What were your last few DNFs? And why?

[IceIceBabyBump]

> The Witches of Vardo by Anna Bergman. I got to a point in the book where the characters were just walking between building every day. I could also feel heroics brewing which I hate in books.

> Atonement by Ian McEwan. I got 60-pages in and nothing had happened yet. Dense description of bugger all. Boring.

I've just realised I never finished it either -- I actually quite enjoy her work in general, but by the time the protagonist was sending videos of herself dancing to the doofus guy and interviewing her friends about their marriages, it got to feel a bit too slick and pleased with itself..?

Oh bloody hell, I started this one last night. I fell asleep before I got through the first paragraph 😅. I'll see what tonight brings. Actually, I might read something else and go back to this once I've forgotten what you've said. I used to work for a man who took three pages to say what could have been said in one sentence, it's not funny it's his fault I've got RSI.

@kublacant I finished The List of Suspicious Things yesterday, I quite enjoyed it. That took me a while to get into too because I kept falling asleep. I either need to go to bed earlier or make time during the day to read books instead of MN. There's an idea that'll never happen.

I gave up on Lee Mack's Mack the Life. It was funny in places but not worth persevering with.

There are a lot of books where I fast forward to the end to see what happened, Ed Gamble's was one such book. I feel aggrieved at the £1.99 I spent on it.

I don't mind not finishing a book if I'm only a short way through it, but I get especially annoyed when I am almost almost at the end, just a few chapters to go and just lose interest. I'm struggling to finish Butter by Asoko Uzuki at the moment, and found Our Missing Hearts by Celeste Ng similar right near the end, though I thought it was a really good book and I like her as a writer. I just felt I'd read the whole book and couldn't really see the end would go anywhere. I maybe need a few page-turners to perk me up now!

I did manage to finish Suspicious Things, but wasn't especially grabbed by it and did flick ahead a few times. It felt more like an exercise in nostalgia for the author rather than telling a proper story.

Confusion by Elizabeth Jane Howard, the 3rd book in the Cazalet chronicles.

I started them because of MN recommendations & got through the first two, but reached the stage where it was practically all revoltingly nauseating descriptions of messy eaters and people making bad decisions & being depressed.

To be fair they had plenty to be depressed about but still.

I couldn’t finish ‘The Safekeep’ by Yael van der Wouden, found it so slow and dull. Saw it’s won yet another prize. Did anyone else read and enjoy it?

I used to follow more authors on social media and blog platforms. Some were very interested in what their readers thought of characters, plot etc. Others not at all. Often I find I don't finish a book as it is poorly edited. You can see the bones are decent but not the final product. I used to think DNF's were personal taste - I am not so sure about that now. I rarely buy new, but if I am paying £10-12 for a paperback I want the read to be decent (not high-brow).

But what do you mean by 'poorly edited'?

Also, some of this is your personal taste, surely -- that your idea of a 'decent read' is not 'highbrow' novel? Can you give some examples of novels or authors you like, which cater to your idea of what a decent read is?

Wavewalker by Suzanne Haywood is doing my head in and I can’t explain why. Halfway through and have skipped to the last few pages.

Bear town by fredrik backman. Tedious is an understatement.

I just about crawled through to the end of The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern so I could add it to my list of books I've read this year (not a great reason to finish). Poor plot, characters that were like cardboard cutouts and SO many boring descriptions of the oh-so-quirky black and white circus and its many tedious attractions.

I've been very confused about the references to Still Life, which I enjoyed a lot - realise now mine was one written by Val McDermid though

Kevin Pieterson’s autobiography. Just decided that if I met him at a party I’d be desperate to end the conversation (obviously not as desperate as him) so why spend more time on it.

It wouldn’t occur to me to tell an author I couldn’t finish something of theirs. Writing is unbelievably hard work and very personal, and I’m not an expert. The only online reviews I do are on here.

I couldn't finish Butter. I think I'd built it up in my head so much and heard so many good reviews for it that by the time I finally got it from the library there was no way it could live up to my expectations. Also, it wasn't the story I thought it was going to be.

'We are all completely beside ourselves' - hated it. Offered it to friend- daughter had also failed to finish it and told her awful it was !!
'Tomorrow, tomorrow and tomorrow' - rambling
'A God in ruins' - couldn't get into to it but loved 'Life after Life'
Both straight in the charity bag

Love The Bone Clocks - one of my absolute favourite books ever

@akissbeforebed I agree about Butter. I have now actually finished it as I thought maybe it would be worth it by the end, but I'm not sure it was. It's unusual certainly, but far too long!

Someone mentioned The Night Circus - soooo boring!

A similar vein, ie modern fantasy, I've just jacked in Babel by RF Kuang. I almost want to describe it as grown up Harry Potter but actually HP makes it look quite sophisticated by comparison. Not sparkling writing, not gripping at all with a lot about cold unfeeling white people and the naughty exploitative British Empire. Some of this criticism is undoubtedly valid, but it was a bit rich being lectured on this by someone Chinese (born in China now living and working in the States) in view of China's behaviour both at home and on the world stage today.

I also tried reading The Night Circus but didn't get beyond the 1st few pages.

Babel - I did finish. Thought it started well but the second half was just predictable and unimaginative. And as you say very preachy.
Yellowface by the same author was much better. Different genre.

I enjoyed the Safekeep and Night Circus! Erin Morgenstern's other book (can't even remember the name of it) was tedious garbage and a DNF

Skipped to the end with this one. The poor author is about my age (not very young but young enough for me to feel bad for slating the book online) but no, I really thought it read like something a teenager would write.

Funnily enough I just finished A Fine Balance. I absolutely ripped through it. By the end I felt quite wrung out. But I enjoyed it hugely.

Off to Google Mary Lawson now

It took me 9 years and umpteen attempts to get into The Night Circus. In the end I loved it. By describing it as Tim Burton-esque I succeeded in persuading my husband to read it. He hated it.

I have another DNF. The Moonlight Market by Joanne Harris. A fantasy hating friend recommended it, telling me it was my sort of book... Nope. Not even close. Oddly I used to enjoy JH years ago, but this felt weirdly disjointed. I think the chapter length didn't help, it's broken down into tiny chapters within tiny sections. I have no idea what the reason for this would be, but it started to drive me mad. I didn't even get half way. It just wasn't holding my attention.

I do find that critically acclaimed new novels are often not very well written at all. In addition many are not very original and I often feel I'm being lectured too.

In fact I have found myself disappointed in so many that I have pretty much given up reading them at all, but that's no doubt because I'm just an old fogey. Luckily my bookshelves are bursting with TBRs

Finding Butter boring with all the food descriptions. Am trying to keep going.

@okydokethen yes there seems something strange about the descriptions as well, like all the salivating over white rice with a pat of butter on top. I felt a few times as if I was missing some significance there with the food and recipes, but it just seems a straightforward 'food equals enjoyment and engagement with life' sort of thing?