This is gonna be a weird post this year- because I DNF’d A LOT of books for a change… and then promptly forgot about half of them. That’s right: there has been a serious shift in my reading habits. I have gone from being the shy, timid monkey who would never close a book before finishing it well, (sort of 😉) … to a serial DNFer. It’s meant I’ve read fewer books this year- and yet I’m happier for it and (usually) more satisfied with the ones I do finish. For the most part, I simply wasn’t vibing with the style and would consider picking it up again one day. That accounts for these books:
These, however, earned their DNFs:
The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck- oh FFS, I’m no stranger to swear words but this seems excessive, even to me. I wasn’t getting anything out of this. I don’t agree with the premise anyway, so this lost me very early on. I guess I’ll just go on caring too much.
Genuine Fraud– I love the idea of stories told backwards… it’s only a shame that they rarely work for me. I didn’t click with the structure and found it made it impossible to get to know the characters. I was completely lost at 15% and decided to call it a day.
Shadow of Night– mea culpa- I shouldn’t have picked up this book. I’ve no idea why I impulsively bought it (well, except for the fact it was on sale) since I didn’t like the first one. However, I did enjoy the show and really, really wanted to know what happened. Bit silly, because I do still intend on watching it- and I reckon I’ll get more out of it that way.
Such a Fun Age– I was promised humour and didn’t laugh in the first 33%. Not even a wry chuckle or a smirk. Who knows, maybe the last 67% would have me in side-splitting hysterics- but sadly I’m not willing to take that chance.
Cinderella is Dead– the cover and title are amazing, but the book is so full of bitterness and anger. It’s not a mood I enjoy.
Rose Code– believe me, I wanted to love this book. I tried for such a long time. I still consider this author to be great- it’s only sad this one wasn’t for me. I couldn’t put my finger on why, since the only thing I actively disliked was the use of real people. I just wasn’t clicking with the characters or story, so sadly gave up on it.
Gods and Monsters– I don’t care enough to finish this series. Honestly, I shouldn’t have bothered after book 2 let me down.
House of Leaves– I didn’t only find the style unappealing… it was actively off-putting. I don’t see myself ever finishing this, which is a shame, because I love this kind of experimental story. Although on that note…
Lincoln in the Bardo– this is the kind of literary “experimentation” that gets on my nerves.
And that’s all (I remember quitting)! Do you think I made the right choice? Would you recommend powering through any of these? And what are your feelings on DNFing? Let me know in the comments!
#1 FOMO– this is probably the biggest one for me personally. There are so many books out there that are acclaimed or a BIG DEAL in some way- and I can never quite forgive myself for not liking each and every one of those (ridiculous, I know! but that’s why I’ve powered through books like Dune, despite not liking the writing style from the start) A huge part of me always wants to know what the fuss is about and doesn’t like the idea that I’m somehow not getting everything I could out of books. If this is my sole motivator for continuing with a book I’m not interested in or don’t like, I’m just going to have to learn to let go.
#2 Because I like to persevere. For me personally, I have a very positive association with perseverance. I like to see things through, no matter what. So, if I give up on a book, I feel ridiculously guilty. It even makes me pick up books again, like Mrs Dalloway, long after I’ve DNF’d them!
#3 The shame– this is kind of a combination of #1 and #2. I feel an overwhelming sense of failure if I can’t make it through a book I’m not enjoying (which is rather silly, since this is a hobby, not a job!) I also don’t like the idea of admitting I couldn’t make it to the end of a book. Thus, I tend to power through, long after I should’ve just called it quits.
#4 For work/uni– of course, sometimes I am obliged to finish something whether I want to or not. And that kinda sucks, especially in the case of Lolita or even a Separate Peace, but it’s part and parcel of life- sometimes you have to do things you don’t want to do.
#5 So I can review it– this is in part another sense of obligation (though of course I rarely do ARCs and more rarely still dislike them). However, it also comes down to the fact that I take (a twisted kind of) pleasure in being able to drag a book I didn’t enjoy. And how could I review something properly if I haven’t finished it? Of course, I could just review what I’ve read so far or *shock horror* not bother to review it at all… which I actually do with a fair amount of books I’ve finished anyway 😉 (plus, if the reason I didn’t like it is because I was bored, I won’t have much to say regardless!)
