Did Not Finish Titles [DNF] - And Why - Page 3

Uncle Robin · 09-15-2022, 09:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aleron Ives

Ah... If you already bought them, then I guess it's indeed too late.

It's better to cut your losses so you don't waste both time and money.

Indeed! Your earlier comment about things the DNFs have in common is something I've thought a lot about, and I'm pleased that Plus users of The Storygraph will soon be getting enhanced DNF stats that will likely help in exactly that sort of decision-making

Karellen · 09-16-2022, 12:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Uncle Robin

I am working my way through my library built up over the last 10 years or so

That is what I am doing also. I've been at it since Dec 2020, and still have a ways to go. But I am getting through a lifetime of books, since my late teens.

Its been a great experience- I've re-read books from my younger days that I thoroughly enjoyed then and still enjoy now. Along the way I have found that new books in the series have been released, so caught up on those and also been sidetracked to similar books that I have read and enjoyed in most cases.

A few weeks ago I raided my storage cage, and found another box of hardcover fiction. Lots of Matthey Reilly, Stephen King and a few others. I have a few years of reading left. For the most part its been a great ride, and I have also had the chance to weed out the... not so great books.

4691mls · 09-16-2022, 06:47 PM

I do usually finish what I start but occasionally there's a book I just can't get into it after a few chapters. If I've read far enough to care about the outcome, I may skip over to the last couple of chapters to see how things turn out. I read mostly library books so I don't have the "need to get what I paid for" incentive to finish.

A couple of times the description and/or category tags mislead me and once I got into the book I realized it was not what I was expecting and I skipped to the end.

Examples:

A book was described as romantic suspense/mystery. It turned out to be a bodice ripper (clothes were actually ripped) and the mystery part was very dull. I skipped to the end of that one to see who did it and it was some minor character.

Another time I borrowed what appeared to be a police procedural. It turned out the criminal was some ancient supernatural entity. Once the supernatural stuff started happening I stopped reading.

JSWolf · 09-16-2022, 07:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Uncle Robin

Indeed! Your earlier comment about things the DNFs have in common is something I've thought a lot about, and I'm pleased that Plus users of The Storygraph will soon be getting enhanced DNF stats that will likely help in exactly that sort of decision-making

Plus is $59.88 a year. That (IMHO) is too expensive.

JSWolf · 09-16-2022, 07:15 PM

Another book I did not finish is Startide Rising by David Brin. It's the 2nd book in the Uplift series. The 1st book was OK. This was terrible. It was boring. The dolphins were terribly boring and not at all interesting.

Cactus Chef · 11-08-2022, 11:49 AM

I tried getting through The Gormenghast Trilogy about a year ago, based on its influence on other writers I like. I got through Titus Groan and it was interminably boring. Then I started Gormenghast and it looked like it would be more of the same, so I gave up.

Desertway · 11-09-2022, 02:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

For the same reason, I won't read Jack Ketchum's The Girl Next Door. I know Ketchum is an excellent writer and that's why I've avoided this particular book (though I have an e-copy and a paper copy).

Good call. I'm so, so sorry I read this book. Not because it was a bad book, but because it wasn't.

Tarana · 11-10-2022, 11:44 AM

For awhile, I was getting way too many DNF books. Then I changed my sources of book recommendations and now I only get a few a year. Find a Goodreads group that reflects your interests, look up authors you like at www.literature-map.com. If you like scifi and fantasy, go over to worldswithoutend.com and look up some award winners. Look at what mobilereads.com readers are reading - there are several threads of this sort. If you find a member who likes the same books you do, look at the other books that they read.

OK, so after that advice, why do I quit? Usually it turns out to be one of three things. It is YA (I have enjoyed very few of these), way too much graphic violence, or first 1/3 of the book is too slow. I'm tolerant of a lot of writing styles and even some bad writing if the story is good, but, if you don't keep my attention, I'm not going to slog through it. I also avoid books that have a complex plot or a ton of characters because I have difficulty keeping them straight. But this is an issue due to brain injury rather than a fault of the author.

