puddle of sentient water in Chimeras many times before. But in both cases, all these weird things were described very realistically, and I really believed in them when I read about them.Anyway, I can hardly regret not having read this Quicksilver.
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For whatever reason, I just dont really care about what is going on in it. It did get exciting, but I am not connected. I am not sure if I will finish it.
I guess, after a long life of stories, I am kind of meh, another story where grumpy Japanese dudes grunt a lot, and put a lot of pressure on their kids while somehow barely even talking to them. Its just not my vibe.
I also agreed to read for review some other books in a review group which is taking up my reading time as well. (I kind of regret doing this, as...I am not really the reader these writers should target...I dont want to ding them for it, but...I am too hard to please.)
Ultimately, I think I should not be a book reviewer, and just stick to editing and helping those before they publish.
Anyway...we'll see on this one.
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Thats not cool, you should at least finish the book you've been assigned. The other authors that are helping you are not DNF'ing you.
You think that is fair game?
How freely would you move to DNF'ing and putting up a review?
Shadowmarch by Tad Williams.I started reading it because I like the Оsten Ard books, also written by Ted Williams. But Shadomarch seemed boring and kind of sloppily written. There are tropes in it that I usually like, but I didn't find the characters compelling or the fictional world interesting.
There's a character called Gyir in this book, and he has no nose or mouth, just as Myrddraals in Wheel of Time have no eyes, and the two humans who travelled with him couldn't understand how he breathed and ate. However, he spoke telepathically.
I was also very curious about how Gyir breathed and ate. When I finally got the answer, I stopped reading the book. There were no more mysteries in the book that I wanted to know the answers to.
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Interesting way to say it. Do all books end when they run out of mystery?
His face, which seemed to have no mouth or nose, was not his real face. It was just a thick membrane of skin. When Gyir needed to eat or drink, this membrane would simply disappear, revealing his real face, which was usually hidden beneath it. And he had little gills behind his ears, as he explained to his human companions.That Gyir belonged to the Faceless tribe of the fairy-like race of Qar, and I believe all the Faceless had such membranes on their faces.
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Funny that one will stick with a book just to see how the dude eats, and then...well, guess I read enough. Must have been a lot not going right in that one.
It was slightly different. I had tried to read this book several times before, purely because I had enjoyed other books by the same author. For me, Tad Williams' name is a guarantee of quality.But, for some reason, Shadowmarch just didn't appeal to me and I could never finish reading it. For a Tad Williams book, it's rather predictable and bland.
The last time I tried to read it, I somehow got to the episode where Gyir first appears, which piqued my interest slightly. However, it was soon revealed how he eats and breathes, and then he was killed off altogether.
Nettle and Bone by T. KingfisherIt's a good book, but I wasn't in the mood to read about cemeteries and hardships in the lives of abused pregnant women.
I'm going to read another book by T. Kingfisher - Swordheart, and see if I like it better.
Kristina wrote: "Nettle and Bone by T. KingfisherIt's a good book, but I wasn't in the mood to read about cemeteries and hardships in the lives of abused pregnant women.
I'm going to read another book by T. Kingfi..."
Fortunately, I haven't read Nettle and Bone by T. Kingfisher yet, but your mention of cemeteries and the hardships experienced by abused pregnant women has inspired me to write a story that addresses such issues.
Once upon a time, there was a poor woman with a cruel and abusive husband. Every day, he would get drunk and beat his wife with whatever he could find. He would beat her with a chair, a poker, a frying pan and even a heavy cookbook that resembled a large brick. To make matters worse, he didn't give up this habit even when his wife became pregnant.
One night, unable to endure another beating, the poor woman fled the house screaming into the cold, pelting rain and darkness. But who could help her when they lived on the outskirts of their tiny town and there wasn't a soul around?
Desperate, the woman rushed to the cemetery. It was probably foolish to run there at midnight on 31 October, but it was nearby, and she hoped to hide among the monuments, trees and bushes.
In her haste, alas, she accidentally stepped on a grave. It suddenly opened. A scary zombie came out!
To make matters worse, she heard her husband's foul swearing and heavy breathing in the distance and realised he had followed her.
“Promise me your unborn child and I’ll save you from your cruel husband,” howled the hideous zombie. ‘Give me the baby, whether it's a girl or a boy, and I'll beat your husband so badly that he'll never dare to lift a hand, a foot, or a cookbook against you again!’
‘Why do you want my child?’ the poor woman exclaimed in horror. Her husband would hardly make a good father, but a zombie would be even worse. ‘What do you want to do with my baby?’
‘I'll swallow it alive as soon as it's born!’ the horrible zombie laughed angrily. “Because only the sweet flesh of a newborn can bring me back to life!”
He howled and laughed even louder at this, and several more hungry zombies jumped out of the neighbouring graves. But then the poor woman woke up and realized it had all been a terrible nightmare. And in the morning, she rushed to her lawyer to file for divorce quickly.