#6 The occasional book that proves me right. We’ve all been there once or twice: picked up a book, found ourselves hating it, yet *miraculously* just as we’re about to throw the book at a wall or coming to the final act, the book rewards our patience and we end up loving it. For me, the most memorable example was Magician’s Guild– a book I’m still a bit meh about, but a series I’m crazy for! If I’d given up on that, I’d have really missed out (there’s that FOMO again) so with that in mind, I sometimes push on.
#7 If I really like the concept. This goes hand in hand with the last one. If I saw something in the concept and have faith in the story, then I’m going to have a tough time giving up on it (especially if it was super hyped!) I can keep going as long as I have the merest glimmer of hope (…which is sadly so infrequently rewarded).
#8 Some books are hard, but that doesn’t mean they’re not worthwhile. Similarly to #7, I do like to pick up the odd challenging book and that can have its downsides. A book can be tough for any number of reasons- difficult subject matter, complex writing etc. Often, it is for the best that I power through, even if I’m not enjoying it… but then, with books like Ordinary Men and Gulag Archipelago they’re not exactly meant to be enjoyed. And that’s okay- I just have to be a bit more prepared to persevere with those books and remember why I’m trying to read them in the first place.
#9 I may have been in the wrong mood when I picked it up. As a self-confessed mood reader, I’ve had this on numerous occasions. And it doesn’t help that I don’t always recognise what I’m in the mood for… or in some cases ignore my mood entirely. Recently, I felt like reading thrillers, but with everything going on I convinced myself I must want to pick up fluffy contemporaries. All this did was make me slumpy (and make me give up on two contemporaries in a row: Happily Ever After and V is for Virgin). What a waste of reading time!
V is for Virgin– annnd this one is straight up embarrassing. I DNF’d this shortly after Happily Ever After, not only failing to learn my lesson that I wasn’t in the mood for contemporary, but also going for a book by the same author (in fairness, I have liked her books before, so I imagined it was a blip). As with Happily Ever After, there wasn’t anything particularly wrong with this, I simply wasn’t feeling it.
Murmur of Bees– this is definitely a case of it’s not the book, it’s me. I can see, objectively, that this had beautiful writing and strong characterisation. I just… knew immediately that this wasn’t my sort of story. I struggled through about half of it, before realising I didn’t want to do it anymore.
To the Lighthouse– putting this on here is more like a promise to myself than anything else. As I’ve mentioned before, I never like stream of consciousness and so have always clashed with Virginia Woolf. This was no exception to that rule. A little part of me really thought when I put this down that it wouldn’t be forever. Yet, as I realised after finally completing Mrs Dalloway last year, that would be a BIG MISTAKE! For my own sake, I should leave well enough alone! So, for goodness sake Future Me, heed this list, stop whatever it is you think you’re doing and don’t pick this up- else you’ll make a liar of us both!
Wicked– oh man, this was atrocious. I *hated* the writing style and was bored throughout. I can’t actually remember if I made it to the end or not, but I’m counting it because I definitely remember abandoning it on several occasions (and if I did finish it I must’ve skimmed, because I don’t remember it!)
Mysteries of Udolpho– I picked this up solely because it’s referenced by other famous works… and it wasn’t anywhere near their league! For a book about mysteries and naughty monks, it was a very dull tome indeed. After trying to read a few very dull pages every few weeks, I realised no amount of cool points for reading the book mentioned in Northanger Abbey would make this worth my time. At least I sort of get the joke about people reading this sensational novel (it feels a bit like making fun of Twilight, maybe…?)
Otherworld– this was just completely meh. Other books have done this story better (try Ready Player One) and with more interesting characters (that aren’t simply obsessed with the length of their nose). It felt like a celebrity cashing in on a tried and tested story- it’s only a pity that they didn’t do a better job of copying other’s works.
Full disclosure: I could not finish this collection. I got about halfway through before doing the smart thing and giving up. Honestly, the main reason I gave up on this is that I wasn’t scared. At all. Not even a little bit. I have a hyperactive imagination, can be easily jumpy and so I am pretty easy to scare. And yet in this supposedly scary story collection, the bravest thing I had to do was DNF it.
the orang-utan librarian 