Top Ten Tuesday

Posted May 12, 2020 by Nicky in General / 25 Comments

This week’s Top Ten Tuesday theme is about books you’ve abandoned… so let’s have a look at my Shelf of Abandoned Books. The thing is, I’m a mood reader, so for one reason and another it’s fairly common for me to end up putting down a book in the middle. Here’s the tour!

Cover of Under Heaven by Guy Gavriel Kay Cover of Heartstone by Elle Katharine White Cover of Hild by Nicola Griffith Cover of A Conspiracy of Truths by Alexandra Rowland

  1. Under Heaven, by Guy Gavriel Kay. Fantasy, set in a sort of China analogue. This is actually a reread and I have no idea why I stalled. I think I just got busy? It’s actually a book I really enjoy, and the opening always sticks with me so much — the idea of the loneliness Tai feels there, lying the ghosts to rest… I don’t even seem to have left a bookmark in! Mystery.
  2. Heartstoneby Elle Katharine White. Fantasy romance. I definitely just got distracted with this one — it has dragons! It was cool! But then stuff happened.
  3. Hild, by Nicola Griffith. Historical fiction, about Hild of Whitby. There are things I loved about this — mostly the lush language — but ohhh it’s so slow.
  4. A Conspiracy of Truths, by Alexandra Rowland. Fantasy, featuring a crotchety old man being cranky and a cinnamon roll who keeps falling in love with pretty boys. I thiiiink I was just pretty depressed and meh about a lot of things, and I wasn’t able to concentrate for long enough to just finish this. Oops. It’s one I’m more or less constantly thinking about picking back up! Even though it must be coming up on a year since I started it.
  5. The Subversive Stitch, by Rozsika Parker. Non-fiction about embroidery and femininity. I had this from the library stacks (and oh gosh they were suspicious about signing it out to me; I guess I do not look like their idea of someone who can take care of an old book) and ended up just returning it because I was getting through it so slowly. I have my own copy now, but I think I’ll have to restart it. I’ve lost the thread (ha) of the argument.
  6. The Sparrow, by Mary Doria Russell. Speculative fiction — Jesuits in space, only it’s dead serious. And heartbreaking. This was a reread, and I just couldn’t face what I remembered was coming…
  7. The Story of Wales, by John Gower. Non-fiction, about the history of Wales. Just kind of lost interest; it’s not the most riveting.
  8. The Firebird, by Susanna Kearsley. Romance with a touch of fantasy and historical fiction; they’re mindreaders who get on the track of a historical story, trying to figure out what happened. I love Kearsley normally; I think I just wasn’t in the right mood for it.
  9. Salt, by Mark Kurlansky. Non-fiction. It’s basically the history of salt, and it’s really scatterbrained and kinda meh. Also, someone mentioned that they have doubts about the accuracy of his books, and he doesn’t seem to have much sourcing, and… I’m sceptical now, and will probably DNF this for good.
  10. Banewreaker, by Jacqueline Carey. Fantasy, another reread: basically a take on What If Sauron Had A Point. It does a really great job, but I seem to have just fallen out of it. I think maybe I picked up something else… oops!

Cover of The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell Cover of The Story of Wales by Jon Gower Cover of The Firebird by Susanna Kearsley Cover of Salt by Mark Kurlansky Cover of Banewreaker by Jacqueline Carey

So there you go — now you know how capricious I can be! Do you DNF books? Or shelve them for later? Or are you with a book to the bitter end, no matter what?

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25 responses to “Top Ten Tuesday

    • Yep… And I love the idea of libraries, but I often end up with this problem, because of the mood-reading thing. A book sometimes just has to wait until the right time!

  1. I know this is a post about abandoned books but I might have to check that one out of GGK’s. I’ve been 50/50 on his books so far haha. I like your range of books, and that your reason for not finishing is mostly that you lost interest. No better reason to DNF tbh!
    Rabeeah recently posted…What I’m Reading rnMy Profile

    • I usually enjoy his books, it’s just that reread… wrong time? Wrong mood? Who knows! Most of these books I’ll come back to again… but I definitely definitely endorse just ditching books if you’re not in the mood!

  2. I love The Sparrow, but I can understand why you’d stop a re-read. Now is not the time for colonialism failures. I have Under Heaven on my TBR — as this was a re-read for you, I assume you enjoyed it the first time and I should keep it on my TBR. 😉

    I do both — DNF and shelve books for later. Lately, a lot of my books have been reshelved. My quarantine brain just isn’t into reading the things I typically love!
    Jackie B @ Death by Tsundoku recently posted…Top Ten Tuesday: The Last 10 Books I AbandonedMy Profile

    • Oh yes, Under Heaven was lovely — not my favourite of Guy Gavriel Kay’s books, I’ll admit, but still very lovely!

      I do DNF books as well, but it’s rarer… normally I have books that fit my taste, but it’s just not the right time, and I usually give ’em at least one more go before I actually kick ’em out the door!

  3. I used to stick with books until the bitter end, but I’m slowly embracing the idea of giving up on books that just aren’t working for me. I’m a mood reader too so I have a few that I’ve set aside to try again, but most of the ones I’ve quit I have no intention of revisiting.

    • I didn’t include any true DNFs here, but I totally do them — life’s too short to read a book you’re not interested in!

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