I used to finish a book no matter what! I had to! I’d started it, I better finish it. Don’t want to be one of those people who don’t finish books, right? So I would start a book and if I didn’t like it, I wouldn’t read it. Because I hadn’t finished the one I started, I couldn’t just start another one…not until I finished the first. As a result, I read fewer books and less often - which made me sad.

At the beginning of the year, the only New Year’s Resolution I made was to let myself off the hook for not finishing a book. I decided that life is too short to read books I’m not interested in. So now, if I start a book and don’t finish it, I don’t feel too bad. OK. I feel a little bad, but I’ve given myself the green-light to start reading another book. Of course, this means I have numerous half read books lying around. These are the books (from the last year or so) that I couldn’t make it through - for various reasons.

Get in Trouble - Kelly Link

I got this as a Christmas gift a few years ago from someone who felt I would LOVE it. At the time, everyone was talking about slip-stream and I admit, I was curious. I couldn’t stand this book. I felt Link’s writing is pretentious and boring (get to the point). I read one of the short stories and felt annoyed after. This book got a lot of buzz and attention, but I couldn’t read because I was rolling my eyes so much. I felt like she was trying too hard to be weird. You either are weird or you aren’t. You can’t fake weird. I honestly can’t understand why people like her work so much. Slip stream is cool, but this felt forced.

England’s Dreaming - Jon Savage

I have been trying to read this book for twenty years. No lie. It’s a thick tome. Jon Savage was there during the inception of the British punk scene. He was the eyes and ears, a writer for a popular music magazine. It’s a good book. Don’t get me wrong. When I read it, I enjoy it, but Jon’s language is very sophisticated and British. As an American with only a 12th grade education, I have to stop and look up every other word. I suppose one day I’ll finish it. This is one book I feel is important to finish - a bit like a haunted quest.

Only Lovers Left Alive - Dave Wallis

This book was published around the same time as A Clockwork Orange, but didn’t quite have the same popular social impact. It’s well loved by people who are into 1960s teen counter culture. It’s sort of an underground favorite. It’s a great book and I was enjoying it, but about midway through I realized that I should have read it when I was sixteen (when I read A Clockwork Orange). It would have meant more. I’d like to finish it. Wallis is a good writer. The teen lingo, the kids out of control, 1960s England, the end of the world. It’s all things I love. It’s really a mystery why I stopped reading this one.

Zen in the Art of Writing - Ray Bradbury

Ray is my all time favorite author. Why did I stop reading this? To be honest, I can’t even remember anything about it. I picked this up at the discount shelves at my local bookstore and was so happy when I got it. I don’t know. I feel bad for not reading this.

We Got the Neutron Bomb - The Untold Story of LA Punk - Marc Spitz

Again, another great book, but by the midway point, I got the gist. This tells the story of the 70s and 80s Los Angeles punk scene by using first hand accounts from the people who where there. It assumes you know who everyone is. I know most of them, but I forget the rest. Someone would say something and I’d have to look them up. Start, stop, start stop. I’ve been working on this book for nearly a decade. And oddly, the tales aren’t always that interesting. It’s weird, because it’s really cool and Spitz interviewed some of the heavy hitters in the scene, but I kinda feels like it drags on. I feel bad for saying that. It’s a cool book.

Left Behind - Jerry B. Jenkins

Out of curiosity, I watched the movie version of this book with Nicolas Cage. I thought it was entertaining. I’m a sucker for cheesy action films and the film has some decent explosions. However, I’m not really into Christian fiction, but I loved the idea of The Rapture occurring and the lead character being a pilot and having to deal with that while in the air. Brilliant idea. I wanted to see what the book was like. Jenkins isn’t a bad writer. He’s got hundreds of published books. I don’t know…This one just fizzled out for me around chapter three.

Dragonfly in Amber - Diana Gabaldon

I loved Outlander. And by “loved” I mean, I blew through that book in a week - and it’s a big book. Outlander was a major page-turner from start to finish. Every page was magic. When I finished, I was excited to continue to the story. Dragonfly in Amber goes back and forth in time and was sort of disorienting. It also focuses on Clare’s daughter Bree quite a lot - and I just didn’t find her as interesting as Clare and Jamie. I think the TV series does a better job making me like Bree. People love the Outlander books. At the time, I also didn’t want to invest in an 8 book series; which are all very thick.

Falling For His Best Friend - Liz Issacson

I found Liz by accident. I liked the story all right, but by the midway point, I just wasn’t feeling it. Too hot, too cold, will they, won’t they. I felt like it was taking too long to get to the point. Liz is a prolific writer and tends to not only write to the tropes, but self-publishes a book every month. That’s crazy. Also, the love interests weren’t really best friends. They knew each other (vaguely) in high school and then became friends, but it wasn’t like Anne and Roman in Lessons in Love. BFFs for life.

On Writing - A Memoir of the Craft - Stephen King

Great book, great author. Why didn’t I finish this one? I got pretty close. I think by that time, I got the message. This book is more for new writers looking for inspiration. I’m well into my writing career and while the advice King gives is solid, it’s stuff I already know.

Fall Into the Sun - Val Kovalin

I fell head over heels in love with Kovalin’s characters, Alejo and Bobby, in Reach for the Moon. I wanted more, so I started reading this. I discovered that this wasn’t a continuation, but rather an alternate universe - which annoyed me. It’s like, it happened, but it didn’t happen. Whut? It’s good, but not as good as Reach for the Moon - which made me cry it was so beautiful. I emailed the author to find out why they decided to do an alternate universe and never heard back.

The Other Duke - Jess Michaels

I received this e-book free when I signed up to Jess Michael’s newsletter. I got to chapter seven, but it wasn’t easy. I’m not really into historical romance exactly. I liked Outlander, but this is a whole other category. I didn’t love the dialog - it wasn’t realistic for the time. There was too much focus on what a strong-willed woman the main character was, but yet she also fell in line, did what she was told, and let the love interest control her. This felt…too easy. Maybe generic is the word. There are so many books like this - writers attempt to write strong willed women who contradict themselves when they agree to arranged marriages or let the male leads “claim” them. I’m sick of the word “claimed” in romance novels.

Rhett’s Make-Believe Marriage - Liz Issacson

Another Liz Issacson book. Made it to chapter 3 on this one. It’s not that it’s bad, but it just wasn’t holding my attention. I really want to like Liz Issacson, but I just don’t. I just sort of felt like she’s checking off boxes with her books, especially since she writes and releases one a month. Like, she has a list of tropes and just picks one per month. Meh. I’m obviously in the minority. Liz appears to have a very happy fan-base.

Descent of Man - TC Boyle

I LOVE TC Boyle. The only reason I stopped reading this was because I started getting into several writing books and other projects. This is a collection of short stories and I’ve already read a few. I know I’ll come back to this later.

So there you go. These are just ones the found on my shelf and in my Kindle. There are probably way more floating around the house somewhere. Do you feel bad when you don’t finish a book? Are there any of these I should give a second chance to? Let me know in the comments.

Books I Didn’t Finish