I don't know why I wrote all that. But I don't think it's a bad story. It even provides a good life lesson for all pregnant women who suffer from abusive relationships.
Don't go to the cemetery in the midnight, ladies. Go to the police and your lawyers instead!
Mathew wrote: "More of a short story than a book."Oh sorry. I wanted to write the word "story", but for some unknown reason I wrote the word "book" instead. Perhaps I was thinking about this dnf-ed book while writing this.
Kristina wrote: "Nettle and Bone by T. KingfisherIt's a good book, but I wasn't in the mood to read about cemeteries and hardships in the lives of abused pregnant women.
I'm going to read another book by T. Kingfi..."
I'm glad that you were inspired! Your story is more about the contemporary world; in Nettle and Bone lawyers didn't exist, the abusive prince was almost invincible, and the heroine wanted to help her sister. And in the cemetery there lived a dust-wife, not zombie, who gave the heroine three impossible tasks to complete.
The book starts with the crafting the bone dog scene, which is rather detailed, and an attentive reader may try to make such a dog for themselves.
Kristina wrote: "Kristina wrote: "Nettle and Bone by T. KingfisherIt's a good book, but I wasn't in the mood to read about cemeteries and hardships in the lives of abused pregnant women.
I'm going to read another ..."
Well, it's not that I was really inspired, I just wanted to make a story that would be funny and scary at the same time. And I guess fantasy books are often set in quasi-medieval worlds without police or lawyers.
Jabotikaba wrote: "Kristina wrote: "Kristina wrote: "Nettle and Bone by T. KingfisherIt's a good book, but I wasn't in the mood to read about cemeteries and hardships in the lives of abused pregnant women.
I'm going..."
Without policy?! Are you trying to tell me that strange women lying around in ponds distributing swords as a basis of government isn't policy?!
Mathew wrote: "Without policy?! Are you trying to tell me that strange women lying around in ponds distributing swords as a basis of government isn't policy?!..."It should have been 'police', not 'policy'.
This thread seems to be under some kind of dark spell, at least for me. First, I used the wrong word, and then I made an extremely silly typo. It's just great!
Mathew wrote: "Not good?"Many readers loved it. Another case of "this book is not for me". I think Harry Potter fans will enjoy it.
Ah, not for me, then. I remember when Harry Potter came out, I was the prime demographic for it - indeed, many of my friends loved it and it became an integral part of their childhoods - but I just hated it. Very poor writing, I felt, and a world that didn't make much sense.I was a weird child, to be fair. I grew up reading Robinson Crusoe, Animal Farm, Great Expectations, The Count of Monte Cristo, and other classics all before the age of 10. My mother would read with me every night and any words I didn't know I had to go find in the dictionary. Great times, but has made me a bit of a snob for writing.
Mathew wrote: "Ah, not for me, then. I remember when Harry Potter came out, I was the prime demographic for it - indeed, many of my friends loved it and it became an integral part of their childhoods - but I just..."Harry Potter has been praised for inspiring the joy of reading in children who had not read books before. Maybe that explains it. Like you, I read a ton of books before I attempted reading Harry Potter. So, I, too, wasn't impressed :)
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I am not sure when I will ever come back to it.
P. Pherson wrote: "Perhaps I should put Sword of Kaigen in my DNF pile. It did get exciting, but I have not picked it up in months. and all ready I have other books to read (I entered a reading round). It does not br..."You should put the book into a carved rock holder or something similar. That way, if you ever do pick Sword back up, you'll also be crowned the King of England.
I'll accept your boos now.
Mathew wrote: "P. Pherson wrote: "Perhaps I should put Sword of Kaigen in my DNF pile. It did get exciting, but I have not picked it up in months. and all ready I have other books to read (I entered a reading rou..."And your advice to the future king is so excellent that people will remember you as a great sage and wise advisor of the king.
Mathew wrote: "Ah, not for me, then. I remember when Harry Potter came out, I was the prime demographic for it - indeed, many of my friends loved it and it became an integral part of their childhoods - but I just..."
You sound like my soul brother!
I've always thought Harry Potter was poorly written and boring. Besides, it's a story about school—albeit a magical one—and what good or interesting thing could there possibly be about school?
I read classic books as a kid, too. But honestly, they were often sci-fi and fantasy classics. If I recall correctly, by the time I was ten, I had read The Lord of the Rings, the Earthsea series, Rocannon's World, and Mary Stewart's Merlin trilogy.
As for the real classics, I liked the translation of The Romance of the Three Kingdoms the best, and Zhuge Liang was my favorite character as a kid. However, I read this book after reading the Earthsea and Merlin trilogies. So, Zhuge Liang just reminded me of Ged and Merlin.
Kristina wrote: "Like you, I read a ton of books before I attempted reading Harry Potter. So, I, too, wasn't impressed..."
Another non-Harry Potter fan is here!
What I love about reading is that we all have different parameters of what makes a book a 5-star read or a DNF, and it's so interesting and refreshing to hear everyone's opinions on why they connect with a story or not. :)