Let's all just remember that August started off terribly and is ending terribly, too. Things have to look better in September.
8/10: Girl in the Mirror by Mary Alice Munroe (library ebook, 1998) - Do you ever read something hoping it will somehow get better in the next chapter? This one never did. I read this book because I thought it fulfilled a Pop Sugar challenge prompt, but I JUST REALIZED IT WAS BY A DIFFERENT AUTHOR. I'm a failure. 2.5/5 stars
8/17: Feed (Newsflesh #1) by Mira Grant - Blogging plus a zombie apocalypse? I'm in. 5/5 stars
8/17: Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng - Well, at least I can say I read it. 2.5/5 stars
8/18: And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie - Look, this may be sacrilege, but the writing is subpar, the characterizations nonexistent, and the ending just pissed me off. 2/5 stars
8/25: Spoon River Anthology by Edgar Lee Masters - Good stuff. I like the premise and the execution was fun. 4/5 stars
Average star rating: 3.2/5 stars - Thank goodness for Feed, right?
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Did Not Finish:
Leave the World Behind by Rumaan Alam - I read about half this book and nothing had happened yet. Honestly. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
Ghosts of the Tsunami by Richard Lloyd Parry - I tried to listen to this as an audiobook and it failed to grab my attention. Maybe I'll try it later in print. DNF at 8%.
A Marriage at Sea by Sophie Elmhirst - Tried this as an audiobook and I just couldn't do it. The narrator's voice was not my favorite. DNF at 8%, but I will get this as a physical book and read it later.
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What's the last book you DNFed? Why did you stop reading it?
I post a "Books Read or not" list every January 1 or 2 of the previous year's books. Always interesting to see how many I really remember.
ReplyDeleteI was updating a reading challenge page the other day and it's amazing how many books I have read THIS YEAR that I have no memories of. That makes me feel insane.
DeleteI just DNF a book by Lisa Jewell, Don't Let Him In. Great premise, but could not stand the slog of the first chapters of meeting the characters. I did read the last few chapters, which led to an interesting conclusion, but really? Too many people, too much jumping around. I also stuck to another novels I wanted to give up. Writers and Liars, by Carol Goodman, which was in the mode of And Then There Was None. It was short and I liked the classical allusions, but I don't think I'll read another of hers.
ReplyDeleteLisa Jewell is so popular. I've only read one of her books and I liked it a lot, but I don't read a lot of mystery/thriller, so if the twist gets me, I'm pretty satisfied. Ha! I'm easy like that.
DeleteI DNF'd a fantasy book because each chapter was bringing in more and more characters and I just wasn't in the head space to deal with that much going on. And actually, I did finish a different fantasy book that I would have not finished if I'd known it would end on a freaking cliffhanger. I didn't know it was first in a planned series, and while I can deal with a series that doesn't resolve EVERYthing in book one (I mean, that's what makes it a series, right?), I can't deal with it not resolving ANYthing. I'm reading and enjoying a different fantasy series where I have so many questions, but the first two books each ended in a good, happy-for-now place that works for me. (Although, So Many Questions.)
ReplyDeleteI can't remember if you've read the Realm of the Elderlings saga. It's crazy how I always felt like each book had a satisfying ending, but the big picture pieces were not there until the very very end of the millionth book. It was like a magic trick Robin Hobb pulled off.
DeleteUgh, that was a bad reading month! I will say, I love Agatha Christie, but And Then There Were None was never my favorite. I don't know why it's so famous. Well- onward! September will be better.
ReplyDeleteSeptember has already been better! Yay!
DeleteI DNF'd The Poppy Fields. I really liked her first book, "The Measure" but her latest book was just not working for me. Initially I got annoyed by the set-up. 3 people meet in an airport in Kansas City - but one of those people was flying in from Boston. There is NO WAY YOU WOULD CONNECT THROUGH KANSAS CITY! It is not a hub airport! That probably would not catch the attention of anyone who doesn't fly a lot/doesn't understand hubs. But gah it annoyed me. And then I just didn't care about the characters. I also DNF'd Emily Henry's new book because the historical aspect of the book was so boring for me and I did not find the chemistry between the 2 characters believable at all. I mean the guy was treating the girl like a total jerk but she gets him a green tea and places it outside his door? Why? And their first kiss was so very sudden and out of left field. I knew Stephany didn't like it so I figured I'd cut my losses. Plus I didn't like her last book, "Happy Place."
ReplyDeleteLOLOLOL at not connecting at a regional airport. You're so right, but I never would have caught something like that.
DeleteI didn't love Happy Ending very much, either. I have a library hold on the new book, but I'm not sure now if I'm excited to read it.
Let’s see. I have been DNFing all over the place lately. Looks like it’s mostly thrillers, which are usually my go-to genre… but I guess I require something that hooks me immediately. (Death at the White Hart was kind of boring, I only read about a quarter of it before drifting away. We Don’t Talk About Carol I only gave 7 minutes before putting it down. I devoted all of 15 minutes to listening to Look Closer before I decided I had no patience for it.)
ReplyDeleteI am so very sad you disliked the Celeste Ng. I loved that one so much. I did read it maybe ten or twelve years ago though, so perhaps Today Me would have a different reaction.
(This is Suzanne.)
