Which books couldn't you finish? #1
 

Which books did you start but couldn't finish?

Could be older books from years ago. Or could be from 2019.

The Song of Achilles - I thought I would love it. But I just was so bored with it and the characters wasn't that great.

From last year I couldn't finish
Dark Aemilia: A Novel of Shakespeare's Dark Lady by Sally O'Reilly

The description was interesting but it didn't have the character / relationship development I wanted.

My recent. I got to about 100 pages of MASK of SHADOWS by Linsey Miller, and skimmed the rest. Just didn't connect with the characters. The writing seemed to jump about.

There is one book that I forget the name of author, but i just can't finish Beautiful Liar.. Ugh, I just hate the characters, but the whole plot..

Ah.. that's the same series as Beautiful Disaster?

^ Yeah, that's the one and other book that I have to look it up the name..

I used to always finish books I started reading, just in case they got better. Recently I've stopped doing that, because there are so many books to read, why waste time on one you really dislike? :confused: In the last few years I mostly read books I really liked, but I remember trying to read 50 Shades of Grey (to try and figure out what all the fuzz was about) and I just couldn't get past the bad writing and characters, so that's one of the books I've ditched.

A book I actually really liked but still haven't finished is Pillars of the Earth. I've tried reading it twice on holiday and both times I got about 3/4 of the way through, but then my holiday ended and I didn't finish it after. I plan to try it a third time though.

Sometimes its not the story, but more you're unable to connect or get into it.

Yes exactly. Sometimes I read something or watch something and know I will like it, but it's just bad timing, doesn't fit my mood, current interest, my level of concentration... So many possible reasons!

Yeah, that's how I felt.. :nod:

I used to do the whole "I WILL FINISH THIS." self-beating-up thing. Until I also realised there are too many GOOD books out there and not enough time. I even created a Will Not Finish shelf on Goodreads...

@meraki - I also didn't finish Song of Achilles. I picked it up in an attempt to read more popular books. And I think it won an award so I took a punt.
A Cavern of Black Ice - J. V. Jones - I have read The Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan and I found THIS book too dense, wordy and all over the shop.
Assassin's Quest - Robin Hobb - A perfect example of how doing something mean to a character I like and who I enjoy reading "with" will make me slam the book shut.
Throne of Glass - Sarah J. Maas - I have a friend who reads a lot of YA. So I thought I would go into the genre on my own without her recommendations. It was a Mary Sue of the highest order, with a character that was un-relateable in any way and quite annoying. I then ran out of the YA genre again and stuck with what I know and love.

I also stopped reading a lot of trashy romance due to hilarious sex scenes, really questionable back stories and character decisions, and baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaad writing. Self-publication has a lot to answer for in that genre...

Exactly! There are so many fantastic alternatives, sometimes you just need to ditch a bad book. Some books I kind of want to give a second chance, others are just not what I enjoy reading (and never will be).

I also never donate/get rid of books. So I have a library of bad choices here. All with bookmarks sticking out at various places. One of the reasons I was given a print of this by Tom Gauld when it was available.

I have to give books I really didn't like or was just eh about away because I have a small library in my room and it'd be a total mess if I didn't only keep the ones I love and will re-read.