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You might remember that last month I reached a bit of a crisis point (or as much of a crisis point as books can cause!) when I realized that the quality of books I’ve been reading seemed to have deteriorated. I wrote about it in my post Heading Down the Rabbit Hole With Books. One of the “fixes” I talked about there was to DNF books more often and sooner. That can be a challenge for me because I often feel like if I read one more chapter the book will suddenly become amazing. Not finishing a book is a skill I’m still working to get better at. Despite that, I didn’t have much trouble coming up with ten recent books I just couldn’t finish.
Top Ten Tuesday hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl.
A Piece of the World by Christina Baker Kline – I loved Baker’s previous book, Orphan Train, but A Piece of the World just dragged for me. The premise of a story was right in my wheelhouse: historical fiction, about a woman, art. But in the end, none of that mattered. It was just too slow.
Chemistry by Weike Wang – I’m drawn to quirky debuts like a bee to honey, but unfortunately there was just no chemistry between this debut and me. My dislike was so strong that I think I’d have a hard time trying another novel by Wang.
Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate – Dual timeline stories can be tricky and Before We Were Yours is a perfect example of that. The story in the past was great and I wanted to keep going with it, but I just couldn’t stomach the modern day part of this novel. It felt forced and fake and is why I quit on this one.
Refuge by Dina Nayeri – Refuge was one of my most highly anticipated novels of last summer and perhaps my biggest disappointment. I had expected a book centered on relationships, but there was so much else going on in Refuge that those quickly became lost for me.
See What I Have Done by Sarah Schmidt – I’d looked forward to this debut for months, but even before I tried it I’d begun to see some really mixed reviews. That may have tainted my feelings. I hope not, but I did quit early on this dark reimagining of the Lizzie Borden murders.
Forest Dark by Nicole Krauss – Forest Dark was on so many “best of fall” lists last year and I was eager to read this story of two unlikely strangers who meet in Tel Aviv. Despite a valiant effort on my part, I just couldn’t care about either of the main characters in this book.
Red Clocks by Leni Zumas – This was one of those cases of “I like it. I don’t like it. I like it. I don’t like it.” I gave Red Clocks a good long try (almost to 50%), but finally had to get off the teeter-totter.
How To Be Safe by Tom McAllister – For me, How To Be Safe suffered in that it just didn’t live up to its marketing. Purported to be “a feminist howl” and “darkly funny,” McAllisters novel simply didn’t deliver, or at least didn’t deliver soon enough for me.
Florida by Lauren Groff – I’ve mentioned this HIGHLY anticipated collection of short stories several times recently, so was a little disappointed in myself when I couldn’t make it past the third story. This may be less of an indictment on the collection and more of a reflection on me and short stories. I had a similar reaction to Curtis Sittenfeld’s You Think It, I’ll Say It.
A Place For Us by Fatima Farheen Mirza – Not out until next week and I’ve already quit on A Place For Us. I’m feeling very iffy about my decision, so look forward to seeing others’ opinions. I could be convinced to pick it up again, but for the time being this book was too much of a character study and not enough of a story for me.
Have I made mistakes? Are there books on this list I should give another try?
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I actually really enjoyed Chemistry but felt the exact same way about Before We Were Yours and had to DNF it. Great post.
Thanks, RK. I’m happy to see someone else that didn’t care for Before We Were Yours. I saw it on quit a few “Best of 2017” lists last year.
I was highly disappointed with Chemistry. I absolutely hate saying negative things about a book, but when I finished it, I really thought, ‘well what was the point in that?’ I also finished Red Clocks, but found myself pretty alone as one of the only people that didn’t get what all the hype was about.
It’s nice to see I made the right choice on those two.
I wanted so much to love See What I Have Done. I read the first few chapters and couldn’t get into it. However, I don’t count it as a DNF because I LOVE Lizzie Borden books and do plan on going back. Sorry to hear you didn’t like it much and couldn’t finish. I hope it fares better for me.
I was excited to be reading a Lizzie Borden book, too, but….
