R.I.P. to these books that I could not finish. Below the titles I will give the reason why I didn’t finish and whether or not I plan to give the book a second chance in the future (because maybe I just wasn’t in the right mindset to read it).

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2019

Paper Covers Rock – Jenny Hubbard

I was disappointed that I had to DNF this book, as it is less than 200 pages.  You’d think it would be easy to blast right through it.  Maybe for some people, it was.  However, this was one of those times that I found myself unable to connect with the main character.  It was definitely written in an interesting way, and it dealt with a great issue – a teen feeling guilty over the death of his friend – but again, I just didn’t connect with Alex and I did not like his other friend in the story.

Twelve Angry Librarians – Miranda James

There was something about this book that made me lose interest after a few chapters. Though looking back at my reading log and seeing the time period that I was reading this, it might have been my mood/mental health of that summer. I’d definitely like to give this book another try in the future because, libraries, cats, and murder… duh.

Update 2023: I gave this book another shot and finished it. It was okay, but I was probably right to DNF it the first time. Not my cup of tea.

Violent Ends – various authors

With all the different books that take a fictionalized look at school shootings, I thought this one might be interesting because it was after the tragedy happened and it takes a look from different people’s points of view on the shooter throughout his life.  They try to capture events that look into why he ended up doing something like this and if he showed any signs beforehand that could’ve been a warning.  The first few chapters/POV’s were good, but then others lost me and I just wasn’t as interested as I was initially.

Permanent Record – Mary H.K. Choi

I really enjoyed Choi’s first novel, Emergency Contact, so I figured I would like this one as well.  However, I found myself getting a little bored while reading it.  I wasn’t all that invested in Pablo’s story nor did I care too much for him.  He was a bit funny in his narration, but just in general, I found myself skimming and trying to see how much longer before the chapter was over.  I’m not 100% sure why I didn’t get into this story, but maybe the timing was just off?  I’ve tried to read this one twice and it’s just a “no” from me.

Down and Across – Arvin Ahmadi

I stopped reading this one a bit early, maybe earlier than I should’ve, but I just wasn’t in the mood for this book.  I wasn’t totally captured right away with Scott and his sudden decision to run away to D.C. to find what he’s looking for to help him in life.  Though Fiora showed promise as a character from the start, it just wasn’t enough to keep me hooked.  That isn’t to say I’ll never go back and try reading this one again; it just wasn’t the right book to pull me out of a reading slump.

I Become Shadow – Joe Shine

I made it almost halfway through before I decided to stop reading it, and I was a bit disappointed.  The book shows promise right away and the main character, Ren, is a relatable, sarcastic narrator… however, I think that taking half the book to get to the present time was a little much.  At that point I started to think that the rest of the book is going to be rushed and wouldn’t be as good as I could be.  Maybe I’m wrong, it might be fantastic still.  But spending half the time reading about her training in FATE before the real action even begins was a bit of a turn-off to me.

The Liar – Ayelet Gundar-Goshen

This was a NetGalley arc that I received, but sadly I could not get into it. The writing just didn’t make any sense, so I couldn’t follow what was going on. I get that it was a translated work, but it wasn’t translated into English very well.

2020

Heist Society – Ally Carter

I had started this book right before all this pandemic crap happened, and I was also in the middle of a big change in my job, so I don’t remember why I couldn’t get through this book. It sounded interesting, and I love Ally Carter’s Gallagher Girls books, so I’m thinking the reason I didn’t get far was because I just wasn’t in the right mindset. It’s a book that I’ll definitely give another shot when I’m ready for it.

Update 2021: I gave this book another shot and it was good! I’ll be reading the rest of the series soon!

2021

American Sherlock: Murder, Forensics, and the Birth of American CSI

This started off interesting, but before the 100th page I started losing interest in it. I can’t pinpoint it exactly, but it’s like the pacing and focus sort of changed… or maybe I’m just not as into true crime as I thought. However, I still think this would be a great read for a real true crime buff.

City of Villains – Estelle Laure

Part of my reason for DNF-ing this book was because I fell into a reading slump while reading this book. I was more into reading Descendants fanfiction instead, and then somehow fell into the Glee fandom again. So my interest in Disney villains is kind of on the backburner again. The other reason was that I found some of the book to be a little confusing in its background story, what with Legacies and all that. I think it wasn’t exactly how I thought the book would be. Considering I read about 40% of the book then not picking it back up for two weeks before deciding to DNF it, I don’t think I’ll be giving this one another go.

2022

Two Truths and One Liar – Deidre Riordan Hall

This book has a premise that I’d normally love, and I did get a digital ARC of the book, but I couldn’t get into it. The characters fell flat and the story just didn’t flow for me. I actually fought myself to try to push through, but I knew it would just make me hate the book if I did that, so I had to put it here in the graveyard.

Serendipity – edited by Marissa Meyer

I usually like these YA short-story anthologies, and you’d think I’d love one that portrayed the romantic tropes, but three stories in I had to let it go. I was barely into each story that I read and the third one had a really weird situation that just threw me off completely.

The Injustice – James Patterson with Emily Raymond

I just couldn’t get into this one. I wasn’t surprised because I get annoyed by James Patterson’s books just by looking at them (it’s a librarian thing), but this premise sounded good so I wanted to try it. Sadly, it wasn’t for me.

Murder on the Orient Express – Agatha Christie

I never expected to DNF a Christie book, especially one of the Poirot series, but I did. I think a big part of it was just that I wasn’t in a reading mood when I tried to read it. I probably will not try to read this again because the only reason I wanted to read it was because I was going to see a play of it, and a former friend recommended it, but we’re no longer friends so… yeah.

Nick and Noel’s Christmas Playlist – Codi Hall

I got about 60% of the way through this book and then it got to a point in the story where I just couldn’t deal with it anymore. I’m not a big person on steamy romance books, so when the book started getting smutty, I stopped reading. I couldn’t because I just don’t like reading that kind of thing. It doesn’t feel right to me as a Christian. This is on top of the fact that I was already annoyed with how back-and-forth Nick and Noel were about deciding to date or not.

2023

13 Little Blue Envelopes – Maureen Johnson

I had this one sitting on my Nook for years, and it was on my radar long before that! I finally decided to try to read this one and wouldn’t you know? I couldn’t get more than 20% through it. Everything was just moving along so quickly that you didn’t get to know the main character, Ginny, or her emotions and thoughts while she’s on this big tour of Europe that her aunt sends her on. She isn’t allowed to communicate via technology with her family, so they’re completely absent… which leads to the what kind of parents allow their 17-year old kid on that kind of trip? Especially when she ends up housing with a total stranger (and yes, the person is a man), and runs off to Ireland with a university student she just met! I just had to stop because I would’ve ended up writing my own book about everything that bothered me with this book… I’ve already written more for this one than any other book on my list here.

You Bet Your Heart – Danielle Parker

This might’ve been a mood thing, but I couldn’t get into this book. The main character kind of annoyed me – she seemed extra whiny for some reason – and she was a bit repetitive of why she needed to be valedictorian and get the scholarship from the school. This might be a book I’d give a shot to at another time, but right now, it’s not for me.