DNF

Books I Couldn’t Finish | 2024 DNFs

- Bunny Leave a comment

Hi Friends,
Happy Bookmas Day Seven! I can’t believe we’re already a week into Bookmas. Today, I’m talking about the books I DNFed this year. Honestly, I didn’t DNF many books this year, which I’m very happy about! Still, there were a few that I just couldn’t get through.


Mistakes Were Made by Meryl Wilsner
I got about halfway through this book before I had to stop reading. It’s an adult queer romance where a divorced woman falls for one of her daughter’s college friends. The plot sounded interesting, but I wasn’t a fan of the characters. Also, the way they both handled the situation wasn’t great. Both the friend and the mom seemed to show little care for how the daughter might feel about their relationship.


Local Woman Missing by Mary Kubica
This is a mystery thriller that I’ve heard nothing but good things about. However, I didn’t know before starting it that it comes with a trigger warning for child abuse. Let me just say—that’s a hard no for me. I can handle mentions, but I can’t deal with scenes where it’s described or a central part of the story. Unfortunately, the first few chapters were just too much for me, and I had to DNF for that reason alone.


Never by Jessa Hastings
I’ll be completely honest—this was a cover buy. Let me keep this short and to the point: the chapters were too long, the story was boring, and I was totally wrong in thinking this book would be spicy. Also, I hate Peter Pan, so why I thought I’d enjoy a retelling is beyond me!


A Dark and Drowning Tide by Allison Saft
I had such high hopes for this book because it sounded so good. But calling it a romantasy is a bit of a stretch. I would categorize it as a fantasy with some mystery thrown in. I got 40% in and was still waiting for the romance. Unfortunately, the mystery wasn’t compelling, and the story as a whole just didn’t hold my interest.


The Dead Romantics by Ashley Poston
This one hurt to DNF because it’s so popular. However, I felt like the story dragged and just wasn’t capturing my attention. I was going to push through it, but that plan went out the window when the main character’s jerk of an ex referred to her as “Bunny.” Maybe hearing it once would’ve been okay, but every time she thought of him, that nickname came up. I couldn’t handle it—for obvious reasons (my amazing husband calls me Bunny, hence Book With Bunny).
Related Post: The Seven Year Slip | Book Review

So, there you have it—my DNFs of 2024! Even though I didn’t DNF many books this year, there are still a lot of books I’ve started but haven’t yet finished. Leave me a comment and let me know: are you pro- or anti-DNFing? Don’t forget to come back every day for more Bookmas content, or hit the follow button so you never miss a post!

Did Not Finish // My 2023 DNFs

- Bunny Leave a comment

Hi Friends,
I thought that for day 12 of Bookmas, it would be interesting to talk about the books that I had DNFed this year. I try not to DNF as much as possible, but as I read more, I learn about my book taste. I do not feel the need to push through a book I am not enjoying or that I can tell I am not going to like. This year, I DNFed ten books, which I think is the most I have in my years.


‘It Sounded Better In My Head’ by Nina Kenwood and ‘The Tenth Girl’ by Sara Farings were instant DNFs because I could tell that the plots were not for me. As for for, ‘The Headmasters List’ by Melissa de la Cruz, the storyline was too predictable. I am sad that ‘All I Want For Christmas’ by Maggie Knox is on this list, but I am not one for plots based around competition shows. And, ‘The Bandit Queens’ by Parini Shroff had a lot of triggering topics for me.


One of my biggest disappointments was ‘The Last Word’ by Taylor Adams. I got to 50% until I realized that I was not really enjoying the plot or writing. I soft DNFed ‘It’ by Stephen King mainly because the book was just way to slow moving and it is one of my favorite horror movies, so I think the story is just to ingrained in my brain. I barely made it through 30% of ‘The Unfortunate Side Effects of Heartbreak and Magic’ by Breanne Randall until I had to give up on it. The plot was way to slow moving, and I am not a second chance romance lover to begin with.

