Every time I list my DNFs the posts are absurdly popular, so if this is the permission you need to drop that book you’ve been struggling with, take it! If for any reason a book isn’t connecting with you, move onto something else; you can always try it another time. I’ve given a few words as to why I gave up on each one. In rough chronological order:
What Cannot Be Undone by Walter M. Robinson: Medical essays. Repetitive and mawkish; won’t stand out in the crowded field of doctors’ memoirs.
Loss of Memory Is Only Temporary by Johanna Kaplan: Rediscovered short stories of Jewish NYC in the 1960s–70s. The character portraits are sharp, but the first story, “Other People’s Lives,” is novella length and felt absolutely endless.
Six Walks: In the Footsteps of Henry David Thoreau by Ben Shattuck: Nice enough travel writing about trips to Cape Cod, Walden Pond and Mt. Katahdin, but the information on Thoreau (including extensive quotations) is not well integrated and the reflections generic.
Here Comes the Miracle by Anna Beecher (from the ST Young Writer of the Year Award shortlist): MA-course writing-by-numbers and seemed to be building towards When God Was a Rabbit-style mawkishness.
Empire of Wild by Cherie Dimaline: The premise was appealing but it was so slow to go anywhere and the writing was only so-so.
Devotion by Hannah Kent: I was enjoying the beautiful writing and the gentle love story unfolding between two teenage girls setting off from Prussia to Australia with their families. My interest waned a little during the start of the sea voyage, as I kept waiting for the bizarre twist other bloggers had warned of. When I finally got to it, it seemed so silly that I could scarcely be bothered to continue. A shame as I was getting Kiran Millwood Hargrave vibes.
Mercury Pictures Presents by Anthony Marra: A huge disappointment as I adored Marra’s two previous works. I wasn’t connecting to the characters or setting at all. Something about it felt too familiar, also; I kept trying to think what it was reminding me of. Mr Wilder & Me by Jonathan Coe?
After Sappho by Selby Wynn Schwartz: From the Booker Prize longlist. Another case of a terrific premise – and interesting style, too, what with the first person plural in the prologue and the discrete paragraphs like prose poems – but I found that there were too many historical figures, most of them too obscure for me to get interested in.
Raining Sideways: A Devonshire Diary of Food and Farming by Sally Vincent: Boring observations, poorly edited.
Motherthing by Ainslie Hogarth: I actually read about two-thirds of this comic horror novel about a woman dealing with the aftermath of her hateful mother-in-law’s suicide, and intended to review it for R.I.P. even though it felt try-hard. But when my mother died I found that the whole thing seemed in poor taste and I didn’t want to go back to it.
Liberation Day by George Saunders: I only read the first story, which was so much like “The Semplica Girl Diaries” (from Tenth of December) in voice and content that it felt unnecessary, as well as being overlong (nearly 1/3 of the whole book). I’ll hold my place in the Kindle edition and think about trying the rest again another time.
Lessons by Ian McEwan: I’m used to much shorter novels with more contrived plots from McEwan, whereas this feels like the sort of rambling life story William Boyd would have written. I was intrigued by the promised element of Roland’s abuse by his childhood piano teacher, but bored with the Cold War theme of the 1980s strand (which feels most like The Child in Time from his past oeuvre). Perhaps I’ll try it again another day.
Plus a handful more I didn’t keep notes on and barely remember, so they just get my reductive and unfair two-word summaries (alphabetical order this time):
- Human Croquet by Kate Atkinson: Too quirky.
- The Flow by Amy-Jane Beer: Too overwritten.
- The Wilderness by Sarah Duguid: Too pulpy.
- Brave New World: A Graphic Novel by Fred Fordham: Too lurid.
- Mother’s Boy by Patrick Gale: Too mild.
- The Quarry by Ben Halls: Too gritty.
- The White Rock by Anna Hope: Too what’s-the-point.
- One Good Story, That One by Thomas King: Too trickster.
- As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning by Laurie Lee: Too old-fashioned.
