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4/1: X (Kinsey Millhone #24) by Sue Grafton (ebook, I own it) - Sometimes you just have to reread a book you know is good. 4/5 stars
4/2: Blackout by Dhonielle Clayton, Tiffany D. Jackson, Nic Stone, Angie Thomas, Ashley Woodfolk, and Nicola Yoon (audiobook narrated by Joniece Abbott-Pratt, Dion Graham, Imani Parks, Jordan Cobb, Shayna Small, A.J. Beckles, Bahni Turpin, library) - Fun listen. Put me in a summer mood! 4.5/5 stars
4/5: The Three Lives of Cate Kay (library, 2025) - I loved this book. Lots of hats. 5/5 stars
4/11: The Women of Chateau Lafayette by Stephanie Dray (library, 2021) - Book club book for the month. Not my favorite. 2.5/5 stars
4/12: Paladin's Faith (The World of the White Rat: Saint of Steel #4) by T. Kingfisher (library ebook, 2023) - The Saint of Steel books are some of my least favorite Kingfisher books. This one was pretty boring until the last 75 pages when all the good stuff happened. There's a super interesting cliffhanger, though, so I will probably read more. 3.5/5 stars
4/12: Everything is Tuberculosis by John Green (library, 2025) - Interesting material. Not sure Green is the author for me. 3/5 stars
4/14: A Girl Like Her (Ravenswood #1) by Talia Hibbert (library ebook, 2018) - Look, sometimes you read a romance novel and you just want to tell everyone in to grow up. This is one of those books. 2.5/5 stars
4/16: On a Sunbeam by Tillie Walden (library, 2018) - Coming of age graphic novel/sapphic romance. I keep trying to read graphic novels, but they aren't for me. I just don't understand what's happening in the panels where no one talks. It could be for you, but it's certainly not for me. 3/5 stars
4/20: All the Water in the World by Eiren Caffall (library, 2024) - Sometimes you read a book in one day on the drive back and forth to Iowa for Easter. 4/5 stars
4/29: Truly, Devious (Truly Devious #1) by Maureen Johnson (library ebook, 2018) - Hey, how about Johnson writes a mystery novel in which the mystery isn't solved at the end? How would you feel about that? I was MAD. Also, there were a lot of convenient plot points. Just...I have regrets about reading this. 2/5 stars
Average star rating: 3.4/5 stars
Did not finish:
A Night to Remember by Walter Lord - Turns out that I've listened to enough podcasts and watched the movie enough that reading a nonfiction book on the sinking of the Titanic is not for me. DNF at 5%. If you haven't listened to the Did Titanic Sink? podcast, you should definitely give that a try instead.
Never by Ken Follett - This is the only Follett I've ever read that I stopped reading very early on. It turns out that I am not interested in his take on a spy thriller. DNF at page 41 (5%).
The Wedding People by Alison Espach - I know this book is well-liked, but I felt distinctly uncomfortable with the tone early on and I dipped out at page 28 (8%). If anyone wants to know exactly why, it's because there's a passage where it talks about how the main character is an academic, but her husband is a more successful academic and I honestly felt like this suicidal character was maybe a bit too close to who I am and I just didn't want to be in her head.
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Do you finish every book you read? How often do you DNF if you do?
Lol, you know that I will DNF at any time for any reason. Now that you mention it, I can see the similarity between you and the main character in Wedding People. That's meant as a compliment to both you and to her. I can see how it might have been a bit too much on the uncanny valley side.
ReplyDeleteYES! Uncanny valley is exactly right. And my mental health is hanging on by a thread, so I just wasn't comfortable with it right now. Maybe at a different time that book wouldn't be such a struggle.
DeleteI'm trying to get better at DNF, but I'm still pretty bad. Usually if I'm a third of the way through I will push through to the end instead of cutting my losses. I'm trying! But not succeeding. I need to be better!
ReplyDeleteI am trying to be better, too. I mean, what's the point of reading something if you don't like it (other than a book club or something)? Life is too short for that. But, still. I find myself reading Truly, Devious and having regrets.
DeleteI don't usually DNF books. I can usually find some redeeming quality to them, unless the writing is really bad (in which case I'll probably DNF on page 2, with no regrets at all).
ReplyDeleteSo there was a Ken Follett you didn't like? I looked at this one- it doesn't really appeal to me either. It's just not my usual genre.
