I’m very glad that I started living by the mantra, “life’s too short to read books you aren’t enjoying” and no longer push through a book I’m just not interested in. It’s saved me a lot of turmoil this year, and in the past couple of years, really. Thankfully, this year there were only three books that I couldn’t get through, and at least one of them is one that I’ll give another chance to because I was in my reading slump when I tried to read it. It’s not the book’s fault I wasn’t in the right mood.

Books I Did Not Finish in 2021

American Sherlock: Murder, Forensics, and the Birth of American CSI by Kate Winkler Dawson

This book is one that I think is great for people who love true crime and forensics, which I am interested in, but not on a deep level. The beginning of this book had me hooked though, so I thought I’d really enjoy it, but before the 100th page I just started to get a little “meh” about reading it and knew I had to finally put it down.

That said, I don’t think it’s that this book is bad. I’m just not as into true crime as other people are and found some of this book getting too technical for me. I do recommend it though if you love true crime and the investigation behind crimes.

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City of Villains by Estelle Laure

When I started this book I had been really into Descendants (again) and everything about Disney Villains, so this should’ve been the perfect read at the time. I’m not even really sure why I lost interest in reading this, but two weeks went by where I didn’t touch the book and when I thought about picking it up to read, I was turned off by the thought. Maybe it’s because I was so into Descendants that I was reading a lot of fanfiction at the time that it just sort of made me fall into a bit of a reading slump.

I’m unsure if I’ll be trying to give this book another go or not – most likely not. I do really love the idea and the fact that it’s about teen Disney villains, but I’m just not sure if this was the right book for me.

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Someday, Someday Maybe by Lauren Graham

I’ve had this book on my shelf for years, so I finally decided to try and give it a shot. Then… I’m not even sure what happened. I think this was another one of those books I tried to use to get out of a reading slump, but it wasn’t the right book for that time. I mean, the summary sounds interesting and my kind of book, and I love Lauren Graham, but I just couldn’t get that into the book when I tried to read it. My mind kept veering off, so I finally just set it back on my TBR cart.

I totally plan to give this book another shot. It’s not its fault that I wasn’t feeling it at the time. Maybe sometime in 2022 I’ll be more into the right mood to read this one all the way through.

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I’m glad there were only three books that I didn’t get through this year, and yet I still was able to get over 100 books read (a first for me). I mean, I have to thank manga for upping my numbers and getting me out of slumps, but still. Reading is reading, no matter what kind of book or format of the book. I don’t really enjoy not finishing a book I start, but it’s saved me from feeling like I’ve wasted time reading a book I didn’t enjoy. And I think that’s more important, especially considering how many books are out there.

Did you DNF any books this year?