Books, Entertainment

Books I Just Can’t Finish

Stack of books

Someone once told me ‘life is too short to read books you don’t enjoy.’ In recent years I think I’ve taken this idea a little too seriously. I buy a lot of books. The Book Depository was the first website I bookmarked when I got a new computer and since getting a Kindle my Amazon account has been getting quite the workout. This abundance of choice has meant I’m more likely to give something the flick fifty pages in if I’m not enjoying it.

But I go back. I almost always go back. I do this because the enormous number of books around my house reminds me that I did pay money for them so I should really give them another go. The issue is that I rarely finish them second time round. I might get a little further, but I never make it all the way to the end. There are a lot of reasons I give up on a book. It might be bad writing, the story doesn’t interest me, it’s too complicated, or I simply don’t like the main character. But the main reason I seem to give up on books is because I’m just not in the mood. I read widely so I often find that I’ll start a fantasy novel when all I really want to do is pick up some contemporary fiction.

Here is a list of some of the books I’ve picked up several times but can’t yet tell you how it ends:

A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin: I’m a bit ashamed to admit that I have picked this up four times and am still only about halfway through. Fantasy novels are such a commitment, especially because they almost always come in a series containing roughly eleventy-billion books. Sometimes I just want the satisfaction of finishing a story over a few days.

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern: I’ve heard a lot of good things about this one but I just can’t get into it. I’ve taken it to bed three times now and I’m still not sure when the actual story is going to start.

Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte: Am I the only person who doesn’t like Catherine and Heathcliff?

Fifty Shades of Grey by E. L. James: Ok, I did read the end, but this is only because I skipped through and read all the naughty bits and the ending. Couldn’t tell you anything about the story. I tried, really hard, but the skipping started a few chapters in.

Room by Emma Donoghue: I can only read so many words written in the voice of a five-year-old. Also, the story appeared to be over half way through. Although it might not be, I just haven’t got any further.

The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien: This is my record holding book. Well, technically The Fellowship of the Ring is. I honestly can’t say how many times I’ve tried to read it. I love fantasy. I love the movies. I don’t love the length of these books.

Odd Thomas by Dean Koontz: It’s a little too odd for me, even on my second and third try.

Do you give up on books? What books have you tried to read but just can’t get through? What books do you hate, even though they’re extremely popular?

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    • Detachable Princess

      Oh man, I loved Odd Thomas! There’s another couple of “Odd” books as well, I think they’re great.

      There have been some books that I couldn’t finish – but I couldn’t tell you what they were. Once I was only about 50 pages from the *end* of a book when I just thought “I really don’t care how this ends” so I didn’t finish it.

      • Hayley Ashman

        Odd Thomas is one of those books I desperately want to like. I know so many people who have also said they loved it. I’m going to set a goal of finishing it this summer because I’m really starting to think I’m missing out!

    • http://www.hutchiesabroad.wordpress.com carohutchison

      Oh there are so many that I haven’t finished. I keep trying Lionel Shriver thinking it will be as good as ‘we need to talk about kevin’ but I find it too heavy. Same goes for Michael Ondaatje who wrote ‘The English Patient’, I was given another of his, which isn’t very long but again too hard to relax with.

      For me one benefit of e-books is i find it harder to read the last chapter so i plow on for a bit longer.

    • Mazi Gray

      I read the Odd Thomas Graphic Novel ( illustrated by Australian Author, Queenie Chan)
      And I agree with you on Katherine and Heathcliffe.

      But I can’t finish Ulysses by Joyce, SLOW as anything.

      • Hayley Ashman

        I should have put Ulysses on the list. I bought it thinking ‘yes, I WILL conquer this literary masterpiece.’ Nope, never happened. I found it too hard to follow and terribly boring. I seriously think I’ve managed about 20 pages of it over five years.

    • Jess88

      Between a Rock and a Hard Place by Aron Ralston, I adored the movie 127 Hours but the book was BORING. I’m also struggling to get into The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, again I loved the movie but the book isn’t doing it for me.
      I love anything by Dean Koontz though and the Odd Thomas series is my fave.

    • Maree Talidu

      Wuthering Heights is one of the best books I have ever read. Dry at the start, but oh so worth it. I gave up on The Great Gatsby more times than I can count.

    • http://tamsinhowse.com/blog Tamsin Howse

      I never finished a single book I was ever supposed to read in high school. Yes, even The Hobbit. Not one of them.

      I also threw ‘It’s Like This, Cat’ in the garbage can when he stepped on a kitten and I just cannot bring myself to read any further in The Book Thief. I acknowledge that The Book Thief is well written, and it seems like a really good book, but when the Nazis started coming I started crying and never got any further. I just can’t do it.

      • Mitchell Osmond

        I only finished the book theif the other week. I liked it, but didn’t get the ‘wow’ i expected to once i finished the last page.

    • Jessica Chapman

      The only books I haven’t finished are the ones that I have lost while reading. Even the ones I’ve hated, it’s just an obsessive facet of my nature. But to be honest the ones I’ve hated the most were assigned for school.

    • Ozgirl

      I have tried numerous times to read The Book Thief and I just can’t – it hurts my head too much.

      It is the only book I can remember not finishing – maybe cause it sits on my nightstand taunting me!

    • Mitchell Osmond

      I almost always finish books, just for the sake of ‘well, I started it, should at least finish it’. But recently I’ve had a number of books where I get to the end and say ‘yep – I knew that would have a sucky ending’.

      Maybe I should start giving up when I know it’s going nowhere?

    • http://inburgeringadventure.blogspot.nl/ MissNeriss

      Totally with you on Lord of the Rings. I think I’m still about half way through book two, ten years later. Loved the movies though. And 50 Shades? Possibly the worst book ever. To my shame I read all three. Well, I skimmed the third, not even pausing for the naughty bits. Waste of my time. The parody (50 shames or Earl Grey) was just as bad.

      I’ve put down a couple of books by Terry Brooks and Terry Pratchett (I promise I’m not anti-Terry), I just found them to be overrated. I read a long-forgotten Haruki Murakami book and don’t know how I persevered. Booo-ring.

      I do promise that the Game of Thrones books get much better, although I think they may have peaked by the end of the A Storm of Swords to be honest. Although there are some fantastic twists, the last two books are weaker in my opinion.

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