Books I Did Not Finish - 2023
This year may have been a record year for books I didn’t finish. I quit 24 books in 2023.
In 2021, I finally decided to embrace the idea of not finishing a book. I enjoy keeping a list of the ones I don’t finish because sometimes, at a different time in life, it will be the right book and something I may really enjoy.
These are the previous posts of books I didn’t finish:
One of the reasons I chose to do this in the first place is because I read/listen to A LOT of books (I read/listened to 151 books in 2023, 136 in 2022 and 150 in 2021). Sometimes I just can’t get into the story/characters and find I am getting distracted and not paying attention or I am just struggling to want to read/finish it. In these cases, I choose to just move on.
One hard thing for me to realize was that the world won’t end if I decide not to finish a book. I am a huge advocate for reading. And reading whatever you want and makes you happy. Who cares what that book is or what genre it’s in. If you like it….READ IT.
Your time is valuable, so if you aren’t feeling a book, stop. Spend your time on something you enjoy.
Here are the books that I DNF and just couldn’t get into this year - with a few notes on some of them.
- The Ways We Hide by Kristina McMorris
- This was recommended by a friend, but I couldn’t stay interested.
- Short by Holly Goldberg Sloan
- The Missing Piece of Charlie O’Reilly by Rebecca K.S. Ansari
- Harry’s Trees by Jon Cohen
- The Boy At The Back Of The Class by Onjali Q. Rauf
- The It Girl by Ruth Ware
- A popular book by a well-know author, but I didn’t enjoy it. Ware’s books haven’t been my favorite in the past.
- The End Of The Ocean by Maja Lunde
- What a beautiful cover!
- The Power Of Fun by Catherine Price
- The Book oF Essie by Meghan MacLean Weir
- This was for book club and I could not get into this. Even after hearing it discussed, I had no desire to read it.
- Violeta by Isabel Allende (translated by Frances Riddle)
- The Things We Do To Our Friends by Heather Darwent
- Solito: A Memoir by Javier Zamora
- Good story, I just couldn’t get into it and it felt slow.
- The Candy House by Jennifer Egan
- Fun cover, but I didn’t realize this was book 2 in a series.
- Last Chance Books by Kelsey Rodkey
- Mrs. Nash’s Ashes by Sarah Adler
- I wanted to enjoy this, but I didn’t like the characters.
- Save What’s Left by Elizabeth Castellano
- Bad Summer People by Emma Rosenblum
- This was talked about by lots of people, but I was not into it at all.
- Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros
- I’m going to be disliked for this DNF. I talked to a friend about it to try to help me make it through and I was so utterly bored. I’m probably the only person on the planet who isn’t in love with this series.
- The Ogress And The Orphans by Kelly Barnhill
- I will come back to this one. I was in the middle of a couple books when I read this, kept starting it and decided to just quit.
- How To Stop Time by Matt Haig
- I will probably try this one again. His book, The Midnight Library, is one of my favorites and I don’t remember why I quit this one.
- I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy
- Not funny; didn’t care.
- Mean Baby by Selma Blair
- I heard good things about the audiobook, but realized I don’t care about famous people and their lives.
- All The Lonely People by Mike Gayle
- All The Dangerous Things by Stacy Willingham
- The Heaven And Earth Grocery Store by James McBride
- I was so excited about this one and saw it everywhere. I just could not get into it. I will definitely try this one again, but we shall see.
Ponder This:
- What are your feelings on not finishing books?
- What are some books you never finished?
- Do you ever go back and try again with books your couldn’t get through the first time?
- Have you read any of these books I didn’t finish? Did you like them? Dislike them?