The Ng book is probably my fault because I find character driven stories to be SUCH A SLOG. We knew what happened from the first page, so it was all "how did we get here?" and people's thoughts and feelings and I just wasn't here for it. I'm sure it's a great book for another type of reader.
DeleteI don't think I really DNF books on purpose. I more PTFL (Plan To Finish Later - yes, I totally made that up) if a book isn't grabbing me and something more appealing comes along. Even if a book is really stupid to me, I'll usually flip through to the end to see how it turns out. Though now that I say that, I started reading Lois Lowry's The Windeby Puzzle last night to the kids and I don't know if I'll finish it as a read aloud with them - It's a story that Lowry wrote inspired by some Iron Age human remains found in Germany and the first chunk talks about all the gruesome and sad parts of living in the Iron Age, complete with punishments for adultery. I might read it myself to see what happens, but I don't think I need to read that at bedtime to the kids just yet.
ReplyDeleteI do like Agatha Christie, but I do agree that the actual writing is kind of ... workman like.
YES!! I've read this one and Orient Express and I find the writing almost intolerable. The characters are so flat. I like plot more than most people, but these books are all plot and setting and I am not on board. I think this is a me problem, though, since she's obviously so beloved.
DeleteI wondered about your response to Agatha, especially because I feel you picked one of my least favourites to start with. I’m also not crazy about Hercule, but Miss Marple and Nick & Nora are good, as well as stand-alones like Who Killed Roger Ackroyd…just sayin, maybe don’t give up on Agatha based on that one book? I hope you have a much better September in store!
ReplyDeleteTommy and Tuppence?
DeleteI've given her TWO books and I think maybe it's just not a writing style I love. I mean, maybe I'll try a Miss Marple or Nick & Nora, but it won't be soon.
DeleteLast total DNF was “This Time Tomorrow” by Emma Straub. I just could not get into it, on two separate attempts, even as a light/fun read. Characters just seemed cliched/shallow and the plot and style fell flat for me. Currently trying to *not* DNF “The Wedding People” after DNFing several times in the past year. I know this was a wildly popular novel but I find it stilted/cringey/contrived and excessively “tell” rather than “show.” Maybe my expectations were too high! I’m at 50% so I do think I’ll make it to the end at this point.
ReplyDeleteI 100% DNFed The Wedding People, so you would not be alone!
DeleteI have two of these, the Agatha Christie and the Celeste Ng. Based on your review and the comments, I think I will try a different Agatha Christie, and decide later about Celeste Ng. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteSo many people on here are saying that this is not Agatha Christie's best work. Who knew?
DeleteWe have another entry for the "This Book Hit Birchie and Engie Totally Differently" list. And Then There Were None joins Hello Beautiful and My Brilliant Friend.
ReplyDeleteWe can agree to agree on Celeste Ng. I have a 100% DNF rate for her.
My most recent DNF was Broken Country, which is a book that everyone else loves. The opening scene has a dog killing a sheep which then gets the dog killed and that's the setup where all of the characters meet/remeet after many years. I stopped reading because the "life sucks" vibe was dripping off the page. I don't need my reading to be happy happy joy joy, but when a book starts wallowing in misery in the first few pages, I'm out.
Even the description of Broken Country makes it sound like an anti-NGS book, so I have steered very far away from it. And now that I know there's animal death, I'm even less likely to go anywhere near it.
DeleteI DNF'd Nesting at about the 30% mark. I knew Birchie loved it and I can see why - it was gripping, but I just could not handle the domestic emotional abuse (the absolute main topic of the whole book). Gaslighting just...*shudder*
ReplyDeleteAnyhoo, I flipped to the end to make sure things turned out okay and promptly sent it back to the library.
Oh, Elisabeth, you know I'd agree with you on this. Books with depictions of domestic abuse make me crazy. I just can't handle it!
DeleteI don't DNF many books but last month I DNF'd Here One Moment by Liane Moriarty. Good premise but the chopping and changing perspective broke the story up in not a good way and I didn't care enough about what was going on to keep plowing through.
ReplyDeleteI feel like DNFing is crucial to my reading life. I never know how people just don't DNF. How do you screen your books so well that you read all of them?!
DeleteI DNFed "The Song of the Cell: An Exploration of Medicine and the New Human" by Siddhartha Mukherjee. I was trying to read it because my daughter is a cell biology PhD student. The beginning was quite depressing - all about diseases, but I plowed on because I found the story of the scientists interesting. I got totally bogged down in the actual science parts and then the library grabbed it back from my kindle.
ReplyDeleteI DNFed that same book last November! I tried to listen to the audiobook and it was like listening to a textbook. Not awesome. I'm happy to hear I'd probably have the same reaction to a print version.
DeleteMy last DNF was ages ago, and it was The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store. I decided to simply break up with James McBride completely after that. Maybe it's a "It's not you, it's me" situation with him, or maybe it's really him, but I find his writing irritating in the extreme.
ReplyDeleteI just started The Wager, and I realized it's by the same author who wrote one of my favourite nonfiction books of all time, The Lost City of Z! Highly recommend that one, Engie.
The Wager IS SO GOOD. I am going to add the Lost City of Z to my TBR list. It's available right now via Libby, but I have three books on my Kindle already, so I'll have to get it later.
DeleteStephen King's "Dreamcatcher." As much as I love him, all the scatalogical stuff was just too stupid for my tastes.
ReplyDeleteI get it. King is definitely the best and worst of authors.
Delete