I was hesitant to DNF ‘Brynn and Sebastian Hate Each Other’ by Bethany Turner since it was an audiobook ARC I received via Netgalley, but the female main character was so unlikable that I did not see any chemistry between her and the love interest. My last DNF of the year was ‘Local Women Missing’ by Mary Kubica, which I have heard so many good things. However, child adduction and abuse in graphic detail are something I would prefer not to read.

These are all books I chose not to finish this year. I have stopped feeling guilty about DNFing because I’d rather read a 5 star than something I know will be a 2 star. In the comments, let me know the books that you did not finish. Do not forget to hit the follow button so that you never miss a post.

Until The Next Chapter,
Bunny

Read More Books // Tips and Tricks

- Bunny Leave a comment

Hi Friends,
In the past, my reading wasn’t where it is today. Here’s a little secret: in 2020, I only managed to read 5 books. In 2014, sadly, I only read only 2 books. Until recently, the most I had ever read in a year was 15 books. However, 2021 was a turning point in my reading. I was able to read 50 books. I thought that I would share some of my tips on how to read more books in a year. Now, this isn’t a guide on how you can read 100 books in a year. And, these tips might not work for you. But they did help me in my effort to read more.

Reading Time
One of the biggest tips is to set aside a time to read. If we can be on our phone for hours, or watch a two hour movie, then one can certainly read for an hour a day. Pick the best reading time for you, and give yourself a goal of reading for 30 minutes or an hour.

Finish The Chapter
This is something I do often. I will pick a chapter that I want to get to and won’t stop reading until I reach it. It’s like a little competition with yourself, and once you reach your goal chapter, you get a feeling of accomplishment.

Audiobooks
I think this is a no-brainer when it comes to reading more. These days, I solely read audiobooks and I am not embarrassed by that fact. This has improved my finished book count and reading experience significantly. There are many audiobook services to choose from; even libraries offer audiobooks.

DNF
I am trying to get better at this, but DNFing can be very beneficial. Continuing to read a book you don’t like can put you in a reading slump that could last for weeks, or even months. This can hinder your reading a lot. You shouldn’t be ashamed to put down a book that you aren’t into. Reading should be fun, not a chore.

Book Clubs and Readathons
Something else that helped my reading grow was participating in readathons. One of my first posts happened to be a TBR for a ‘Taylor Swift’ inspired readathon. Joining that event kicked off an amazing year of reading. Book Clubs are another great option, since it will motivate you to read at least one book a month in order to engage with other book club participants.

I am pretty sure those are all the things that helped me step up my reading game. Leave any tips you might have in the comments below.

Until The Next Chapter,
Bunny

Thank You, Next // Decluttering My TBR

- Bunny 1 Comment

Hi Friends,
Last week, I had 378 books on my ‘want to read’ shelf on GoodReads, which is crazy. I knew that there were some books that no longer interested me. I decided it was time to do a deep clean of my tbr shelf. It was interesting to see the books I eliminated, and thought I would share some of them with you.

Starters (Starters #1) by Lissa Price
This book still sounds interesting to me, but I don’t typically like reading series. I haven’t heard anything about this book, which makes me think it is pretty underrated. Sure, I could be convinced to read it one day, but right now I am okay with axing it from my tbr.

Cinder (The Lunar Chronicles #1) by Marissa Meyer
This might come as a shock to some of you, since these books are beloved in the book community. Truthfully, this series interested me back when it was all the rage. However, I think too many years have pasted for me to care enough to read it. I’d much rather read a standalone than a fantasy series.

Genuine Fraud by E. Lockhart
Correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe this is YA thriller. From the synopsis, I understand that this is a dark stolen identity story. I haven’t read anything like this before, but after reading reviews it doesn’t seem worth wasting my time on.

This Adventure Ends by Emma Mills
I have heard a lot of good things about Emma Mills, which is probably why I added this book to my tbr. However, books about social-media stars aren’t really my cup of tea. Also, the synopsis now sounds kind of boring.

Mechanica (Mechanica #1) by Betsy Cornwell
Honestly, I cannot for the life of me understand why I would put this on my tbr. The plot isn’t typically what I would go for in a book. It sounds like a weird Cinderella retelling. It just seems odd and confusing.

