Top Ten Tuesday: Books I've Abandoned (for a variety of reasons)
A Week In Winter by Maeve Binchey---My mom read this and gave me the book. It sat on my shelf for a few years before I gave it a try. Didn't care for the plot or the characters so I abandoned it about a third of the way in.
What to Read and Why by Francine Prose---Right before the coronavirus quarantine I scooped up nine books from the public library that were from my TBR list. I've read eight of the nine but this one is getting sent back essentially unread. I generally like books about books but this one is too technical or academic. I decided I don't want to work that hard to read anything right now.
Just Mercy: A True Story of the Fight for Justice (Adapted for Young Adults) by Bryan Stevenson---This was a Cybils nominated book and as a Round One Judge in 2018 I had to read over 60 books in two months. I did not finish many of the books, reading just enough to get a feeling for the writing and the topic. This one is a fantastic book I didn't feel the need to finish it since I'd already read the adult version. I read about half of it so I could judge how the author/publisher altered the book for a younger audience.
Uncommon Type: Some Stories by Tom Hanks---I borrowed this short story collection from my library to read on my Kindle Fire while on a trip last fall. When it reached its due date I didn't renew it. I liked the stories I read (about half) but Tom Hanks isn't as good a writer as he is an actor so I decided to abandon it.
The Yellow House: A Memoir by Sarah Broom---I purchased this National Book Award book on my Audible account, hoping to listen to it on a car trip to California several months ago. It has A LOT of characters and it was hard to follow in the audio format. I have abandoned it in this format and hope to find a print version to finish it in that format.
peluda by Melissa Lozado-Oliva---peluda (lower case) is a small book of poems. A blogger friend recommended it so highly I instantly ran to the library to check out a copy. I couldn't understand or relate to the poems so abandoned it less than half way through. I actually have abandoned several other poetry books this past year. Poetry books by Rilke, Burns, and Shakespeare didn't get finished either.
Russian Roulette: The Inside Story of Putin's War on America and the Election of Donald Trump by Michael Isocoff---Though interested, I abandoned this book because I was so upset by what I was learning about the way Russia interfered with our election allowing Trump to win. He is such a ghastly President, I just couldn't make myself read more.
Three Women by Lisa Taddeo---This was a book club selection that I abandoned before reading any of it. I've decided to limit the books I read on a sexual theme. This one contains true stories of the sex lives of women and I just didn't need/want that info in my head. (BTW-all the gals who did read it for club hated it or didn't finish it so I felt relieved that I didn't even try.)
Others---In recent years I have gotten better at abandoning books. Heck, I am not reading them for homework assignments, if I don't enjoy them why not set them aside? I can't remember the titles of any of these books, however, because I also purged them from my Goodreads TBR list. I often add books to my reading list without doing much "research" on them and decide to abandon later after I check into them, all without ever even cracking the book open.
So I abandon books I can't relate to, don't care for the writing, those that upset me, and those I'd have to work too hard to read. I set down poetry books that don't speak to me and look for other formats if one isn't working (audio to print, etc.) and if I am judging the book for an award and have too many books to consumer to give my full attention to one book. How about you? When do you abandon books?
-Anne
I love your reasons for choosing to abandon a book. Reading should bring joy and positivity into your life. If I'm not loving a book, or the way it's written, or the main characters, I quit and move on to another book. Because life is too short to stick with a book you're not enjoying.
ReplyDeleteGood for you for knowing your limits!
ReplyDeleteMy TTT .
I hated "Three Women" on every level--the stories, the writing, the lack of insights. My rule is that I never abandon a book if it's for Book Club since I want to be able to discuss it fairly. (can't do that if I haven't finished) Otherwise, any book is fair game, especially these days when I need distraction.
ReplyDeleteThree women seemed like a good book to make an exception for. Ha! I was shocked how everyone REALLY didn't like it.
DeleteYou would have found the stories vile(I did!), but I especially objected to the writing style which was sophomoric at best.
DeleteI haven't read any of these books and recently I have chosen to stop reading books that bore me, so I am doing the same as you. By the way, re one of the books on your list, there is plenty of evidence that Putin wanted Hilary to win, court orders are recently bringing it to light.
ReplyDeleteWhere did you hear this? Fox "News"? The Senate just found that there was Russian Interference to help elect Trump. And the Senate is in the hands of the Republicans.
DeleteI'm a big Binchy fan, although I admit her more recent books have not grabbed me as much as her earlier ones did. I'm still sad that she died, though, and won't be able to write anything else :( JUST MERCY is a great book. I didn't realize there was a junior edition, but I think that's good as it's a story that would be good for kids to think about and discuss. Have you seen the movie? It's excellent.
ReplyDeleteHappy TTT!
Me, too. I used to love her books, But couldn't do this one.
DeleteI didn't even know Tom Hanks had written a book. Interesting. And the book about the election interference- I'm tempted to get it but at the same time yes it would probably be depressing.
ReplyDeleteI listened to Uncommon Type on audio book and it was read by Hanks himself. He totally made it. :)
ReplyDeleteGood idea. Maybe I should finish it in audiobook format.
DeleteI seem to abandon books fairly quickly right now. I have given up (or chose not to even start) a lot of deadly serious books. I hope I will be able to come back to them soon.
ReplyDeleteNow that I am no longer reading to give reading selection ideas to students I can actually abandon books without guilt
DeleteI forgot to include Three Women by Lisa Taddeo on my list this week! I also abandoned it. I usually don't quit reading a book until I've read at least 50 pages, but I simply could not with Three Women. Ugh.
ReplyDeleteHere's my TTT list.
Glad I'm not the only one.
DeleteSorry these didn't work out for you!
ReplyDeleteGood advice on What to Read and Why. Books-about-books should make you as excited about reading them as they make you excited about reading the books they describe.
ReplyDeleteAs for Three Women, yeah, I looked at maybe 3 reviews and found about 12 reasons not to touch it, so I don't blame you at all.
I was really shocked that we picked it for book club when I read the reviews and then the gal who really pushed it didn't even attend the meeting.
DeleteI abandon books pretty rarely b/c I try to pick them quite carefully. I try to know that I will like them enough to get thru. But I can understand DNFing a slog read etc. The Yellow House print version took me a bit to get through it ... while I liked parts of it ... it seemed to be over-hyped to me.
ReplyDeleteI was shocked to see Just Mercy on your list of books you haven't finished, then read that you had already read the adult version and I breathed a sigh of relief. :-)
ReplyDelete