- Homage to Catalonia by George Orwell: Too academic.
- What Is Not Yours Is Not Yours by Helen Oyeyemi: Too weird.
- Catch Your Breath by Ed Patrick: Too unfunny.
- The Unadoptables by Hana Tooke: Too boring.
Whew. I think that’s all.
That works out to abandoning about 8% of the books I started in the year, which is not a bad average for me (often it’s closer to 15%).
In January, I wrote about the 20 new releases I was most looking forward to reading in 2022. Here’s how I did with them:
Read and enjoyed (3.5* or above rating): 10 (a few will appear on my Best-of lists for the year)
Currently reading: 2
Started but set aside; need to finish: 3
Haven’t managed to get hold of: 3
Not actually published yet: 2 (Heartstopper, Volume 5 is now due out in 2023; try as I might, I can’t find any info on A Violent Woman by Ayana Mathis.)
This beats last year’s showing, when I had 5 DNFs from my Most Anticipated list!
I regret running out of time to finish True Biz and Horse from that Most Anticipated list, as well as The Rabbit Hutch (a bit too clever for its own good?) and Fight Night. It’s entirely possible that I could have found some more year favourites on my groaning set-aside and review backlog shelves. I also would have liked to get to the in-demand 2022 releases I’ve just picked up from the library, including The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida and Our Missing Hearts. No matter – I’ll enjoy these just as much when I get to them in an unhurried fashion next year.
What are some of the ‘ones that got away’ from you this year?
Bookish Beck = Rebecca Foster. American transplant to England. Freelance proofreader and book reviewer.
Bookish Beck 
I’ve DNFed two books this week already and am trying a Brian Bilston palate cleanser. That Devotion twist very nearly made me give up, too, but I loved her writing so much I stuck with it. Very much enjoyed the Saunders but it was my first outing with his short stories.
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My husband has the latest Bilston poetry collection on his bedside stack. We enjoy seeing his poems on social media.
Alas, it made me wonder if Saunders is a one-trick pony when it comes to his stories.
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I have the Saunders to read and am looking forward to it. I really enjoyed Lessons – yes it was overly long and had lots of social and political themes chucked it, but I felt like McEwan was enjoying himself and that rubbed off on me. I had been toying with Mercury Pictures Presents, but maybe Wilder and Me is a better option?
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I may well try Lessons again another time. It was in high demand at the library and I knew I couldn’t push myself through it within a few weeks.
Others have really loved Mercury Pictures Presents, so it’s hard to say! The setup felt so slow.
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You know, I read Mother’s Boy on a whim (and because my vicar gave me her copy!), thinking it might be a nice bland little palate-cleanser, and ended up really impressed and moved by it. The bits that focus on Causley’s mother in particular, especially as a young woman in service, struck me as very well observed. It’s definitely a quiet novel, though.
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I saw Gale speak about and read from it at Marlborough Lit Fest and was actually well through — 140 pages, even? — when my mum died and I jettisoned a whole load of library books at once before flying back to the States as just not being worth my time at that point. I still remember how lovely the chapter “Stains” was. And I’m trying again with Gale as A Place Called Winter is our January book club book.
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Ohhhhh, yeah, that’s definitely fair. Haven’t read A Place Called Winter but remember reading Notes From an Exhibition years ago and enjoying it.
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That’s the only other book of his I’ve read. Loved that one. It got our joint highest rating ever at book club, which is why we’re reading him again. (I think I prefer his books that aren’t so heavily (auto)biographical.)
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Now then. I finished the Hannah Kent, but didn’t enjoy it. As discussed already, I DNFd the Saunders. But the Laurie Lee and the Orwell? That you didn’t finish them surprises me. I’d read either again. But … each to her own – there are far too many books to enjoy without struggling over difficult ones.
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I took the Lee and Orwell to Spain for on-location reading but couldn’t make myself stick with either, especially the Orwell. Another time!
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Ah yes, There’s a time and a place for everything. Holiday reads they are not.
