Bookish: Book Blogger Hop #27

The Book Blogger Hop is a weekly meme with a prompt featuring a book related question. The hop begins on a Friday and ends on a Thursday and should hopefully give people the opportunity to learn something new about the blogger.

The Book Blogger Hop can be found on Ramblings of a Coffee Addicted Writer and obviously my answers can be found here!

Not anymore but this used to be something that I suffered through did on a regular basis.

The book that comes to mind first as one that I just couldn’t finish was Dune back when I was in my late teens. The reasons as to why it was a ‘DNF’ are vague to my memory but I think it was a combination of me not being in the right ‘mood,’ not liking the writing and just not feeling riveted by the plot.

I used to make a point to finish every single book I read and for this reason Dune is the most prominent book that I specifically remember not finishing.

Actually, it’s only up until quite recently that I insisted on persevering with finishing books. When I try and get all ‘naval gazey’ and determine the reasons why this was the case it comes down to one simple reason and one simple reason only:-

Am I alone in this feeling?

Even now, when I have taken a long hard look at my attitude towards books and reading there’s still part of me that will try my hardest to not DNF a book because if I don’t finish a book I still feel guilty. But still I don’t fully understand why. 

Are we somehow conditioned to believe that if we don’t finish a book we have failed ourselves/ the writer/ the publishing company/ the fictional characters?

Do we believe that if we keep on going with a book that isn’t working for us that we can make ourselves love it?

Do we think that if we don’t like or finish a book that the fault is with ourselves and that we’re somehow ‘not getting it’ because so many other people enjoyed it?

Do we believe that if we finish a book on page 103 we will miss all the inevitable incredibly awesome stuff that’s going to happen from page 104 onward?

Maybe it’s none of the above, some of the above or all of the above.

For me I think I’ve somehow ‘failed’ at understanding the book and its themes if I don’t finish it and also that I’m somehow cheating my long suffering brain out of an awesome experience.

Reminder to Self: Gerry, if the book isn’t good for you by page 103 – the book ain’t ever going to be good for you.

So far I’ve talked about books that are ‘DNF’s’ but what about books that I’ve finished and rated 1 or 2 stars?

Well even though I still feel a bit bad at not finishing books I no longer insist on finishing something I just can’t stomach for whatever reason that may be.

However I will finish books that I don’t love (and have rated 1 or 2 stars) because on some level I am able to stick with the writing, plot, characters and so on until the end and usually there’s enough of a pull for me to want to know how the story finishes.

Plus I think I love a hate read and doing rant reviews. My rage towards a story can act as a powerful motivator to keep going.

Unless you’ve been living in a cave you’ve probably realised that the buzz for this week has been about Game of Thrones and the rather ‘mixed’ reactions to the ending.

My feelings can’t be summed up in a eloquent sentence so I’ll use this gif instead…

What has been done with much more eloquence are the below posts!

Louise @ Foxes and Fairy Tales talks about The Best Game of Thrones Looks. This is a must if you like the gorgeous costume designs!

Shanah @ The Bionic Book Worm entertains us with her selections for The Game of Thrones Book Tag.

Consu @ Paper Eyed Girl has given us some glorious Game of Thrones Bookish Alternatives which I’ll be checking out.

Aurora @ Aurora Librialis also had the same amazing idea and shares 7 Books to Cure Your Game of Thrones Hangover.

The Orangutan Librarian wraps up her Game of Thrones related posting by talking about her wishes for the continuation of the books series in All My Hopes and Dreams for Spring.

What do you guys do when there’s a book you don’t like? Do you insist on reading until the bitter end? Do you say that life’s too short to read bad books and close the covers?

Or do you enjoy partaking in the occasional ‘it’s so bad it’s almost good but clearly it isn’t good but I can’t wait to express my irritation to the world that this book got published’ read?

What’s the most memorable book for you that you just couldn’t carry on reading?

Let me know in the comments below!

Until next week when I answer whether I read books over 400 pages.