Which books have you decided not to finish and why?

I’ve seen a lot of dislike for A Little Life on various book threads on here, but I’m with you, I loved it.

I see a few have mentiined Orbital. For SUCH a short book, it took me about 2 months to read. 😂

It’s weird though that I often find im seemingly enjoying a book and then just put it down and then don’t pick it up again. And don’t miss it 🤷🏻‍♀️

Thank god someone else has mentioned A Gentleman in Moscow! I’ve just given up reading it, it’s so highly praised on Mumsnet. I got to nearly p. 100 and I just needed more to grasp onto, too opaque and yet it should have been ideal for me. I felt like ok a tricky to get hold of main character - inner self not yet revealed. But it was the same with everything! The history of thar time is fascinating to me; but nothing given away.

Also last year; another praised book, The Whalebone Theatre, similar to above. I nearly gave up on Fingersmith for similar reasons; just too little happening and then twists that didn’t shock me. Although I finished it. Yet I think The Paying Guests is one of my favourite books.

I loved Orbital though. And yet people find that too slight.

I love some of the books others have mentioned, but agree with those who mentioned Orbital. That is still next to my bed and I haven’t quite given up yet, but I haven’t read any of it for a good fortnight.

The big one for me is Pickwick Papers. I love Dickens. I have read every other one of his novels and short stories at least twice, but I cannot get on with Pickwick Papers at all.

The dark lords guide to dating, for some reason couldn't get into it. Currently reading her soul to take

I was 🙄at Jude in the last few chapters

I found it tedious and relieved when I finished it as I was getting so bored of yet another sob story

I am a nice person honestly mashpatooties 😊

That blows my mind! I found A little Life to be so moving. It's one of my favourite books.

Catch 22. I read a book by same author called Something Happened in which absolutely nothing happened so biggest waste of my time. I started Catch 22 and just couldn’t be bothered then so gave up very early on.

Mythos by Stephen Fry. I’ve read a few of the Greek mythology adaptations and much prefer the others!

Also Wolf Hall. I can appreciate Hilary Mantell's literary brilliance but maybe just wasn't in the right frame of mind for it.

Eat Pray Love, what a self absorbed smug entitled woman the author is. I had to put it down after a few chapters for my own sanity

Good move. I battled on to the end and she gets worse.

Dance to the Music of Time by Anthony Powell. I think it was on a must read modern classics type list but I found it really boring and far too long. I can't believe people plough through several volumes of it.

Catch 22 was the first book I ever gave up on I think. Read it as a teenager when I was just making my way through my parents books that we had on the bookshelves in our living room and I’ve often thought maybe I should go back to it, because maybe I would appreciate it more with an older brain, but as it seems I’m not the only person to abandon it, maybe I won’t bother! I don’t remember much about it other than the whole catch 22 thing being relentlessly hammered home. I felt like by the third mention I had probably got the point. And I’m not sure if there was a single female character in the book, or at least not one with her own voice, and I felt like I couldn’t relate to it at all because of that. Although I’m sure I’ve read many many books written entirely from a man’s pov since and never had the same feeling quite so strongly

My Wild And Sleepless Nihhts by Clover Stroud. I could go on but it’s low hanging fruit.

Eat Pray Love, what a self absorbed smug entitled woman the author is. I had to put it down after a few chapters for my own sanity

The Secret History and Goldfinch by Donna Tartt. Far too much waffling

Normal People - Sally Rooney I just didn't care what happened

The Women by Kristin Hannah - so awful that I gave up about a quarter of the way through in protest. Almost as bad as The Crawdads.

Middlemarch is my favourite book! 😂

So many of my favourite books being mentioned here - some in my all time top 10! I must go through the other books mentioned and start reading them 😂

My DNFs are War and Peace and Catch 22. Fully intend to give them another go when I have a decent chunk of time to, in theory, get properly immersed in them.

Just looked it up. Bloody hell he looks young!

This worked for me with Jane Austen. I couldn't get my head around all the Miss Bennets and all that, just could not keep the characters straight in my head. So I watched a TV adaptation of Emma, read the book, and then that seemed to get my eye in and now Northanger Abbey is one of my favourite books ever.

The Hearing Trumpet by Leonora Carrington.
I kind of skim read it to sort of see what happened. The genre is 'fantastic' fiction, imo one batshit thing after another.

It was bought for me as a joke. There is due to be a film out about the author.

I've been trying to read Middlemarch too, I know what you mean about the sentences being dense. I think I might just watch the BBC adaptation instead!😂

I ploughed through two of those in sheer obstinacy, but I hated them. I also persevered through The Goldfinch and wished I hadn't, so have given up on Tartt entirely.

I couldn't be doing with Sally Rooney either, and gave up on the two of hers I've been loaned. I also have given myself permission to never have to finish Les Miserables - started it 4 times, gave up each time.

I realised at about 50 that I'm not going to have enough life left to read everything I want to. Not unless I quit doing everything else, at least. So why blow valuable reading time on something I don't like?

Oh dear a few of these are on my tbr pile, and I almost bought The Milkman yestetday but decided i need to read what i own..

I'm reading The Correspondent at the moment. I'm enjoying it somewhat but finding I'm having to stop and think as to who each person is. Now, a book with a similar format was The Appeal by Janice Hallet, and that absolutely grabbed me. Like they say on all the front covers, I really couldn't put it down! 😆