Which books have you decided not to finish and why?

Picked up Lord of the Rings once. Read the blurb, then 'nope' so it qualifies as didn't even try 🤔
I know people who love LOTR though

I do love it - bits of it - and I first read it at quite a young age, and then a few times after that. When I came to read it to my sons (separately, a few years apart) I realised I had skipped huge chunks, mostly the getting from one place to another and most of the stuff that didn't involve hobbits...I don't know if skipping large parts counts as not finishing - I did the same with War and Peace, skipped merrily over most of the war bits.

When the Moon Hatched, I think I got it as a 99p ebook. I found it so bad that not only was an easy decision to abandon, it's cured me of any curiosity I may have had about anything that could remotely be described as romantasy. OMG that was bad.The author believed that with any given word the best thing is to look it up in a thesaurus and substitute it with the most obscure synonym, even though sometimes it is a synonym for an entirely different meaning of the word. I find romantasy such a shame, the blurbs usually make me think "this is right up my street" then I start reading and - no. I actually did finish When the Moon Hatched, no idea why, but I didn't finish the dragony one that everyone raves about. Fourth Wing?

I believe The Ministry of Time started life as fanfiction for the TV Series (and book) The Terror, which I loved, and I actually quite liked it on that basis.

I probably DNF more than I finish.
I However if you mean well known acclaimed books then Catch 22. I've started it three times but can't get through a couple of chapters.
Outlander by Diana Gabaldon, gave up 400 pages in as it was all just sex.
You will never see me again by Lesley Pearse, gave up half way when it unexpectedly turned supernatural.

I also loved it. Agree it's a hard read at times but it has really stayed with me even though i read it nearly 10 years ago.

I got about halfway through Midnight's Children. It has some good bits but required too much concentration! I also gave up on The Stranger's Child, although I absolutely loved The Line of Beauty by the same author (Alan Hollinghurst).

Oops guilty as charged 😬!

A place of Greater Safety. Hillary Mantel. Too many characters and too long.
The Group by Mary McCarthey. Set in 1930s US about Waspie women striving for equality. Got about halfway through.

Is it wrong to throw them in the recycling?

Loved The Group but agree with you about A Place of Greater Safety.

Daniel Deronda. The introduction was hard going enough but two chapters in and...nope. Ditto the Pickwick Papers. I am emphatically not a Dickens fan.

I read Daniel Deronda a long time ago.

Never finished Middlemarch (plan to give it another try), every Henry James I have ever picked up, and Joseph Conrad’s Nostromo.

I don't think I would have got through Daniel Deronda or Middlemarch if I had actually been reading them but I listened to the audio books instead which were much more enjoyable.

They’re currently showing Middlemarch on BBC4. I’m enjoying it.

I opened this the other night, read about 10 pages, closed it and will return to the library. Appallingly written rubbish. I was looking for a bit of fluff but no, that’s brain rot.

I am about to give up on 'skagboys' I think. About a quarter of a way through and the Scottish dialect in it is fascinating, but a bit too much like hard work!

Not at all wrong, especially if they're so bad you don't want to inflict them on anyone else.

I did finish Coastliners in the end. The narrative became less ponderous when the protagonist's sister appeared on the scene, although I still wouldn't have minded if the island and all its inhabitants had sunk under the sea.

Can't remember if I got as far as the sister turning up... That's how much of an impression it made on me
She is generally an author I feel I should like/would like to like, as I find some of her settings and set-ups interesting. I just find the novels themselves underwhelming.

Hi, have you read much of his books? .can you recommend one that is not too long please? I've already read the one with the librarian who reads bones. can't remember if that's the one with the calculator man and 2 stories that run simultaneously. Also the dreary one with the couple and the girl lives in some sort of home for people with mental issues - is that Norwegian wood ? Keen to try another but it can't be very thick . Thanks in advance for any comments at all.

I have read most of the book and enjoyed it. I just didn't like where it went towards the end. Its also a long winded story- you need a lot of time to read it. (Between FT work, DC & dogs it's just a bit too much) I would recommend reading it if you are familiar with Murakami and his writing and don't mind it to be too much fantasy fantastic.

I really enjoyed The Wind-up Bird Chronicle and Kafka on the Shore.

Thanks Ruby..I'll look at reviews for Kafka and the Bird Chronicles..I know I don't have the stamina for 1Q84. not even 1Q83. ( I'll show myself out ). Cheers Ruby 😁

Let the Great World Spin Colum McGann
With regret - from what I did read, it's great - but I kept having to skip the highwire bits, which are integral, and in the end my vertigo just got the better of me.

The Bee Sting Paul Murray
I shouldn't have started this. I got to the end of the first chunk and realised I just wasn't interested in reading to the end of what seemed like a shaggy dog story.

I've read a lot of Murakami books, Wind Up, Norwegian, Kafka, Dance, half of 1Q84 (there are two simultaneous stories and I just followed the woman's). The one I really like is After Dark - which is probably the shortest one I've read.

I struggle with any reading these days and getting to the end of a book.

Maybe you’d enjoy audiobooks instead? You can listen in the car, or while you’re doing something at home, or sitting down, in bed… etc.

Thank you! That makes me feel better for not finishing 1Q84. I always think that Murakami demands a lot of time & attention for his books- and rightly so theyare overall great. But they are definitely designed for the time rich....

Thanks Brandied, I should definitely try and get hold of After Dark. Always seem to have other books on the go and I definitely can't take on anything too long right now. Cheers. :)