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Top 5 Saturday: Books I Need to Finish!

Dini @ dinipandareads25 Comments

We’re back with another Top 5 Saturday! Just in case you don’t know Top 5 Saturday is a weekly meme created by Mandy @ Devouring Books and it’s where we list the top five books (they can be books on your TBR, favourite books, books you loved/hated) based on the week’s topic. You can see the upcoming schedule at the end of my post 🙂 This week’s topic is actually: books I’d give a second chance.

But as we know by now I don’t normally DNF books for a number of reasons but mostly guilt. Most of the time I power through that baddie and just “get it over with” (which also doesn’t sound great), but that’s also a longer discussion for another time! So since I don’t have (m)any DNFs to choose from, I decided to dig deep into memory banks and recall the books that I have put to the side but am determined to (eventually) finish!

As a mood reader, it can be pretty tough to stick to a book when my mood is swinging wildly all over the place. It doesn’t happen often because most of the time I settle into a book/story and I end up really enjoying the read and my moods quickly “calm down”… But when my moods are particularly erratic, I usually end up jumping through at least 5-10 books until I find one I can handle (this is making me sound insane, right? Lol). Most of these were put down because my mood just wouldn’t comply and I ended up repeatedly re-reading passages until I decided it’s not for now. Without any more waffling, here we go:

I started reading The Goldfinch when I was going through probably the worst reading slump I’ve ever experienced to date (no joke). I was unable to finish any book for about three months! I’m proud to have made it through a decent chunk of this book (75%?) before putting it down, but I now associate it with that time and while I want to finish it, I’ve been really putting it off!

Beartown was another book I started at the beginning of the same Epic Slump of 2019™️ mentioned above but I didn’t get far. That said, I do tend to struggle sometimes with Scandinavian authors… But this book is one of the most hyped books ever, so I will be picking it up ‘again’ and finishing it!

I’m 100% sure that I stopped reading Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe, not because I didn’t like it, but coz it was competing against The Nevernight Chroncile and… I’m sorry I abandoned it but it didn’t stand a chance against Kristoff 😅 I’ll finish the audio this year though!

My plan was to read Good Omens before the show was released last year and that (obviously) failed epically. I was in such a weird summer mood and I remember reading passages repeatedly but nothing stuck and I didn’t get through much. I do want to finish this book though!

Jade City was the most recent book I set aside. I started reading it when I was sick as a dog in the early days of COVID19 (February) and it just wasn’t what I needed at the time. The pace was slow and I needed fast! But I’m looking forward to finishing this because I did enjoy what I read.

Schedule:

May

June

Do you like books set near/on/in the sea? Have you read any of these or do you have any favourite recommendations to share?

25 thoughts on “Top 5 Saturday: Books I Need to Finish!”

  2. I relate to parts of this so much! I try to power through and finish everything too even if I’m not that into it at the moment but sometimes it’s just not the right book at the time and I’m trying to teach myself it’s ok to put it aside and come back to it.

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    • My progress in putting down a book and leaving it ‘for good’ (DNFing) is still tough but I do often set aside books that I plan to come back to eventually when I’m in the right mood. I feel like it’s not fair on the book if I read it when I’m not in the right headspace 😅

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  4. I also set books aside with the hopes of finishing them, but I’ve been doing that much more than normal lately so I could have made a list a mile long with books I’m planning on giving a second chance! I am exactly like you. I wind up trying 3 books before I find one to stick with!
    But out of all of your picks I’m dying to read Jade City!!

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    • I’m glad to know that I’m not the only one who does that! I’m such a mood reader and that mood is always super swayed by whatever book I’ve just finished. I think I could’ve made a much longer list as well, but these were the ones that immediately came to mind 😅 I hope you enjoy Jade City! I think I was surprised by it coz I was expecting something totally different lol

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  6. Oh wow, just five? How do you even narrow it down?! Like … all of them?! xD I actually set Bear Town aside myself, because I was in a slump, even though Backman is one of my favorite authors. If you can’t get through that, I recommend trying to read some of his other stuff. I’ve had more luck with those. 🙂 I LOVE Aristotle and Dante, but okay, yeah, fair, they certainly don’t stack up against Nevernight. You should go back and finish it, though. I think you’ll like it. They’re just so freaking adorable and squishy. And yes, yes, Good Omens! There were actually things the book did way better than the movie (and some vice versa, too).

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    • Hahaha these were just the first five that popped into my mind when I thought about the prompt! I know there are plenty more but my memory is also shite and if it’s not in front of me I’m not gonna remember it 🤣 Ooh, I’m surprised to know you put down Beartown! I know you love Backman. Do you wanna do a buddy read of Beartown (eventually)?! Haha also, I’m definitely going to be finishing Ari & Dante this year. Maybe this month?! I’ll be going on a moving road trip soon so I think it’ll be a great time to finish the audiobook 😀

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      • YES! I think a buddy read may keep me more motivated to continue it (and also, it may just not have been a good time for it, since the beginning was a little slow and I have to be in a mood for a slower book). Rooooad triiiiip! Sounds like fun, and that’s a great time to finish it … as long as you’re not driving and it’s safe for you to feel all the feels. Safety first.

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  7. I’m usually good at sticking starting AND finishing books, but this year there are 2 that I started and had to put down for whatever reason… Americanah by Ch. Adichie and The Toll by N. Shusterman. Really need to finish them soon D:

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    • Omg Americanah! I feel like that’s one of the books that I feel “ashamed” about because I started reading it when it was really hyped but… I just couldn’t get through it. It was a hella struggle… So I’m glad I’m not the only one who felt that way 😀 Also, I really don’t blame you for The Toll… That was one series ender that disappointed 😔 I hope you enjoy them more when you pick them back up ❤

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  9. Ah so you know how Beartown is crazy hyped and practically the whole planet loves that book…. you know where I’m going with this don’t you… yup. I hated it 😂😂😂😂

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    • Hahahaha I’m actually glad to hear you say it so that I know at least ONE person who wasn’t its biggest fan. Because seriously Emer… SUPER HYPED but I just couldn’t get into it. I do want to give it another go though so let’s see if I’ll hop on your wagon or not 😂😂😂

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  10. Good list! I love Good Omens but also know that the style isn’t great for everyone. I also had a tough time getting through Jade City for some reason! I’m not sure what it was but I admire the book even though I didn’t love it. Hope you get a chance to try and finish some of these!

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    • I remember that we started Jade City around the same time earlier this year but you actually made it through and I stopped 😂 Did you listen to the audio? I haven’t read anything by Pratchett before but I do love Gaiman, and I did chuckle a bit while reading passages (repeatedly lol) but let’s see. I think I really need to have a clear mind for it? 😅

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      • I did listen to the audio! I think if I had tried to read it in print I would have been very bored to be honest lol.

        Pratchett can be an acquired taste–if you don’t like footnotes than you’ll probably hate his stuff. Pratchett’s humor is less LOL funny and more sharp observations. 🙂

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  12. All these books sound really good and I’ve seen great things on most of them although I haven’t read them myself. I’m glad you’re giving them a second chance!✨

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