I am not much of a spy thriller girl and the opening chapters were sort of dull. Sad news. I thought I had a million Follett books to go, but it looks like that might not be the case.
DeleteI pushed through the early chapters of The Wedding People even though I am an underachieving academic. Also too much swearing, but the author kept me interested. I've got Everything Is Tuberculosis on my dresser, waiting for some uninterrupted time to start. I do like John Green's books, and his Crash Course videos have helped me introduce topics in science and history for my homeschool kid.
ReplyDeleteI used to never DNF, but now I'll skip to that last chapter or so and see if it's worthwhile to try again. Most get discarded.
So many people just skip to the end! I don't think it's ever even occurred to me, but you're right. It's a good way to see if I'm interested - do I care how it ended up that way or am I okay with not knowing?
DeleteThe only book we shared this month was Cate Kay, which I enjoyed.
ReplyDeleteI have been DNFing left and right, Engie. It's been rough lately. And no shade on dipping out of a book that is too close for comfort. I do that too. Books are about escapism, not being inside the head of someone uncomfortably similar to ourselves! Is that a cop out? If so, I'm all for it.
Well, I would love to be in the head of someone who is similar to me if that person wasn't planning something terrible. I...just don't need that right now. Maybe at a less fraught time. Do you think we'll ever have a less fraught time in this country in our lifetimes?
DeleteI DNF'd a lot of books in March but April was more successful. Sometimes I read so little of a book that I don't know if I can consider it a DNF and instead think of it as "sampling" a book. First Love was an example of that. It's a memoir about friendship but the tone was just not right for me. I think I maybe read 10 pages. I should have DNF's A Love Song for Ricki Wilde last month but I liked the author's previous book so much that I felt compelled to stick with it. That was a bad decision.
ReplyDeleteI feel like we should have a series of posts called "Book Regrets: I Have Them" where we admit to all our darkest secrets about books. I think Jane Eyre is trash. I was so bored with The Picture of Dorian Gray, but think it would have been a kickass short story. I should have DNFed Truly, Devious. LOL.
DeleteI read Wedding People, but I didn't love it - I just don't enjoy when suicide is used as a narrative device without fully exploring the mental health aspects of it.
ReplyDeleteI don't really DNF aggressively - i rather just drift away and decide to pick up other things. I'll often read the end of a book if I don't feel invested enough in the plot to slog all the way through, though.
I am always interested in people who just stop reading books and just drift away. I think that because I read almost exclusively library books, there's always a time when I have to return the book and so I have to make a decision to finish or not. There are not many (any?) books just floating around my house.
DeleteI passively DNF so many books these days - out of apathy, but also because I just find a lot of fiction to be unsatisfying. I'm not sure why this is, but it bums me out, because I feel like I found myself through reading fiction and poetry when I was younger and now I don't seem to have that resource anymore. Good job dropping that book - I'm with you about academic lit. I learned this the hard way when I read Stoner by John Williams - it was so so dispiriting.
ReplyDeleteRight? Academic lit is just satire and it makes me sad. Remember Dear Committee Members from a few years back (I just looked it up - it was more than ten years ago!)? Who would do that to themselves?
DeleteI'm assuming you were not behind the wheel while driving back and forth to Iowa while reading "All The Water in the World" (though if you were, congrats on some excellent multitasking!). Life is too short to finish a book you aren't into, so I have no trouble quitting one that I am just not feeling. Doesn't happen very often though.
ReplyDeleteDr. BB was driving for sure. I have no patience for the boring drive that is to and from his father's house!
DeleteI first got into Ken Follett through his spy thrillers I still reread Key to Rebecca and Eye of the Needles sometimes! I DNF books all the time now... It has been the best new habit I've picked up in this decade!
ReplyDeleteOh, wow! I am anti-spy books. LOL. Oh, well. I'm glad they're out there for people who like them.
DeleteYikes. I had such a lousy reading month. Only three (well, three and all but four pages of a fourth!). Slacker Moi! Pillars of the Earth was one of the few books I just couldn't finish. I would like to try his more contemporary trilogy.
ReplyDeleteOh, wow. I think Pillars of the Earth might be in my Top Ten list of favorite books ever. I just enjoyed every second of that book about a church being built.
DeleteI've DNFed three books this past month. Sometimes it just doesn't hit right. I have Wedding People on hold at the library so we'll see what I'll think of it and if I make it through.
