Books I DNFd Too Quickly
I've been aggressively DNFing books for the past year or so. Rather than forcing myself to slog through something I'm not enjoying I just put it down and move on to the next thing. For the most part I know that I won't go back to those books but sometimes I can tell that if I were in a different state of mind I'd enjoy it. Or, less frequently, sometimes if I'm in the middle of a book and then don't get a chance to read for a few days I struggle to get going with it again and move on to something else.
Today's post is looking at some of the books I fully intend to go back to at some point. It's meant to be a top ten, but it's only in recent years that I've actually allowed myself to DNF books rather than slogging through them even when I dislike them (which might explain why I've had so many reading slumps in my life). I can only think of eight books that I know I've DNFd but want to revisit, so rather than trying to find two more for the sake of numbers I'm just going to write about those eight.
Tropic Of Cancer - Henry Miller
I went into this really wanting to love it and for the first 40 pages I did. Miller's prose is unlike anything else. I realised pretty quickly that I simply wasn't in the mood for it, though. At some point I'll go back to it.
Underland - Robert MacFarlane
A beautifully written travel book about deep cave systems and the world beneath our feet. I was absolutely entranced by this and it sparked a brief special interest in caving and potholing. Unfortunately I got sidetracked by researching that and never actually finished reading this book.
The Buried Giant - Kazuo Ishiguro
Another one where I just wasn't in the right mood to read this. I think I only managed about 20 pages before I realised I wasn't taking anything in. Which is a shame, because I think this book might end up becoming one of my favourites if I finish it.
Invisible Cities - Italy Calvino
If on a Winter's Night a Traveler is one of my all-time favourite novels, but I've never read any of Calvino's other work. A few friends had read Invisible Cities at around the same time and wouldn't stop talking about it, so I decided to pick it up. I think it might have been a victim of the hype and it couldn't live up to the rave reviews I was hearing about it. I'll go back to it in a year or so when I've forgotten everything I was told about it.
Sundial - Catriona Ward
Recommended to me maybe 18 months ago, I picked it up and for some reason just couldn't get into it - but this coincides with my reading slump, which might explain that. Having just finished and loved Looking Glass Sound, though, I'm keen to go back to this.
The Exorcist - William Peter Blatty
The Exorcist is one of my favourite films. Top 3, easily. And yet for some reason I've never read the novel. Every few months I pick it up, get a few pages in, and decided I'm not in the mood. I don't know why, but one day I'll finish it.
Embassytown - China Miéville
I was a massive Miéville fan for many years, but for some reason Embassytown didn't work for me when I first tried to read it back in 2011. I've thought about it a lot ever since, though, and I'm starting to feel like it might be time to revisit it.
The Windup Girl - Paolo Bacigalupi
I honestly don't remember why I put this down back in 2009. Everything about it appeals to me, and I really enjoyed his Ship Breaker series (which are some of my favourite YA books). I know I'll love this if I give it another shot.