Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together. This week’s topic is Top Ten Books With One-Word Titles.
This week’s topic is: The Top Ten Most Recent Books I Did Not Finish. I’m just posting a top ten, regardless of when I did not finish them, so they are not necessarily the “most recent.” Most or all of them are from the last two or three years.
I have nothing against any of these books. Some of them turned out to not be what I thought and some were not just a good fit for me. One was a popular book that apparently everyone liked but me, and one was the result of not paying enough attention to the book description. For the audiobooks, it is always because I just couldn’t connect with the narrator. Nothing against the book or the narrator, but if I can’t connect with them, then I can’t follow the book.
Midnight Sun: Although I loved Twilight, I just could not get into this retelling of Twilight from Edward’s point of view. It just didn’t work for me.
Malibu Rising: So many people were praising the books of Taylor Jenkins Reid that I picked this up. It just wasn’t for me at all, though most people seemed to love it. I couldn’t keep interested enough in it to finish it.
A Half-Baked Murder: This was a total lack of attention on my part. I was looking for a food-themed cozy mystery. It’s called “A Half-Baked Murder” and there are macarons on the cover. Apparently, I didn’t notice the pot leaf on the macarons, and I didn’t notice the name of the series was “Cannabis Cafe Mysteries.” It’s set in a bakery/cafe that uses cannabis in their products! I won’t be using that ingredient. Lol! Not what I was looking for and I should have paid attention to the cover and the book description.
Tick Tock: This was one of several Fern Michaels books that were put on Netgalley. After some disappointing reads, I gave up when this one wasn’t working for me either.
The Mountain in the Sea (Audiobook), A Botanist’s Guide to Flowers and Fatality (Audiobook)
The Rescue (Audiobook): All three of these were just a case of not connecting with the narrator.
The Ferryman just couldn’t hold my interest and I couldn’t get through it. A lot of people loved it.
Little Red House and Small Game: Both of these were too dark for me personally.
When you are roaming through Netgalley looking for books, you don’t always pick the right one, and that is the case for most of these. I am not bashing the books in any way. A lot of people loved these books.
What about you? Are there any books that just didn’t work for you for whatever reason?
I think Malibu Rising is not the best book to pick up when you haven’t read any of Jenkins Reid’s work just yet. It’s not the best book out of the 4 within the same universe, it’s in fact my least favorite.
Midnight Sun was almost a DNF for me too, untill they had to track James down. This part we never saw in Twilight and that was really interesting.
My TTT: https://laurieisreading.com/2023/07/25/top-ten-tuesday-ten-most-recent-books-i-did-not-finish/
Maybe at some point I’ll try another TJR book.
I suggest either Evelyn Hugo or Carrie Soto.
Oh I should have included Stephanie Meyer on my list – I did technically finish the first book of the Twilight trilogy though… And Justin Cronin’s The Passage I loved, but haven’t been grabbed by the rest of the series. I just bought Mountain in the Sea too.
For Mountain in the Sea, I had the audiobook and just couldn’t connect with the narrator, so nothing against the book or the narrator for that matter. It just didn’t work or me.
LOL I didn’t notice the cannabis angle from the cover until you pointed it out either.
Ha ha. That makes me feel a little better.
I haven’t read any of these. But so far, this is the second list with The Ferryman on it. Eek.
My TTT: https://www.mollysbooknook.com/9-audiobooks-i-couldnt-finish/
It’s just one of those books that wasn’t for me. Lots of people loved it.
I liked Malibu Rising, but I didn’t love it as much as most people seemed to. I really enjoyed the author’s previous two books, so maybe my expectations were a little too high.
I almost never DNF books, so I had to do something different this week! https://franlaniado.wordpress.com/2023/07/25/top-ten-tuesday-my-best-of-2023-so-far/
Ok, I’m off to check out your twist on the topic. 🙂
I have been waffling about Malibu Rising for the same reasons, but it is still not on my shelf. I agree, I have grabbed some books off NG and they just weren’t for me when I began reading them. I don’t bash them and I usually don’t review or rate them either.
To the best of my recollection, the only one of these I reviewed was Midnight Sun because it was a retelling of a book I read. I don’t usually review DNFs.
I have had similar cases where I expected one thing from a cozy mystery cover, and then got another. I think I usually ended up finishing (skimming) the books, but then never returned to the series. I’d probably do the same for a cannabis-themed cozy, especially if I was expecting a bakery theme.
My TTT: https://bookwyrmknits.com/2023/07/25/top-ten-tuesday-recent-dnfs/
I have so many books on my Netgalley shelf that I just went ahead and DNFd it.
Midnight Sun was almost like a reread but not as good. I don’t blame you. I’m sad about Malibu Rising, though. I loved that one.
I think most everyone did. I’m the anomaly.
I haven’t read any of these yet, but Malibu Rising is on my TBR. Hopefully, I’ll have better luck with it.
I hope you enjoy it!
I really like Daisy Jones and the Six so I thought I’d enjoy Malibu Rising. I didn’t like it either, but I did finish it. I decided to removed Carrie Soto off my TBR list.
You and I are the exception!
Great list and explanation! I love how you clarified that just because we DNF books doesn’t mean they aren’t good, or that other people don’t enjoy and love them. We’ve got some in common, so I’ll probably just stay away from most of your list, although the cannabis cafe mystery made me laugh!
Yes I had poor attention skills when I picked the cannabis one!
Sorry to see you did not enjoy Malibu Rising. I realy enjoyed that one, but obviously not every book is for every reader. 🙂
Exactly. Not every book is a good fit for everyone.
I tried Daisy Jones & the Six from TJR and look, I finished it and it was okay but I didn’t love it. Everyone kept saying to me “oh it’s best in audio” and I rarely listen to fiction on audio, unless it’s actually a book I’ve already read and loved. I haven’t tried any of her other works. The Cannabis Cafe mistake was hilarious! I didn’t notice the leaf either until you pointed it out and I rarely know what a series is called, I would 100% have assumed the same as you (and also DNF’d for the same reasons).
I have the Justin Cronin here to read, hopefully I enjoy it more than you did!
I hope you do enjoy the Justin Cronin. Re: Half-Baked Murder, I hope I learned a lesson about paying more attention to the book description!
I’m the same way with audiobooks. If a narrator’s voice or style annoys me, I will DNF the audiobook and read its “real” book instead. The right narrator makes all the difference!
Happy TTT!
Susan
http://www.blogginboutbooks.com
I don’t usually pick up the real book if the audiobook doesn’t work for me but it’s a good idea
My husband read and reviewed The Ferryman for me. He thought it was a bit odd. I don’t know if he really liked it, though. I don’t think so.
I’ve been trying to get my husband to do some reviews. No luck so far.
Mine only does it because he worries about me when I take on too much. But it’s so nice of him.
It is!
I have not tried any of these. Sorry, they did not work for you.
Thanks Cindy.
I can totally see why you were mislead by A Half-Baked Murder, I don’t think it’s immediately obvious from the cover what it’s about!
My TTT: https://jjbookblog.wordpress.com/2023/07/25/top-ten-tuesday-430/
It just didn’t dawn on me that that was a pot leaf on the macaron and the lady’s bag. Lol.
It is very subtle!
I like the concept of this post, Bonnie. Hopefully my book doesn’t wind up on your own DNF list. But you were careful to say they just weren’t for you rather than they were bad books. To each her own.
No, I’ll be finishing yours for sure.