Subtitled: a Memoir of Surviving Abuse and Fighting for Justice
Nonfiction by Virginia Roberts Giuffre
Nonfiction by Virginia Roberts Giuffre
Oh my goodness. This was wrenching and way, WAY too sad. I couldn't finish listening.
Showing posts with label DNF. Show all posts
Showing posts with label DNF. Show all posts
Wednesday, May 6, 2026
Monday, April 13, 2026
The Lost Girls of Willowbrook
Fiction by Ellen Marie Wiseman
I could not finish listening to this book because it was about a girl imprisoned in a mental institution and I can't handle that subject emotionally. (I should have realized it from the description, I know. Sometimes I don't read the descriptions.)
I'm logging it in as Did Not Finish because I like this author and have read other books by her; I don't want to find myself in the middle of this one ever again.
I also read by this author (and finished!!): The Orphan Collector
Thursday, February 19, 2026
The Color of Light
Fiction by Karen White
I had some trouble getting interested in this story; I'm not sure why.
Wednesday, January 7, 2026
Based on a True Story
Nonfiction? by Norm MacDonald
I put a question mark after the word "nonfiction" above because, although this book is labelled as a memoir, the story seems to be almost completely made up.
Norm MacDonald was indeed a comedian who was on Saturday Night Live in the nineties, and he was alive in 2016 and doing stand-up when the book was written (he has since died), but the rest of this "memoir" is quite fictitious.
Also it's not funny. At least the first half isn't. I gave up.
Wednesday, December 17, 2025
Hidden River
Fiction by Adrian McKitry
Friday, August 1, 2025
Saturday, July 5, 2025
Rabbits for Food
Fiction by Binnie Kirschenbaum
At the beginning of this book, a woman (possibly named Bunny) is institutionalized after a long slide of depression followed by a violent breakdown. She is refusing treatment.
A few chapters in, I realized that reading the chronicle of her spiraling decline might devastate me beyond repair, and I had to stop reading. Maybe the author should take it as a compliment that her prose affected me so...
I'm logging the book here as a Did Not Finish so I don't accidentally try to read it again.
Sunday, June 8, 2025
Alice Isn't Dead
Fiction by Joseph
Keisha's wife Alice disappeared, and eventually was presumed dead by everyone except Keisha, who refused to believe it. Then Keisha set out to find Alice and prove that she was still alive.
This is an interesting premise, and I liked the beginning of the book. Then it got weirder and darker and I didn't like it anymore. Then it got even weirder and darker; I gave up about halfway...
Sunday, May 18, 2025
Furious Hours
Subtitled: Murder, Fraud and the Last Trial of Harper Lee
Nonfiction by Casey Cep
Nonfiction by Casey Cep
Harper Lee, author of To Kill a Mockingbird and nothing else (I don't count Go Set A Watchman as a separate novel from Mockingbird), was apparently working on a novel called "The Reverend" before her death, based on an early seventies murder trial. This author researched both Ms. Lee and the Reverend's trial for this book.
Tuesday, March 25, 2025
The Mask Carver's Son
Fiction by Alison Richman
I tried really hard to like this book; I actually read over half of it.
It just stayed boring.
Monday, December 9, 2024
Thursday, November 14, 2024
Tuesday, August 27, 2024
All Stories are Love Stories
Fiction by Elizabeth Percer
I can explain why I couldn't get into this book, but... I just couldn't.
Recently I was asked how much of a chance I give a book before giving up, and I said, "I'll usually read at least a third unless I'm really suffering." And I wasn't suffering with this one, exactly, but after a third of the book I still wasn't interested either.
Saturday, March 30, 2024
The Making of Another Major Motion Picture Masterpiece
Fiction by Tom Hanks
I couldn't get interested in this book for some reason.
Saturday, March 16, 2024
Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead
Fiction by Olga Tokarczuk
I'll admit I chose this book simply for the title. It's a great title.
Unfortunately I didn't like anything else about it.
Monday, January 15, 2024
The Fragile Threads of Power
Fiction by V.E. Schwab
I recently read a book by this author that I really liked (see below) and so when this book was featured on the "BRAND NEW" area in the library I snapped it up.
This book, however, I didn't enjoy. In the prologue, the author introduced FOUR (count them!) separate character storylines and dropped them after a couple of pages. Then, the main body of the story began with ANOTHER character storyline and seemed to stick with it. (I had liked a couple of the other ones better, but oh well.)
I told myself to forget all that other stuff. This part would be the real story and it would make sense. But I kept getting confused; the author repeatedly referenced unexplained things in the past. Sometimes the story would flash back to another time but only very briefly. I couldn't get interested because I was still unclear about what was actually happening. I DEFINITELY felt that "This here is a sequel and you are missing some major backstory" kind of feeling. When I still felt lost after a hundred pages I gave up. I'm labeling this book DNF (did not finish) and returning it to the library.
Out of curiosity I checked the information online about the book. Although it is not listed as a sequel, it IS one. There was a series of THREE other books before this, in which I assume things were explained? Maybe I will go back and read those, because it seems like they are necessary in understanding this one.
In the past I have never posted anything about books I did not finish, but I've decided to start now, logging them in their own category. I will not give the DNF's a thumb rating because that seems unfair, but really I guess a DNF is the ultimate thumbs-down...
I also read by this author: The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue
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