I loved Piece of the World, but for a very weird reason! lol. It wasn’t fast. I like it when people are honest about hyped books. I have had this problem with many.
I think I just had very different expectations for what A Piece of the World would be, so some of the blame may be on me.
A lot of these I decided up front weren’t for me. But I know exactly what you mean: every time I feel like giving up on a book I’m afraid the next chapter will the the second coming of A Little Life. But I’m getting better at sussing out what I’ll like and letting the chaff fall by the wayside.
Great post! Encouraging DNFs is a good thing!
Thanks, Madeline. I’m working on getting back to my past levels of picking good books for me.
I can say that I never saw much of your books here, so I am probably not missing anything!! Some books just do NOT hold your interest, so its best to DNF.
I made it to the end of Forest Dark, but it was hard going. I probably only persevered because I’d heard great things about the author.
I’ve become really ruthless about not finishing books I’m not enjoying. Life’s too short!
Agreed! It’s a skill I’m continually trying to get better at.
I have Florida on my list to read in the next few months. I did have You Think It, I’ll Say It on the list but ended up taking it off.
Hooray for your DNFing prowess! I’m very proud of you 🙂 And I finished See What I Have Done…you didn’t miss anything.
Thanks, Sarah. I don’t know if I’ll ever be as good as you!
I loved A Piece of the World but I can appreciate your point about the pacing though I didn’t have the same experience. As for the others, See What I Have Done is the only one I was interested in enough to request. It’s on my NetGalley naughty list but, at some point, I will have to give it a shot. I was very disappointed in the reviews and I suppose that’s why I’ve procrastinated so.
Sometimes reviews can really turn me off to a book. A little bit of knowledge can be a dangerous thing!
You did not make a mistake on Before We Were Yours. I’m 2/3 through A Place For Us and it’s definitely a character study but I am enjoying it very much. It remains to be seen if it holds up till the end.
Like you, hope springs eternal and I hate giving up on a book, but life is short and the tbr list is long. I hope to get better at DNF’ing books but I feel particularly guilty when it’s a NetGalley book.
Great post!
Thanks, Jan. I look forward to hearing your final thoughts on A Place for Us. I had just finished The Ensemble (which I liked), and it’s also a character study, so my timing may have been off. I could be convinced to give A Place for Us another try.
Woo hoo! Out of your list there are three I didn’t even start thanks to your vetting, four more have been crossed off my TBR list, one I agree with, and two I really liked. Which is not bad for book buddies!
I know these kinds of posts are not easy to write, but I appreciate your honest thoughts.
Thanks, Catherine. I’m not positive of the two you liked. Was See What I Have Done one of them and maybe Refuge?
Yes to See What I Have Done, which somehow worked really well for me, and Chemistry. Go figure!
I have Red Clocks from your list but haven’t read it yet. I think it’s one of those books one has to be in a specific mood.
I’ve seen it compared to Handmaid’s Tale and that was like that too for me. It took me quite a long time to finish for such a shortie, but at the end i was glad i did it 🙂
I loved Handmaids Tale!
Aw! I’m so sorry that some of these books just weren’t for you and didn’t live up to the hype. It’s always so disappointing! Great list.
Thanks, Jessica.
I agree with you on most of these. I tried reading Red Clocks because I’m a huge Atwood fan, but ended up not finishing it too.
I must admit that I’ve dodged most of these. I guess I’m a bit surprised about how raving the reviews for A Place for Us are on Goodreads. So many gave it 5 stars. I ended up giving it 3.5 stars — as I thought it is a bit of a slow read, a bit dense, and not a lot happens, but still it has dilemmas in it and she can write from the heart. I liked the Romeo & Juliet angle and I felt what they did to Amar was terrible, and heartbreaking.
This is a great list. I love knowing what other readers DNF. My latest DNF was The Queen of the Night by Alexander Chee. I wanted to love it–especially after hearing the raves on multiple Book Riot podcasts–but I just couldn’t find my way into it.