Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly book meme hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. Each week, she posts an idea relating to books and encourages other book bloggers to respond with their own top ten lists.
As someone who always has at least three books marked as “currently reading” on Goodreads, I can’t deny that I frequently abandon one book in favour of another — and I’m not ashamed to admit that I’ve gotten quite comfortable with DNFing books. That’s not to say that I won’t pick these books back up eventually, but for the moment, here are the last ten books that I abandoned.
Heart of Flames by Nicki Pau Preto
I enjoyed Crown of Feathers and was very excited when my hold for Heart of Flames came in … but as soon as shelter-in-place started, I found that I just couldn’t focus long enough to pick up any book, let alone a thick one like this. It’s been marked as “currently reading” on Goodreads for more than a month, so hopefully I break out of my reading slump soon and pick it back up.
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
I started reading this to break my aforementioned reading slump, since it’s my all-time favourite book, and it definitely helped — to the point where I put it aside to devour My Dark Vanessa as soon as my hold became available.
Normal People by Sally Rooney
I finished Normal People last October and wasn’t able to sort out whether or not I liked it. I attempted to pick up Normal People again for a refresher before the TV show came out, but I just couldn’t get into it… or the show, for that matter.
Invisible Women: Data Bias in a World Designed for Men by Caroline Criado Perez
Invisible Women was one of my most anticipated reads of 2019. I bought it on release day and started reading it on my commute to class, from Waterloo to Toronto. When I moved to the city, however, I stopped having as much uninterrupted reading time… and, as a result, I have yet to pick Invisible Women back up.
Permanent Record by Edward Snowden
I read the first couple of chapters of Permanent Record while I was waiting for my partner-at-the-time to get ready for brunch. I didn’t bring it with me when I left his place, and mere weeks later, both shelter-in-place and a breakup happened.
Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie
I started to read Peter Pan when I was testing out a new ebook app for work, but completely forgot that I had made it through several chapters until I was compiling this list. Once I’m out of library holds, I’ll have to pick it back up!
Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo
I had picked up Ninth House from the library with every intention of reading it… but somehow the due date arrived before I had made it through the first couple of chapters. Hopefully the hold queue is a little shorter now so I can finally give this a read.
Wayward Son by Rainbow Rowell
I just couldn’t get into this one. I couldn’t remember what had happened in Carry On and just didn’t have the motivation to do a re-read, so this was a quick DNF.
Infinity Son by Adam Silvera
I really wanted to like this, but after forcing myself through the first 50 pages, realized that it just was not an “Erin book.”
The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon
I do still fully intend to read this! I just somehow forgot how large it was, and was slightly intimidated by it when my hold came in. I assumed there was no way I could read it all within three weeks, since it was far too heavy to carry with me on the subway every day… so I gave up and returned the book early.
What was the last book you abandoned? Have you read any of the ones on my list?
Aw sucks to see Wayward Son was abandoned. I did like Carry On, but hey, maybe there’ll be other books that’ll suit your preferences 😀
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I enjoyed Carry On as well, so it might just be a mood reading thing. Happy reading!
Good for you for knowing your limits.
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I do still feel moderately guilty when I put a book down, but I know it’s better long-term than pushing through something that just isn’t working for me.
Well, at least there are 10 less books on your shelf! 😉
That’s such a good way of looking at it! Happy reading!
I love that you DNF’d a favorite book because it did what you wanted it to and broke you out of a slump. That’s awesome!
Happy TTT!
Susan
http://www.blogginboutbooks.com
Thanks, Susan! I couldn’t even feel bad about it because it was a book that I’ve read countless times. I definitely recommend revisiting old favourites to get out of a slump!
Great list! I love how you DNF but leave the door open to pick books up again! I’m working on getting more comfortable with DNFing, but it’s still hard! LOL! I hate it when I want to read a sequel and can’t remember the prior book! Happy reading!
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It’s definitely something that takes getting used to! Telling myself that I’ll pick it up later makes me feel much less guilty about it. 😉 Happy reading!
I love your reason for DNF’ing The Night Circus! I just ordered Priory of the Orange Tree online, I hope I’m not too intimidated by its size lol
Happy reading! You’ll have to let me know what you think of it! 🙂
I really wanted to like Infinity Son but it didn’t work for me either unfortunately.
Hopefully your next read is a better fit!
Ninth House was one of my most disappointing books last year. I don’t think you’re missing anything if you never pick it up again. I also didn’t love Carry On, so I had no interest in Wayward Son. Rainbow Rowell used to be one of my favorite authors, but I haven’t been into her last few projects.
That makes me feel a lot better about putting aside Ninth House! I feel the same about Rainbow Rowell – I hope one of her upcoming releases captures the magic of her earlier books.
I have never been big into fantasy. It is crazy how people have such different reading preferences.
I didn’t really get into it until a few years ago, but now I love it! Which genres do you prefer reading?
I always recommend the audio book version of Invisible Women to people as it felt, at least to me, a lot easier to digest the information! It’s well worth a read though.
I personally didn’t finish a couple of books at the beginning of this year but I’ve been trying to work through more recent ones that have been a struggle. It was a challenge to finish The Discomfort of Evening but I plodded my way through it. I couldn’t face abandoning it only about 40 pages from the end!
I’ve started (and restarted) the book a few times – I’ve put it down for a bit and then forgotten the context of the current chapter, and just never really restarted it. I’ll definitely have to try the audiobook version!
It’s always such a rewarding feeling to finish a book that you’ve struggled through – especially when you’re that close to being done. Happy reading!