Paperbackstash · 11-14-2022, 01:01 PM

If I can tell the writing or story is really obnoxious, I do DNF. This comes into play especially with some generic thriller, romance, or sometimes YA's. I also can tell if there is a stilted boring tone with some mysteries that just don't suit me. Nothing wrong with DNF those.

HLS · 11-15-2022, 08:14 PM

I gave up on a lot of books this year but instead of ditching it completely I skimmed over the rest of the book. reading a tad here and there. i will skip a few pages or paragraphs to get to the end faster or rent the audiobook and listen while I do other things

HLS · 11-15-2022, 08:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Catlady

I am wondering if there is any correlation between reading more than one book at a time and abandoning books.

I never read more than one at a time, and I never DNF, but it seems like reading multiple books at the same time would make it easier to abandon one or more of them. Is it?

I sometimes read two books at a time but not that often. its easier to do if the subject matter is completely different from the other

Thertzler · 11-18-2022, 05:19 AM

Not finishing book is uncommon for me but not super rare. It's usually the result of me trying to get into a new genre based on having enjoyed some book considering adjacent to said genre. Most of the time this works out but sometimes that experiment fails and most of my DNF list consists of those failures.
To give a few examples...

Lost in Cat Brain Land by Cameron Pierce.
I do really like very weird books, some of the books among my all time favorites, like The Troika or The Age of Wire and String are very weird indeed, so I thought the genre of Bizarro Fiction might be to my taste.
But it turns ou some stuff is just a little too weird. Both this short story collection as well as some other novella by the same publisher was a bunch of strung together non-sequiturs with some graphic violence for the sake of shock factor. Maybe I would have gotten through if at least the characters acted reasonably.

Ishmael by Daniel Quinn
A very different book from the previous one but abandoned for the same kind of reason.
Novels of ideas are really neat and I usually don't even mind books that become essayistic but this one was just completely annoying. I'm sure it's all very well intentioned and absolutely, people are selfish and wasteful but not a single point the book made about any issue felt innovative or well thought out compared to the millions of other books that claim to solve the problems of humanity itself. I stopped around the halfway mark I think.

Egil's Saga by Snorri Sturluson
If someone likes historical fiction and ancient cultures, what could be better than actually reading a proper historical text from an ancient culture?
This particular text was not better, it read like a hundreds of pages long slightly exaggerated Wikipedia biography section of random Vikings and there's just nothing to really care about. So I dropped that one pretty early on.

Coin Locker Babies by Ryu Murakami.
Definitely the book I dropped the fastest. I did hear that most people can't get past the first one or two sentences and usually such claims are hyperbolic but in that case I guess I am "most people". I tried starting it three times already, because I really like weird dystopias and every time I immediately change my mind.

Oxford Dictionary of English 3rd Edition
I was bored. It seemed like a useful project especially since English isn't my native language and the odd term or phrase still catches me off-guard.
So I thought I'd just read the dictionary A to Z. I'd ignore any word I already knew, note the ones I didn't for future reference. Sure it sounds kind of dumb but what if it works? Unfortunately I did not get past A.
Out of all books listed this has the best chance of me trying to tackle it again.

There's a bunch of other DNF books but most follow that same pattern. It's not really a surprise when it happens, in fact I could see at least half of them coming before starting but it's still a risk worth taking. I don't want to get stuck in a niche and stagnate there, I hate the thought that I might be missing out on something that I do not yet know I like.

Comfy.n · 11-18-2022, 01:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Thertzler

Oxford Dictionary of English 3rd Edition
I was bored. It seemed like a useful project especially since English isn't my native language and the odd term or phrase still catches me off-guard.
So I thought I'd just read the dictionary A to Z. I'd ignore any word I already knew, note the ones I didn't for future reference. Sure it sounds kind of dumb but what if it works? Unfortunately I did not get past A.
Out of all books listed this has the best chance of me trying to tackle it again.

that one reminds me of this guy wanting to read the entire Britannica

btw i'm not native speaker either, and I always think there might be a better way of saying "reminds me" in this context, lol.

