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?

Nicholas Cage is NOT Captain Corelli!

I've heard so many people say exactly the same thing about Captain Corelli and I totally agree that the first few chapters are very hard going.

But after that it suddenly turns into an amazing book, it's almost as if it's a different book entirely and the ending is wonderful. I never understood why they chose to use a different ending in the film (and Nicolas Cage was just awful throughout anyway).

I really would recommend persevering and getting past the first section, it's well worth the effort.

I would like to abandon Hey Duggee The Potty Badge but the dc won't let me...

I am persevering with Crime and Punishment after a break to find another translation.

Cloud Atlas was my first abandon years ago now

Sometimes I don’t even start! I’m in two book clubs, and there are a few people whose taste is so wrong for me that I almost never even pick up their selections! I have read a synopsis, and a few paragraphs to get the feel, but lately I don’t even bother with that. I have a finite number of years to read, and so many excellent books out there waiting, I can’t justify wasting my time with duds.

I’ve just abandoned Mansfield Park. Fanny is a terrible drip, I’ve a horrible feeling she’s going to end up with her cousin 🤢 and Miss Crawford is loads better in every way and yet I think she’s going to be throw over!

How far did you get?

See, while I agree with you that Fanny is a terrible wet lettuce (and Edmund is a bore), it's one of my favourite novels, because the novel as a whole is so brilliant. It doesn't rise or fall on the strength or likeability of its protagonist the way some of JA's other novels do. I think if you found Emma really insufferable, or Lizzy Bennet, or both Dashwood sisters, it was severely limit your pleasure in those novels, but I think MP is incredibly good because of the plotting and settings, and the big cast of characters and set pieces like the trip to Sotherton and Lovers' Vows.

(I won't spoil it for you in case you go back to it...

They’ve just got back from Sotherton. Honestly I couldn’t stand another page of Fanny.

Mary is the true heroine of that book IMO

Oh yes abandon! I used to earnestly try to finish books in my youth but absolutely cannot be bothered now. Cannot seem to get through one Dickens book - so boring. See also Moby Dick (had to read that for my degree but even so couldn’t finish).

Recent abandonments were Orbital; Hamnet (but only because I put it down and never quite picked it up again so not an active choice to give up); the Essex Serpent.

I am in a book club so have to persevere with some atrocious books. See here My Brilliant Friend.

I decided a few years ago that life is too short, and now I’m quite happy to give up on books. I tend to abandon non-fiction more than fiction, possibly because I tend to pick fiction I know I really want to read, but sometimes pick non-fiction that I think I ‘should’ read.

i did though abandon Prophet Song not very far in. I love going to bed early with a cup of tea to read, and I usually think, ‘Yay!’ when I remember what I’m reading, but with this one I realised I was actually dreading picking it up.

I abandoned Catch 22 twice a few chapters in. It jumps around time-wise which didn’t help.

On the third attempt I was more determined and suddenly something clicked and I “got” it. It’s clever and made me laugh out loud. I finished it and have kept it to re-read.

I usually stick at books and rarely abandon, even though they take me a long time. This is not good as I get older.

I couldn't watch it when I heard who was in it. I adore that book, you are well rewarded for getting through the slog of the scene setting.

I remember my DH watching it on a plane and I looked over his shoulder to see Penelope Cruz running flat footed with duck feet down the hill. I’ve never been able to take her seriously since!

Maybe I should reread it. We had to study it for A level. i had already read P&P and loved it, so I was really looking forward to it, but it was so dull. I hated Fanny. She was such a judgemental, joyless prig, disapproving of a bit of am dram. But 60 yr old me might find things in it that a 17yr old didn't.

Persuasion on the other hand is the perfect heroine. Serious and mousy in her way but so passionate and pissed off with herself for having been too obedient aboyt the most important decision of her life. I love the ending. You get the sense she will really grow up and grow into her life as a Sea Captain's wife, and travel the world.

I find it really hard to abandon books, and usually give them a retry some time later.

I loved CCM-it was actually on my A Level syllabus.
I loved White Teeth but have NW on my pile after finding it really hard to get into.

The Bee-sting is another that I’ve put down for now.

Love Ian McEwan but had to abandon a book that I borrowed from the library as it had sibling incest/child abuse and made me feel sick.

CCM is a beautiful love story and the end is such a bittersweet one ❤️

He is why I wouldn't watch the film

Orbital! Yes, it was so boring. I abandoned it even though it's incredibly short.

A perfect example of how a short book can feel a thousand pages long.

If you like Mary Crawford, Joan Aiken has a rather good sequel, Mansfield Revisited, that gets Fanny off the scene, and brings Mary C back. And reinvents Julia as a comically awful Aunt Norris replacement.

Thanks @AndMilesToGo that sounds interesting. I’ll put it on my wish list. My TBR is out of control!

I wish I’d abandoned Butter, but kept listening on audio book. Thinking it might get better then it just… ended. Also Tomorrow, and Tomorrow and Tomorrw I gave up during the middle section. For me listening to a dull book is even worse than reading one, it seems to drag more.

I had this argument with my Dil recently, she refuses to ever abandon, I came to the conclusion it’s because she’s 30 and I’m 58, she’s got many more years left than me to keep reading books!

I wish I had abandoned my last book “Welcome to the Neighbourhood” Jane Fallon, it should have been marketed at teenage drama lamas not grown adults! Absolute childish gossipy nonsense.

Abandon every time. I'm also a bit famous for walking out of the cinema if I'm not enjoying the film, life really is too short. I've got no patience with things that are meant to be entertaining, when I'm not entertained by them. Ditto plays, live music.

I ditched a book group because most of the book choices were terrible and i hate the feeling that i should read something. In fact i used to consciously dodge books that everyone seemed to be reading, they rarely lived up to the hype.

I seldom abandon books, mostly because I never attempt anything I suspect I might not enjoy. I wasted too much time in my pretentious youth trying to read books I felt I really I should try. I made several attempts at Proust for some reason before deciding it was beyond me. One thing I never understood was how my ex-husband ( a very slow reader ) would abandon long books he claimed to enjoy about thirty pages from the end. He could never explain why. I never give him a thought any more but I do still occasionally wonder about that particular quirk. I've never encountered anyone else who did that.