Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl, featuring a different top 10 theme each week. This week’s topic is Ten Most Recent Books I Did Not Finish.
I struggled for a bit to come up with a list, since lately, I don’t even really consider a book a DNF if I put it down after only a few pages. Finally, though, I came up with 10, from the last couple of years of reading:
1) Camp Zero by Michelle Min Sterling: DNF at approx 20%. The book was bleak and just did not grab me at all.
2) Station Eternity by Mur Lafferty: Such a disappointment! I’ve really enjoyed other books by this author. This book felt like it was trying too hard to be cute, with forced humor and inconsistent plotting. I quit after about 25%.
3) The Only Purple House in Town by Ann Aguirre: It definitely was not clear from the synopsis that this book belonged to a series, or that there was some sort of witchcraft/paranormal element. I thought I’d give it a try anyway, but I just didn’t get along with the writing and DNFd after one chapter.
4) On Rotation by Shirlene Obuobi: This book may have turned out to be fine, but there are footnotes on practically every page, and you can’t really skip them and still follow the story — which made this a nightmare to read as an eARC. DNFd after trying to stick it out, somewhere about 2 or 3 chapters along.
5) The Chosen and the Beautiful by Nghi Vo: I’m not even sure that this counts as a DNF, since I dropped it almost as soon as I started it. I hadn’t known ahead of time that this would be a Gatsby retelling, and as soon as I realized that, I lost all interest.
6) For the Wolf by Hannah Whitten: I read several chapters, which was enough for me to know that I didn’t care for the story or the world-building.
7) Ghost Eaters by Clay McLeod Chapman: I’ve read a couple of really good horror novels by this author, but I found the first chapter off-putting and couldn’t bring myself to continue. (Terrible ARC formatting didn’t help either.)
8) Take a Hint, Dani Brown by Talia Hibbert: Unpopular opinion time! I know people love these books, but within the first two pages of this one, I remembered everything I didn’t like about the first book in the series and realized this just wasn’t going to be for me.
9) In the Garden of Spite by Camilla Bruce: I guess super-bleak books don’t tend to be what I feel like reading these days. I tried, but felt so unhappy every time I picked up this book to read another chapter that I had to stop.
10) The Book of Two Ways by Jodi Picoult: I enjoy so many of Jodi Picoult’s books… and this one made no sense to me at all. DNFd after about three chapters.
What books have you DNFd recently?
If you did a TTT post this week, please share your link!
Bookshelf Fantasies 
I had the same reaction to Ghost Eaters.
Here is my Top Ten Tuesday post.
I keep thinking that I’ll try again at some point, but I just couldn’t get past that first chapter.
I tried to read For the Wolf and couldn’t get into it either. And now I’m a little concerned about Station Eternity…it’s one of the books on my science fiction list that I’m planning on reading this year. I really loved Lafferty’s Six Wakes.
I’m disappointed about my reaction to Station Eternity — maybe you’ll feel differently! Maybe I just wasn’t in the right frame of mind at the time. I did really love Six Wakes too, as well as a couple of silly books about zombies that she wrote earlier.
I’m still mulling over my list which means I’m just overthinking it! I may yet publish today!
LOL, I have definitely overthought many a TTT list. 🙂 Good luck!
I’m so sad to hear about The Only Purple House on the Street! I saw someone say that it was more of a standalone title than part of whatever series it’s in but it appears you still need to have read the previous books… Bummer.
I hope you have a great week!
My (tiny) TTT: https://standingtreereads.wordpress.com/2023/07/25/top-ten-tuesday-%f0%9f%97%93%ef%b8%8f-july-25-2023/
The Only Purple House in Town* because my short-term memory capacity is apparently limited to half a second. 😭
Haha, it happens! Re The Only Purple House, I’m not sure how much I was missing by not reading the previous books — I was mostly just annoyed to discover that it wasn’t what I thought it was going to be. (Maybe I just wasn’t in the right mood to give it much of a shot… someday, maybe I’ll read reviews and then consider trying again). Thanks!
Ahh, that makes sense. I’d feel that way too. I have plenty to read that I’m more interested in but I might still give it a go at some point.
It was really good for me to read why you DNF’d Dani Brown because I didn’t love the first book either.
I really tried to convince myself to continue the series, but just couldn’t do it. 🙂
Hi there Lisa!
I loved loved loved The Book of Two Ways!! As with all her books, the ending was just brilliant. And actually feel good. LOL! Sorry it didn’t work for you.
I’ve read In the Garden of Spite, but under the other published title = Triflers need not apply. It was shocking and horrifying yes …
The rest of you books I don’t know! But will take a look, some might just work for me.
Elza Reads
Maybe someday I’ll try The Book of Two Ways again — I do usually like her books, so maybe my timing just was off. Thanks!
I had the same problem with CAMP ZERO. I DNFd it even faster than you did! LOL.
Happy TTT!
Susan
http://www.blogginboutbooks.com
I’m glad I’m not alone! 🙂 But it felt like such a let-down, after seeing a bunch of hype for it.
Aww man. Sorry In the Garden of Spite didn’t work out for you. I really liked that one and often recommend it, but it also didn’t work for my cousin. She also didn’t like how bleak it was and that coupled with the slow pace made it very unappealing to her.
I’m glad you enjoyed it! I’d heard such good things about the author, so maybe I’ll try another of her books at some point.
Station Eternity was tough at first for me too, but I pushed through and ended up enjoying it.
I might give it another try if I ever feel like the moment is right — I’ve read three books by Mur Lafferty in the past, and thought her writing was amazing, so I’m not happy that I didn’t love this one too.
Omg someone else didn’t like For the Wolf! I feel validated.
Yes, we’re in good company (with one another, at least). I really thought I’d love it, and was sad that it didn’t work out for me.
I love coffee and yet.. it was just everywhere and he smelled like it and how does it even fit??
Same. Just still can’t get over the coffee obsession. Write a thriller and make a character obsessed with coffee. Make it make sensee
Funny, I don’t even remember that part…
Everything was about how much she loved coffee and the love interest smelled like coffee and that was what was so attractive about him 😶
I did finish The Book Of Two Ways but I have to agree, it’s not my favourite of Jodi Picoult’s books and honestly if it hadn’t been one of hers I probably would have DNF’ed it. I DNF’ed Nevernight by Jay Kristoff for the same reason as you DNF’ed On Rotation, the footnotes drove me mad!
My TTT: https://jjbookblog.wordpress.com/2023/07/25/top-ten-tuesday-430/
Footnotes in ebooks can be so distracting, especially when they don’t work very well. I really wanted to stick with it, and just could not.
I completely get you there!
I hate when you get really excited for a book because of all the hype and then discover it’s part of a series. Sometimes you just aren’t ready for that kind of commitment.
For sure — it’s so easy to get series fatigue.
Fab list! I’ve only read For the Wolf and I enjoyed it!!!
I’ve seen some really positive reviews, and I’m glad you enjoyed it — I just couldn’t get into it.