Abandoning books - life's too short

[Kayemm]

Last year I started an 'Abandoned ' shelf on my Goodreads account and it's about to get it's first 2026 addition.
It's The Fraud by Zadie Smith, it's my book club book. It's the first I've Abandoned in this incarnation of the group. I'm feeling slightly guilty as I know a couple of others have Abandoned it too.

Do you abandon or plough on?

Like a few folks upthread I usually read a chunk at random in the bookshop. If it passes that test then I’ll give a book a go. On Kindle I always try a sample if it’s not an author or series I’ve read before. Even so I do abandon from time to time and if I’m not engaged I am more than happy to walk away.

The Poisonwood Bible was something I just couldn’t get into. Had the same reaction to Demon Copperhead and everyone was raving about it. Barbara Kingsolver’s writing just makes me feel a bit sick for some reason.

If I’m engaged with the story but it’s moving too slowly I will skim to the end for the plot reveal. I learned long ago that I need a plot and a conclusion!

I attempted to read Captain Corelli's Mandolin 3 times and gave the book away having not got further than about 20 pages.

@MamaBobo , I liked The Poisonwood Bible but I know I won't like Demon Copperhead.
Anything that gets raved about is unlikely to be my cup of tea.

H is for Hawk was abandoned after a few pages.

My suspicion is that book prize judges don't read all of each book.

Seeing as it's just after Christmas, just because I read a lot it doesn't mean I want a big hardback of your choice foisted on me. That inscription in it will not help it to sell at the charity shop. A book token on the other hand ...

I also abandoned Captain Corelli. Just today, I abandoned Flaubert's Parrot and I really, really like Julian Barnes - and Flaubert. Bit gutted actually.

I abanoned it too, and I've never managed to read anything by Ian McEwan.

I tried to read No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency once, a long time ago.
I gave up on it on the first page.

I never finished White Teeth when that was all the rage. It bored me silly. No regrets.

That's really good. I'd say mine is more like 70%! I persevere because if I find one I like it's, usually very good or great.

Some books you finish because they are so horrific (Jane Green - Jemima J - still haunts my thoughts how awful it was)

and Alexander McCall smith (I think pp was on my thread about this) - his latest was serialised on R4 and I just couldn’t believe how bad it was so i had to listen to it all to make sure there wasn’t some clever twist or something. But no. It was just shit.

😂

I’m glad I’m not the only one who didn’t love the second series of Night Manager!

Me either. So dull!

@AddictedToTea , thanks. His books get raved about yet I thought 'Does anything happen and do I care? No'.

@Bruisername , I posted on the other thread but thought I'd post it here too.

I've also not finished a Kate Mosse (Labyrinth, I think), a Kate Atkinson - one of the time-shift ones (not the museum one but I won't try it), although i liked the Jackson Brodie books, and a few classics.

Reading to me should be a pleasure or or teach me something, not be a chore.

( is feeling like a chore these days)

I might return to the unfinished classics I've abandoned. Some were good and I knew I'd hang on to the actual book, so there was no rush. The 2 Kate books were donated years ago.

@GloriaMonday I was going to suggest you did on the other thread when i saw you had!

Thanks. @Bruisername . The AMcCS books looked like they might appeal to a certain audience but I'm not it. I have a feeling that it might be the same audience as the RO books. I picked up a new one of those in a charity shop, and thought it would be a pointless waste of 50p buying it. They seem popular though.

I'm a lurker on the thread but I recognised your name. IIRC you fancied some new boots not that long ago.

Ha! Good memory!

I'm not sure who AMS appeals to tbh. I wonder if Scots like his work or find his portrayal of them deeply patronising

I got the impression it was aimed at people who still refer to 'Keenya' and 'Rhodesia' but I might have been a bit hasty.

Hah. I think that was the first book I abandoned too. So spectacularly boring.

Poisonwood Bible is the one book that I returned to and forced myself to persevere with after a friend raved about it. I had tried so many times and couldn't get past those first few pages. But when I tried again several years later, I absolutely loved it. And Demon Copperhead is my favourite novel in a decade. Maybe our tastes change as we age.

I couldn't read it either. I don't know if Ferrante's real identity is now known but at the time I wondered if it was written by a man because the female characters all seemed so wooden and inauthentic to me.

I didn't even try to read My Brilliant Friend. I heard it on the radio and that was bad enough.

It’s funny how some books are raved about but there’s more than one on here that seems to have been pretty consistently abandoned!! But because it was raved about sales were most likely high and that was the measure of success

one book I didn’t abandon but wish I had because the ending was so trite was Butter. Another booked hyped and pushed by the publisher

Books that are hyped and pushed often end up at the top of the bestselling charts. It puts me off them. I read something like Butter: THE No. 1 SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLING SENSATION - as 'You won't like it, Glo'.

Life gets shorter as I grow older so I have to face the truth that I will never read all these books or make up all these pieces of fabric.
Captain Correlli's Mandolin? Well, I heard a few episodes when it was 'Book At Bedtime' so I was already in love with him. A friend, who couldn't get on with it, lent it to me and I just went zoom through it.😀
Do I abandon books? Yes.

I loved Captain Corelli's Mandolin, the beginning is really heavy going but it does set the context for later events. After that it zips along and yes to being in love with him. The end is so gorgeous ❤️

I think the book contains the words 'They were lovers in the old-fashioned sense'. Not every woman lost her virginity in WW2. Some of them had FATHERS and religious upbringings.
The book taught me a bit about the politics - I mean the Communists.
I saw the trailer of the film at the cinema and I knew I couldn't go near it.