Little White Lies (Debutantes #1) by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
This sounds a little like a found family contemporary, since the main character’s estranged grandmother shows up. And, she is trying to learn more about her absent father. It is described as a thriller as well, which intrigues to me. However, I am not the biggest fan of fish-out-of-water stories, so I’m going to pass on it.

The Ravens (The Ravens #1) by Kass Morgan, Danielle Paige
This a paranormal fantasy that gives me ‘Legenborn’ vibes. It is about a sorority of witches and secrets. It sounds like other books on the market, thus I don’t think I’ll ever read it.

The Young Elites (The Young Elites #1) by Marie Lu
I have heard conflicting opinions about Marie Lu’s writing, which is probably the reason for this being on my tbr. I am big about forming my own opinion on authors and books. Nevertheless, after going through my tbr shelf this story didn’t stand out to me. I could tell it was going to take me a while to finish the book. As you probably know fantasy is one of my least favorite genres.

I wish I could say that I got my tbr down into the 200s, but that isn’t the case. After my clear out, I have 364 books on my ‘want to read shelf’. This is still a big number, yet I want to start reading more back-list titles. Hopefully that can be a goal of my in 2022. How many books are on your tbr? As always, like and share the post, and follow the blog.

Until The Next Chapter,
Bunny

The DNF Tag

- Bunny Leave a comment

Hello Book Lovers,
I have been thinking about DNFing books a lot lately, because it is something that I struggle with doing. I always want to give a book a fair chance even if I am not enjoying it. I know that is a problem since I read for fun, but I still feel guilty putting a book down. I wanted to see others opinions on this topic, and came across this tag. I thought it was a cool idea, so of course I had to do it for you guys.

I have only DNF a handful of books in my years of reading. It isn’t something I would say that I do regularly, but I am not against it.

Nope! I don’t consider a book read unless I 100% finish it. I think that would be unfair to not only the author, but others that read the whole book. Also, I feel like counting it toward my reading for that month is slightly cheating.

For me, I would say yes. I have some books that I’ve been reading for months, or have put down, but plan on coming back to it within, most likely, a year. I think the main difference is that when you DNF a book you don’t see yourself ever giving it another shot, or at least not for 5 years.

Hmm…I am not sure there are any popular books I have given up on. However, one book that was well rated in the book community that I couldn’t get through was My Life Next Door by Huntley Fitzpatrick. This is a YA contemporary, which is my favorite genre, still I loathed the book. I found the writing slow and the relationship was very instant lovely. I DNF’ed the book when I was about 60% of the way done, and I have no regrets.

Dear John by Nicholas Sparks! I was on a huge Sparks kick for a while, and read many of his most popular books. I didn’t like many of them with The Notebook being my least favorite. Nevertheless, Dear John was the one that still annoys me like no other. I found the book super boring and just not my cup of tea. I was not a fan of the characters, or the plot. I did not enjoy the ending, and can’t understand why I put myself through that book. Fun fact, I have a signed copy of this book, so lucky me.

I have not attempted to read a DNF, but I won’t write-off the idea. I hope that it would be successful for me. Although, I am not sure I want to give some books a second chance.

I don’t usually buy books I haven’t read, so I don’t typically have the issue of getting rid of DNF’ed books. I will either get the e-book or audiobook from the library. If I do get a book I don’t like I either gift or donate it.

It isn’t really about the title for me, but more of the genre. I try to stick with my favorite genres so I have a better chance of enjoying the book. However, this year I am pushing myself outside of my comfort zone, which means I might be DNFing more books. This doesn’t scare me though, since we never know if we like something if we don’t give it a shot.

I hope that you liked this interesting tag about DNF books. I would love to get your thoughts on this topic. I tag anyone reading this post, and feel free to leave a comment letting me know if you did the tag. I think it is cool to learn others take on different bookish issues. As always you can share and like this post, and follow the blog to get notified when I post.

Until The Next Chapter,
Bunny