There are certain perils that come with being an avid reader. No, not the dragons, werewolves, and vampires (oh, my!). Those tend to be cute and cuddly more often than not. What I’m talking about are the books that fail to hold your attention or that grab it, only to lose it midway through the story; those books that you just can’t get through, for whatever reason. We’ve all got them. Personally, I try to keep my DNF list pretty small, but I’m not above putting aside a book if it’s just not working out for me. Thankfully, that was not the case for these books, and despite my initial misgivings, I pushed through, and boy am I glad that I did.

Top Ten Tuesdays are hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. 

1. Daughters of the Dragon by William Andrews

When I started reading this, I was disappointed with the narrative style (too much telling, not enough showing), and I really didn’t connect with the main character. I was so tempted, time and again, to set it aside. However, it had so many positive ratings that I was sure I was missing something, and about 40% of the way in, I found that something. This book ended up being a fantastic read and told a very important narrative, one that needs to be told, and despite the rocky start, I ended up loving it.

2. A Dog’s Way Home by W. Bruce Cameron

I love W. Bruce Cameron’s books, so I was a bit disillusioned when I got about 40% through this book and realized that I had stopped caring. The beginning was fantastic, and I was extremely invested in the story, but that evaporated towards the middle, and I actually ended up setting it down for a couple weeks without being the least bit bothered whether I returned to it or not. In the end, of course, I did, and boy was I glad. The ending was phenomenal, every bit what you would expect from a W. Bruce Cameron book. I laughed. I cried. I cried a bit more. It was definitely worth finishing.

3. The Dead House by Billy O’Callaghan

The synopsis for his book sounded so interesting that I just absolutely had to read it. Unfortunately, the opening was much different than I expected. The plot promised in the synopsis wasn’t quite what the whole book was about, and there was a lot of telling, not so much showing, and a character that I just really couldn’t stand or connect to. The thing that really kept me going, though? The writing is absolutely beautiful. In the end, I stuck it through and was glad I did so, as I ended up really enjoying it.

4. Calling Me Home by Julie Kibler

This started out as seeming so boring and repetitive. Both of the leads felt extremely meh, and I just couldn’t see where the heck the story was going. I considered several times just setting it aside, but I bought this one, which means I spent money on it, which means, by gosh, I will finish it. Thank goodness I did. The story had me gripped from about 35% onward, and it was so touching. It broke my heart into a million pieces, and I’m still not sure I’ve recovered, since I finished it fairly recently, but it’s the good sort of hurt.

5. All the St. Mary’s Chronicles Books by Jodi Taylor

Okay, with the exception of the first one, I keep saying, every time I pick one up, that I should just set them aside. The plot is chaotic and barely existent, there are so many holes in it, and the villains are just … pitiful and frustrating and not very villainy. Every time I pick up a new one, I consider adding it to my DNF list without fail, but I never do. Why? Because they’re FUNNY, darn it. I’m a big fan of humor, and Taylor does it so well. Will I pick up the next one? For sure. Will I consider adding it to the DNF pile? Probably. Will I? Nah. I have a tendency to give a lot of leeway to someone who can genuinely make me laugh.

6. What Angels Fear by C.S. Harris

I had to fight to get into this one. I mean, I did at first because I fell in love with Sebastian St. Cyr, but there were so many just ridiculous scenes and the secondary characters drove me crazy. Especially knowing that this one was a series, I debated whether or not I was going to continue. Ultimately, the mystery was so compelling that I just had to know who did it, and I have to say that I wasn’t disappointed by the outcome. What’s more, I’ve followed the series, and the gripes that I had with the early books gradually smooth out as the writer gets more books under her belt, and I haven’t considered DNFing any of the others and was wholly invested in the latest book, Why Kill the Innocent. I do so like a happy ending as far as finding good new series goes.

7. Go Set A Watchman by Harper Lee

I knew this one was going to be a hard read before I even started, so I preemptively thought about just skipping it. But how could I do that? I loved To Kill A Mockingbird, and I waited forever to read this, with it just sitting on my shelf unloved and with no attention (the poor dear). So when I started it, of course it was slow and took a while for me to get into. I may have threatened to DNF it, but I never meant it, of course. I would never. *gasps*

8. Galway Bay by Mary Pat Kelly

There were a lot of slow moments for me in this book, and it was just really difficult to get through. Despite all that, though, it was enlightening. My own family were immigrants from Ireland and Scotland, and as the descendant of these immigrants, reading this just really moved me and thinking how my great-grandparents must have felt coming here and raising their first-generation American children. While I don’t think the book was phenomenal, it was important to me, and I’m glad having read it. It’s been a long time, and I can still recall certain themes and ideas that still make an impression on me to this day.

9. Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson

Okay, full disclosure, I set this aside. It’s not a formal DNF, but I haven’t finished just yet, either. Honestly, I’m not sure why I have trouble getting into this. I mean, I love Brandon Sanderson. I love the premise for Mistborn. This time round, I’m actually about three-quarters of the way through it, and I do love it and will likely go on to read the rest of the series. So I’m glad I haven’t given it up, even if I’m not quite all the way through it yet. I’m sure the payoff will be there, if just getting my husband off my back because he wants someone to talk to about it. xD

10. The Vampire Chronicles by Anne Rice

I’ve finished the first few books, and I thoroughly enjoyed them. Like the previous book, I’m really not sure why I haven’t devoured these books, but I haven’t. I enjoy them and do plan on finishing them, and every time I finish one, I’m glad to have read it. Yet, for whatever reason, I’ve still set it aside time and time again, though I keep going back and reading one book here and there.

Are there any books you were tempted to DNF that you ended up finishing and were glad to not have set it aside?