TCL’s Top Ten Tuesday for May 12, 2020 – Abandoned Books.

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.

ttt-big2The Last Ten Books I Abandoned.

This topic was submitted by Claire @ Book Lovers Pizza!

  1. The Dark Lady’s Mask” by Mary Sharratt – alternative history about Shakespeare? Blasphemy! No way am I going to accept this premise. Sorry I even bothered. However, this didn’t stop me from reading her subsequent novel, Ecstasy, which I really liked.
  2. The Summer that Melted Everything” by Tiffany McDaniel – I haven’t a clue why I even asked for this one because it’s a fantasy story about inviting the Devil to town – nope.
  3. The Pearl and the Carnelian” by Annabel Fielding – what can I say about this book… well… my impression of this one was… to be honest, waffle, waffle, waffle, bored, goodbye! Too bad, because it was really my type of book. Historical fiction, strong female protagonist, between the two World Wars, England, and a really beautiful cover. <Sigh!>
  4. Belgravia” by Julian Fellows – oh, how I wanted to love this. I loved the Downton Abbey TV series. But the big difference between that and this – at least Downton had poor people along with the wealthy. I just can’t get excited about rich and privileged peoples’ troubles. My husband actually loved this book and he recommended it to me – sorry, darling! (However, I will watch the TV show when it comes on.)
  5. Nine Folds Make a Paper Swan” by Ruth Gilligan – the contemporary parts were good, but the historical parts were so full of jargon and slang, not all in English, that I was lost, not understanding what was going on.
  6. The Impossible Fortress” by Jason Rekulak – aside from some historical/chronological errors, the idea of petty crime and (even soft core) porn just didn’t sit well with me, especially if 16-year-old boys read this today and think this might be cool!
  7. The Fortunate Ones” by Ellen Umansky – I should have loved this but I just couldn’t connect with any of the characters.
  8. Everything Belongs to Us” by Yoojin Grace Wuertz – social injustice should have grabbed me but again, the characters weren’t sympathetic enough for me to care about them, so I gave up.
  9. Returning” by Yael Shahar – I thought this was supposed to be fiction, but it certainly didn’t feel like it was. In fact, it read like a book about spirituality and religion, and that’s just not for me. I cannot stand preachy books, even if it is my own religion (or maybe especially because it was).
  10. Murder in the City of Liberty” by Rachel McMillan – maybe if I had read the first book in the series, I wouldn’t have been so confused by this second installment. However, the romantic angst between the two protagonists was painful to witness, and the opening scene was so confusing, I couldn’t figure out who was where and doing what. Plus, I know Chicago and that opening scene was just factually wrong.

Have you read any of these books and loved them? If so, I’m glad you did. As they say, no two people read the same book, right?

Do any of these books sound good to you despite my DNF epitaph? If so, I’ve left you links (affiliate) to find them on Amazon.

TTT April 21 2020

So… What were the last books you gave up on, and why did you abandon them?

37 thoughts on “TCL’s Top Ten Tuesday for May 12, 2020 – Abandoned Books.

    1. No problem. Lots of readers don’t like to give up on books. But you know, I’m almost 63 years old and well… life is too short for me to keep reading something I’m not enjoying. (Plus, it is part of the curmudgeon persona I’m working on developing!)

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  1. I haven’t read any of these but do have Belgravia on my shelf. Oh darn.. well, you never know I may end up liking it but I’ve had it on my shelf for a while so not in a rush to read it apparently! 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

  2. Interesting list. The only author I know is Julian Fellows. Like you, I loved the series but I can imagine that I wouldn’t just like the rich side of the story.

    Anyway, thanks for visiting my TTT earlier. Happy reading.

    Liked by 1 person

  3. I haven’t read any of these but now I know to stay clear. Your tips about why you DNF’d them is so helpful!! A lot of those reasons I would feel the same about. Especially, the devil one! lol

    Liked by 2 people

    1. I just saw your TTT. That reminded me of a book I didn’t put on this list. Someone sent me a book (print) that I didn’t even put on my Goodreads list, so I forgot about it. The protagonist was having sex with like… three different men, and the scenes were WAY too graphic for me. I’m no prude, but this bordered on porn, and I don’t read erotica so I DNF that book as well.

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    1. The TV show is pretty good so far (seen only the first episode, but still). But you know, my husband really liked this book, and didn’t mind it all being about privileged rich people.

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    1. I’m told that this genre is now supposed to be called fabulism (and not magical reality), what with fantastical things happening in the real world. Not for me, I’m afraid. Hell, I don’t much care for ghost stories, which are much tamer than this.

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  4. The TV mini-series of Belgravia was very good. It worked far better on TV than it did as a book – I also thought the book was terrible! Julian Fellowes is clearly much more suited to writing TV scripts than to writing books.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. I have no problem with his TV scripts, and may he continue to do them (especially if he takes one of my old High School friends to direct episodes, like he did with the finale of Downton Abbey and the movie)!

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  5. I was considering reading Belgravia, but maybe I will just wait for the series like you 😉 It’s been a while since my last DNF. I don’t really remember the title, but I just could not connect with the characters.

    Liked by 2 people

    1. We’ve seen the first episode of Belgravia, and it is looking good already – especially because there is a bit with the staff of one home (which was very biting and fun) that isn’t in the book.

      Liked by 1 person

    1. True… There’s one book that people have been raving about that sounded interesting to me so I took a sample of it. Well… for me, the book fell flat. I have to be very careful about it because the author is on a bunch of FB pages and groups with me.

      Liked by 1 person

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