JSWolf · 11-18-2022, 04:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Comfy.n

that one reminds me of this guy wanting to read the entire Britannica

btw i'm not native speaker either, and I always think there might be a better way of saying "reminds me" in this context, lol.

How would you read the Britannica website in alphabetical order by article the same way you can the books?

John F · 11-19-2022, 04:54 PM

I very seldom don't finish an ebook, but I had one today: The Passengef by cormac mccarthy.* I'm not sure what is going on after reading 1/4 of the book and the lack of quotation marks is a little annoying.

* If cormac doesn't need to use quotation marks, I don't need to use capitals for his name.

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09-16-2022, 06:47 PM	#33
4691mls Wizard Posts: 2,776 Karma: 30081762 Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: US Device: ALL DEVICES ARE STOCK: Kobo Clara, Tolino Shine 2, Sony PRS-T3, T1	I do usually finish what I start but occasionally there's a book I just can't get into it after a few chapters. If I've read far enough to care about the outcome, I may skip over to the last couple of chapters to see how things turn out. I read mostly library books so I don't have the "need to get what I paid for" incentive to finish. A couple of times the description and/or category tags mislead me and once I got into the book I realized it was not what I was expecting and I skipped to the end. Examples: A book was described as romantic suspense/mystery. It turned out to be a bodice ripper (clothes were actually ripped) and the mystery part was very dull. I skipped to the end of that one to see who did it and it was some minor character. Another time I borrowed what appeared to be a police procedural. It turned out the criminal was some ancient supernatural entity. Once the supernatural stuff started happening I stopped reading.

09-16-2022, 07:15 PM	#35
JSWolf Resident Curmudgeon Posts: 76,479 Karma: 136564766 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Roslindale, Massachusetts Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kobo Aura H2O, PRS-650, PRS-T1, nook STR, PW3	Another book I did not finish is Startide Rising by David Brin. It's the 2nd book in the Uplift series. The 1st book was OK. This was terrible. It was boring. The dolphins were terribly boring and not at all interesting.

11-08-2022, 11:49 AM	#36
Cactus Chef Addict Posts: 385 Karma: 6324692 Join Date: Apr 2019 Device: Kobo Sage, Kobo Clara HD, Galaxy Tab S5e, Kindle 4th Gen	I tried getting through The Gormenghast Trilogy about a year ago, based on its influence on other writers I like. I got through Titus Groan and it was interminably boring. Then I started Gormenghast and it looked like it would be more of the same, so I gave up.

11-10-2022, 11:44 AM	#38
Tarana Wizard Posts: 4,009 Karma: 38840460 Join Date: Sep 2012 Location: Minneapolis Device: PWSE, Voyage, K3, HDX, KBasic 7 & 8, Nook Glo3, Echos, Nanos	For awhile, I was getting way too many DNF books. Then I changed my sources of book recommendations and now I only get a few a year. Find a Goodreads group that reflects your interests, look up authors you like at www.literature-map.com. If you like scifi and fantasy, go over to worldswithoutend.com and look up some award winners. Look at what mobilereads.com readers are reading - there are several threads of this sort. If you find a member who likes the same books you do, look at the other books that they read. OK, so after that advice, why do I quit? Usually it turns out to be one of three things. It is YA (I have enjoyed very few of these), way too much graphic violence, or first 1/3 of the book is too slow. I'm tolerant of a lot of writing styles and even some bad writing if the story is good, but, if you don't keep my attention, I'm not going to slog through it. I also avoid books that have a complex plot or a ton of characters because I have difficulty keeping them straight. But this is an issue due to brain injury rather than a fault of the author.

