Books I Did Not Finish in 2023 by Theresa Gauthier

DNF or Did Not Finish is a term readers use in reference to books that, for one reason or another, they are unable to finish, whether that’s a permanent state or they intend to one day return to the book in question.

There could be any number of reasons for not finishing a book.  Maybe it wasn’t what you thought it would be. Maybe a friend or relative recommended it insisting you’ll like it. Maybe you just don’t care for the writer’s style. It could be something else, of course. Perhaps the book contains things you find too disturbing to read. Serious illnesses, death, violence could all turn you against a particular volume. 

Some readers set a book aside thinking they’ll never return to it, and others just believe it’s not the right fit at the moment. Whichever way you intend it, you may surprise yourself if you pick up a discarded volume at a later time and find yourself engrossed in something you were sure you hated.

 There were several books I wasn’t able to finish this year, and I’ve been puzzled about some of them.

 

    The first I recall not finishing was The Half Moon by Mary Beth Keane. This sounded like it   would be a great choice for me, but in reading about the problems the married couple in the book was having, I found myself wondering again and again why they weren’t either talking or ending their relationship. The two were “growing apart” and struggling with things that neither seemed willing to put into words. Rather than talk to each other, they avoided each other and stewed in their irritations. I have it in my head that eventually they do talk, whether to reconcile or release each other, I don’t know, but I came to a point where I just didn’t care about either of them enough to see it through.

I’m hoping to return to the book someday when I can think of it without being irritated. 

    The one abandoned book that surprised me most was Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus. This was a novel I was excited to read. Ubiquitous and lauded for its humor, it was Barnes & Noble’s Book of the Year in 2022. I remember my joy when I sat down to read it. It soured quickly. My first complaint is the utter lack of humor. I don’t recall even reading a single thing that made me smile let alone laugh out loud. Then there was the violence. The poor protagonist is brutally attacked early on in the book, and I’m reading this thinking, Wait a minute, what’s funny about any of this? 

    I put it down for several weeks, perhaps a month, and picked it up again. While the worst of the violence seemed to be over, I didn’t find anything humorous or enlightening about the book. I put it aside again, and I’m certain I’ll try it at least once more, but I’ve no idea when.

    The other books I’ve put aside were what a movie-goer might call rom-coms. I always think the details of such books sound good, but inevitable, I find myself turned off before I’m too far into them. Too irritating, is the way I think of them. I try, but the predictability and the utter avoidance of meaningful conversation by the characters makes it hard for me to finish. 

    There’s one more book that I didn’t exactly put aside, nor did I actually read every word. Star Trek: A Contest of Principles by Greg Cox should have been a four star read for me. Instead, I found myself skipping pages, skimming chapters and at best getting the gist of what was going on without actually reading the entire thing. 

Why?

    I don’t know. Goodness knows I love Star Trek. I always have. I can’t complain about the characters, the premise. I couldn’t enjoy the story. Perhaps it was a little too close to current events. Perhaps it was a little too familiar. 

I hope one day to return to it and puzzle out the answers, or at the very least to enjoy it in the way in which I imagined I would.

I’ve shared these thoughts to encourage readers to put aside books they find themselves struggling to finish for just a little while. It’s possible you have the right book at the wrong time and returning to it could give you an appreciation for the story that struggling through it won’t give you.  Why not give yourself an opportunity to come back to it and maybe love it rather than just tolerate it?

Reading is too important, too fun, to turn it into a struggle.