Which books have you decided not to finish and why?

[Fiddlesticks1]

Are there any books you decided not to continue reading and why?
For me two books.
The Plague Dogs- just found it too upsetting
and in the days of devouring books by Russian authors I gave up on Dostoyevsky because I found them depressing.

Time travellers wife and life of pi.
Difficult to read and boring.

A lot less highbrow but I’ve struggled to get through The Divorce by Frieda McFadden, and Daniel Hurst’s The Happy Family. Both authors have written well in the past but seem to be phoning it in these days. The books are formulaic and the twists are predictable.

The paper palace. Just didn’t get the hype and was bored

As a PP said, I also found Life of Pi dull so didn't finish.

American Psycho was also difficult to read, for different reasons. I didn't finish it because it made me feel physically ill. I did look up the ending though.

Prophet Song, Paul Lynch. Realised I was dreading going to bed while reading it, and going to bed with a book is usually just about my favourite thing to do. I do know it’s meant to be grim, but I decided I didn’t need to feel like that.

The midnight library.

I wish I hadn't finished The Miniaturist, but I did plough all the way through. It was recommended to me by a friend who I must have done something to offend and they wanted me to suffer.

Atonement - just found it so dull.
only made it through the first 2 or 3 chapters and threw the towel in.

Tuesdays with Morrie was recommended on TikTok and I just can’t take to it.

A little life - overwhelmingly horrible and miserable to read

Piranesi - people raved about it, but I couldn't connect with it

1Q84 by Haruki Murakami. Faltering at the last 1/4, because of where the story goes. The first 3/4 are worth a read.

@Timeforabiscuit yes to A Little Life - utterly miserable and no likeable characters, also completely unbelievable. I have no idea why such an awful book is so popular, it was truly miserable. I sort-of finished it by skipping large chunks (the abuse bits) but was left baffled by its popularity.

Cloud Atlas and Catch 22 I also abandoned, plus numerous others I can’t remember.

Little Friend by Donna Tartt. The author was recommended to me by someone I admire so I really wanted to like it. I found it so slow that I gave up a couple of chapters in.

Trainspotting. I just can't get on with Irvine Welsh's writing style.

Time Traveller's Wife - I just found it too confusing!

I gave up on Theo of Golden after about six chapters. WTF was that meant to be?

Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie (Made it about half way through, got increasingly irritated at the pretentious (and not great) writing and boring story)
Things We Do In the Dark by Jennifer Hillier (Picked up immediately after reading her book, The Butcher, because I enjoyed that - TWDITD read as if someone else entirely had written in; choppy writing, predictable story, not great writing)
The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman (Rolled my eyes so many times that I just gave up. I think I thought this would be as engaging as The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared, and it really really wasn't)
Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman (I persevered, I really did. Made it to almost 80% through but had to give up in the end, I just disliked everything about it)

Any book as soon as the writer uses the word 'preternaturally' - always a bad sign in my opinion!

I’m really surprised by some of these! It shows how different we all are. I gave up on Milkman by Anna Burns but honestly couldn’t tell you why. It just felt like too much effort and I thought life’s too short! It is really unusual for me to give up on a book as well.
I gave up on Middlemarch but a friend advised I go back to it and I’m so glad I did.

The bourne identity. I loved the film series so thought I'd enjoy the books but I only managed the first couple of chapters of the first one as i didn't liked the writing style.

Normal people by Sally Rooney. It was picked one month by a book club I went to but I just couldn't finish it, it was so dull!

Couldn’t get through American Psycho, same as PP.

I normally love Chris Brookmyre but I HATED Bedlam and couldn’t get through it.

Also Piranesi. Just couldnt. Really didn't get far into it

I wish i had stopped reading Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow

I also struggled with Milkman and gave up. It’s still on the shelf waiting for me to have another crack which probably won’t happen.

I don't think I've ever consciously decided to stop reading a book. I've got plenty I didn't finish, but usually I put it down with the intention of picking it back up again and then just sort of forget about it.

I'm quite fussy about what books I'll start though, and tend to find an author I like and then read most of their work before moving on.

I struggled through to the end of Catch 22 but wished I hadn’t bothered.

Heller also wrote a novel called Something Happens which my brother succinctly reviews as “no it doesn’t”.