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‘Too what’s-the-point’ – perfect description of The White Rock. Devotion was just getting promising for me on the bit of the sea voyage before THAT twist – such a shame!
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I kept wondering how the threads were going to join up — you expect that with such a book. The same goes for Everything the Light Touches by Janice Pariat, though I did end up finishing it.
You were all right about the twist 🙂
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I don’t keep very good track of my DNF’s – but I feel like I’m getting way better at abandoning books, ha ha! I feel like I abandoned quite a few this year. I did enjoy Human Croquet a few years ago but I agree, it’s quirky as all get out! Then again, I’m a big Atkinson fan in general. This is a fun post – thanks for sharing.
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I’ve not had good luck with Atkinson (the others I’ve read were Behind the Scenes at the Museum and Life after Life).
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It’s pretty rare that I actually DNF a book, but there are loads started and put down because the timing is off and then get picked up again later. Or not. Kate Atkinson is an author I blow either hot or cold on, no middle ground there!
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Oh yes, I also have an enormous “set aside temporarily” shelf. It currently contains 60-80 books.
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I really liked As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning, because of the historical context. I get why you wouldn’t like it either!
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The way he described some of the people he encountered felt iffy to me, but of course has to be understood in the context of its time. I know you’re a big fan of his writing. I liked Cider with Rosie and might try this one again some other time.
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Rebecca, I admire your ability to name names, award DNF accolades (or should I rather say rotten tomatoes) and dismiss a significant proportion so completely (“too boring”)!
Maybe I’m too soft, timidly looking for the best even in mediocre reads, but as I’m not as voracious a reader as you I rarely or never mention all those I rely on gut feelings to weed out before embarking on a wasted journey.
But, you know what, I’m now coming to the conclusion that you’re actually a more honest reader than me. Hmm, perhaps I should rethink this…
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Whenever I do these posts, I don’t add tags or cover images and don’t publicize them at all — it’s certainly not about celebrating my DNFs, but about being honest. I think others have found these regular posts reassuring. I am a big believer in giving up on books at any point if they are not engaging you for whatever reason. You can always try them again. (Indeed, some books that have later been big hits with me were books that I abandoned a year before.) Others have limited reading time compared to me, and I hate to think that through a misplaced sense of duty they would waste their time trudging through books they are not enjoying.
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Love the two-word reviews!! I’m sad you didn’t get to finish True Biz as I did rate it. I need to check how many I DNFd but I tend to choose quite well and then DNS when I get to them rather than get far. I’m sure there’s been the odd NetGalley DNF though.
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I’ve started True Biz but I’m only about 40 pages in, so it will be well into 2023 when I finish it as part of a review catch-up.
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I wonder what you’ll think if you make it through to the end of True Biz. I think I need to read her memoir you loved, because she’s stronger in theme/info/all the ASL/Deaf community stuff than she is with plot.
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Girl at War is a novel, though one could probably call it autofiction for how closely it replicates her experience. It’s one of my all-time favorite debuts. I certainly don’t find True Biz as engaging. I think she is probably taking on too heavy a didactic role.
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Ah, for some reason I was thinking Girl at War was a memoir. I will try that one! True Biz feels like a sophomore effort, with too much to live up to, maybe. And, I think you’re right, a lot of pressure to serve as a leading voice of the Deaf community.
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Too bad you didn’t get along with Empire of Wild. Have you read The Marrow Thieves? That one’s probably her best. Although, she has a new one out this year!
It’s rare for me to abandon books – I like most books enough to read the whole thing. (With the exception of a few I was reading for a provincial book award here in Canada… When you’re reading every book submitted, some are going to fall short of the mark.)
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I’d be willing to try Dimaline again. I’ve not seen her other books available here.
Oh, did I miss that you were a prize judge? I know exactly what you mean from reading unpublished manuscripts for the McKitterick Prize these last two years.
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I didn’t blog about it, so you didn’t miss it! 🙂
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