ReplyDeleteA lot of people liked The Wedding People. I'm definitely in the minority on that one. Fingers crossed you enjoy it.
Delete"Sometimes you just have to reread a book you know is good" is something I need on a mug or a t-shirt!! I DNFed a book this week because it just wasn't the right book for me in this moment, but it broke my heart a little because I waited weeks for it on the holds list, sigh. It'll be there, though, when I'm ready (well, after a wait, I'm sure haha!).
ReplyDeleteIt's the WORST when you wait for a book and then it isn't right for you. Oh, well. Now you know it's not for you (at least right now). That's worth the time.
DeleteI rarely DNF, but I get so many recommendations from my blog friends, and you all have such excellent taste, it makes it easy. I have The Three Lives of Cat Kay on hold right now, I’ll let you know what I thought in about 2 months.
ReplyDeleteI was able to get Cate Kay pretty quickly from my library. I don't think a lot of people around here were hankering for it. It's crazy how hold lists differ from place to place, isn't it?
DeleteI read A Night To Remember ages ago when I was on a huge Titanic bender. I was reading and watching every single thing I could get my hands/eyes on. It started when there was an excerpt in the textbook I was teaching from. It went chronologically, and was fascinating. That was around the time that the Ballard expedition found the Titanic and explored it with the submersible, sending eerie film back to the surface.
ReplyDeleteI used to never, ever DNF. I'd slog through to the end, no matter what. I thought not finishing a book was a mortal sin. Then one book just killed me, and I had to stop. That was the beginning of my Liberation.
I've been meaning to ask you, did you ever read Mrs. March by Virginia Feito? I'd love to hear your thoughts.
I have not read Mrs. March, but I'll put it on my TBR!
DeleteThere's no reason to read a book you don't like. I will stand by this argument forever!!!!
Oh, I read Mrs. March based on Nance’s recommendation, and I loved it! Strange, but really good. I didn’t do much of a review on my blog at the time, it was a tough time for me, but it was a really good book.
DeleteMy most recent DNF was at 200 pages when there were probably 150 pages left. So I was well over halfway through and I could have pushed through but I was like, "This is, at best, going to be a 3 star read. Why am I reading something that is only going to be 3 stars?" I'm good at DNF-ing books I'm not enjoying, but I'm trying to get better about DNF-ing books that aren't TERRIBLE but will definitely be a 2.5 or 3 star read. There are just TOO many good books to read to slog through something that's not going to be a successful read.
ReplyDeleteOur anti-bookness strikes again! I read and loved the Truly Devious series. I didn't mind that it ended on a cliffhanger but I totally understand disliking that book for that reason! I think it's just silly fun and they tend to be palate cleansers for me.
Ha ha on the Truly Devious book. I was okay with it at first, but then the YAness and the cliffhanger made me crazy. It was probably a 3-3.5 until the end!
DeleteI wasn't really a reader until about 10 years ago. Too busy/didn't make time. I distinctly remember the first time I DNF'd a book. I felt like it was a crime. Like What is wrong with me? I can't remember the name of it, but I'd read other books by the author and liked them. I don't do it often, but I also don't read as many books as you. I laughed at a few of your takes, like What the what - a mystery that isn't solved? That would tick me off too.
ReplyDeleteI felt like it was a crime! The true crime is a bad book, right?!
DeleteLol we are so different with books. I really enjoyed Truly Devious and the sequels although I was mad about the ending - sorry if it was me who encouraged you to read it. And I felt sort of the same way you did about TD about Cate Kay - I am the outlier among people I know who have read it so far. I also love John Green. I'm still a bad DNF-er, but I go into speed-reading mode so it doesn't take up too much time.
ReplyDeleteI don't think I will every forgive Truly, Devious for that ending. EVER.
DeleteI might be biased about John Green because I find him to be the kind of person I would trust with my most valuable possessions, but would not like to invite to dinner. That's FINE, not everyone has to be someone who I want to hang out with, but there's something about him that rubs me wrong even though he's probably a perfectly great guy.
I read through your list and thought oh Cate Kay sounds good, I better put it on hold. Then I realized I already had it on hold! So I checked my book recommendations and I put it on hold in April already because of you! Wow my memory is shot!! But, long story short, I will be reading that book someday soon!
ReplyDeleteMy enthusiasm for it never stops. LOL.
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