11-14-2022, 01:01 PM	#39
Paperbackstash Wizard Posts: 1,649 Karma: 20102554 Join Date: Aug 2018 Location: Central Florida Device: Oasis 3, PW 3 & 5, Fire HD 8 & 10	If I can tell the writing or story is really obnoxious, I do DNF. This comes into play especially with some generic thriller, romance, or sometimes YA's. I also can tell if there is a stilted boring tone with some mysteries that just don't suit me. Nothing wrong with DNF those.

11-15-2022, 08:14 PM	#40
HLS Wizard Posts: 2,083 Karma: 15107670 Join Date: May 2017 Device: Sage, Scribe, Boox Note 2 Plus, iPad Pros and Samsungs S6,S7,S8	I gave up on a lot of books this year but instead of ditching it completely I skimmed over the rest of the book. reading a tad here and there. i will skip a few pages or paragraphs to get to the end faster or rent the audiobook and listen while I do other things

11-18-2022, 05:19 AM	#42
Thertzler Member Posts: 13 Karma: 1138306 Join Date: Mar 2018 Device: none	Not finishing book is uncommon for me but not super rare. It's usually the result of me trying to get into a new genre based on having enjoyed some book considering adjacent to said genre. Most of the time this works out but sometimes that experiment fails and most of my DNF list consists of those failures. To give a few examples... Lost in Cat Brain Land by Cameron Pierce. I do really like very weird books, some of the books among my all time favorites, like The Troika or The Age of Wire and String are very weird indeed, so I thought the genre of Bizarro Fiction might be to my taste. But it turns ou some stuff is just a little too weird. Both this short story collection as well as some other novella by the same publisher was a bunch of strung together non-sequiturs with some graphic violence for the sake of shock factor. Maybe I would have gotten through if at least the characters acted reasonably. Ishmael by Daniel Quinn A very different book from the previous one but abandoned for the same kind of reason. Novels of ideas are really neat and I usually don't even mind books that become essayistic but this one was just completely annoying. I'm sure it's all very well intentioned and absolutely, people are selfish and wasteful but not a single point the book made about any issue felt innovative or well thought out compared to the millions of other books that claim to solve the problems of humanity itself. I stopped around the halfway mark I think. Egil's Saga by Snorri Sturluson If someone likes historical fiction and ancient cultures, what could be better than actually reading a proper historical text from an ancient culture? This particular text was not better, it read like a hundreds of pages long slightly exaggerated Wikipedia biography section of random Vikings and there's just nothing to really care about. So I dropped that one pretty early on. Coin Locker Babies by Ryu Murakami. Definitely the book I dropped the fastest. I did hear that most people can't get past the first one or two sentences and usually such claims are hyperbolic but in that case I guess I am "most people". I tried starting it three times already, because I really like weird dystopias and every time I immediately change my mind. Oxford Dictionary of English 3rd Edition I was bored. It seemed like a useful project especially since English isn't my native language and the odd term or phrase still catches me off-guard. So I thought I'd just read the dictionary A to Z. I'd ignore any word I already knew, note the ones I didn't for future reference. Sure it sounds kind of dumb but what if it works? Unfortunately I did not get past A. Out of all books listed this has the best chance of me trying to tackle it again. There's a bunch of other DNF books but most follow that same pattern. It's not really a surprise when it happens, in fact I could see at least half of them coming before starting but it's still a risk worth taking. I don't want to get stuck in a niche and stagnate there, I hate the thought that I might be missing out on something that I do not yet know I like.

11-19-2022, 04:54 PM	#45
John F Grand Sorcerer Posts: 7,548 Karma: 67891011 Join Date: Feb 2009 Device: Kobo Clara 2E	I very seldom don't finish an ebook, but I had one today: The Passengef by cormac mccarthy.* I'm not sure what is going on after reading 1/4 of the book and the lack of quotation marks is a little annoying. * If cormac doesn't need to use quotation marks, I don't need to use capitals for his name.

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