I have a confession. The title of this post is kind of a lie. I almost never stop reading a book once I’ve started it. First off, I am pretty good at choosing to read books I like. If I’m not liking a book or having a hard time with something, my impulse is usually to read it faster and get it over with. So while none of these books are ones that I almost put down (usually because they dealt with a subject I found emotionally difficult or I found them hard to get into), they’re all books I struggled with in some way, but am glad I finished. In fact, some of them are among my favorites.
How often do you put books down once you’ve started reading? Are there any books you almost abandoned then ended up loving? Let me know in the comments!
Thanks to The Broke and the Bookish for hosting this weekly book meme.
Alison Doherty 
I loved Sloppy Firsts!! And Second Helpings. After that the series went downhill for me 😦 I would love to read Prep one of these days… but I don’t think I’ll ever read Lolita. Too creepy!
My TTT
Sloppy Firsts and Second Helpings were two of my favorite books from high school (I agree about the series going downhill after that) but in the beginning I really didn’t like Jessica. I thought she was too sporty and a complainer. I’m so glad I stuck with it though, because I ended up loving them.
I absolutely adored Catch-22. It was one of the books I read after my second surgery, and it was such a great book to read while stuck in the house with a broken leg. The movie didn’t do it justice at all.
My TTT
I haven’t read the movie. That one took me a bit of time to get into and understand all the world building, but once I did I was glad that I stuck with it.
I almost abandoned The Book Thief and The Time Traveler’s Wife and I’m glad that I didn’t. Quite often when I put down books I wonder if it would have got better! I nearly put down The Bell Jar too, and I’m glad that I didn’t!
Interesting about The Book Thief and The Time Traveler’s Wife.
I had to read The Bell Jar for school, and honestly even though I think it is great I found it so upsetting I actually threw up at one point while reading.
Interesting that you almost never put down a book. I’m completely the opposite; a book really has to grab me.
Here’s my list of Books I Almost Put Down.
I wish I could be like that. Although a lot of these were for school, so I kind of had to read them through either way.
There’s so many books on there I plan to get to in the future and I thought I might struggle with them. I also “lol’d” at your approach to reading books you want to DNF but can’t – I too speed read to try and get through the pain!!
http://confessionsofabookgeek.wordpress.com/2014/05/13/top-ten-tuesday-books-ive-put-down/
I’m glad I’m not the only one who speed reads when things get rough!
I’m the same way: I don’t usually stop reading books, mostly because I pick books I know I’ll enjoy. Why read something you know you won’t like?
I had Lolita on my list as well. It was sometimes difficult to get through because of what it’s about, but I ended up liking it (it’s weird to say you like a book when it’s about something like this).
My TTT!
Yeah, I know where you are coming from. I felt really uncomfortable the whole time I was reading it, but I think that is a mark of how well it is written.
Yes, definitely. It was written, in part, to make the reader uncomfortable, I think. It’s so ridiculously well-written though, to continue to make people read a story about a topic like that.
I abandon books ALL THE TIME. My time is so precious to me and I don’t want my writing to be influenced by sub-par books.
Interesting. I feel kind of like I can learn a lot about writing from books that aren’t successful, but what’s more I don’t feel like I read that many sub-par books. Maybe it’s because I usually read the first few chapters in the library or bookstore before I take them home.
I did actually put two books down this year though, but it was within the first few pages so I’m not sure I really count that.
I suppose that’s true– you definitely CAN learn from books that aren’t successful … I guess I’d just rather spend my time learning from books that are!