To DNF or not to DNF, that is the question. I have never been any good at putting a book down when I don’t like it. It has only happened a handful of times in my reading life. I am so envious of people who start a book and then kick it to the curb when it isn’t working for them! After all, not every book is for every person so if you’re not enjoying it, you should read something else because life is short! (I really need to start practicing what I preach, lol.)
HOWEVER. There can be different reasons people stopped reading a book. Maybe you hated it, but maybe it just wasn’t what your brain needed at that time. Maybe the book was very serious and you needed something light and fluffy. Maybe you started it and then set it down to read a book you had been dying to read, and never got back to it. Books can also land differently when we’re at different ages, different places in our lives. What might not have interested you ten years ago might mean a lot to you know.
I’m talking about books that just didn’t hold your attention, not books you actively hated. The task of finishing a book you DNF (did not finish) was not designed to torture you, we promise. But it might be fun to see if your first instincts are correct, or if maybe you end up enjoying a book that you initially found boring. I am going to do it with one of the books I never finished. I’ll tell you about it below, along with several other books, one that I recommended to a friend (that they didn’t finish), and several more books popularly listed as ‘DNF’ on Goodreads. Are you surprised to see any of these on the list? How many have you also DNFed? Maybe it’s time to give them another try. And hey, if you hate them, you’ll still have completed a 2023 Read Harder task and confirmed that your instincts were correct!
Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi
It stands to reason that the more popular a book is, the more people will be reading it and therefore, a larger number of people will also put it down. This was THE YA book to read a few years ago. It’s the start to a West African-inspired fantasy trilogy that is also going to be a movie series.
Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë
Here it is, my own personal DNF that I am going to attempt to finish for the Read Harder Challenge. This book is a classic and so many, many people love it, but I thought it was ridiculously boring when I first picked it up. These characters are so moody and I hated them, which is why I eventually said, “NO MOOR.” (Pun intended.) On the whole, I am in favor of reading classics, because many are quite good. It’s been almost 30 years since I tried this one; maybe my middle-aged brain will enjoy it this time around.
These Violent Delights by Chloe Gong
Here’s another of the most popular YA series of the last few years. It’s an imaginative Romeo and Juliet retelling set in 1920s Shanghai. It has rival gangs instead of rival families, but also has a river monster. The two groups must put their differences aside if they want to defeat the unknown terror that is killing them off.
Dune by Frank Herbert
I can see why this one is abandoned frequently. I did not find it to be an easy read at all. I only read it a couple of years ago in preparation for the release of the new adaptation, and I found it a bit boring and quite convoluted. But the worldbuilding is really quite fascinating, and intergalactic space travel and politics is always fun.
The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois by Honoree Fanonne Jeffers
So this one is a novel I love that I recommended to my friend, who read 100 pages and abandoned it. I’m not hurt at all. (*sob*) No, really, I understand. It is over 800 pages long. But it’s an incredible work of historical fiction, if you’re up for the challenge. And you don’t have to take my word for it: Among it’s many awards and accolades, it was an Oprah book club pick, a National Book Award finalist, and the winner of the National Book Critics Circle for Fiction.
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
This is one of the biggest debut novel success stories. In over a decade since its release, The Night Circus has sold over three million copies worldwide. It’s the story of a magical circus and two young magicians raised to be competitors. Fantasy isn’t a genre for everyone, but if you didn’t finish this one, maybe pick it back up for this task!
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab
I was surprised to see this top the Goodreads list of books marked ‘DNF’ because I loved it so much! It’s the story of a woman centuries ago who makes a deal with the Devil to get out of her current situation. He honors that request, but because he’s the Devil, he also has to pull some trickery: she is made immortal, but no one in the world ever remembers her.
A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara
And this National Book Award finalist is another book many people set aside without finishing, and I completely understand why. It’s a novel of four friends and their lives and loves in New York City. But it’s also a heck of a lot of detailed trauma, surrounding one of the friends. The compelling writing is what kept me reading this one.
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Click here for the full Read Harder 2023 task list, and for previous recommendations, click here.