Today’s suggestion is from Cereal Box Reader
I would enjoy reading a meme about people’s abandoned books. The books that you start but don’t finish say as much about you as the ones you actually read, sometimes because of the books themselves or because of the circumstances that prevent you from finishing. So . . . what books have you abandoned and why?
I am one of the few people who never made it through The Da Vinci Code. I put it down at page 79 and never picked it back up again. This has less to do with the writing than the subject matter. I’m also one of the few people in the western world who is “meh” on the subject matter. Yawn. Whatever.
If I were into the story, the prose wouldn’t have bothered me as much. Sure, the gold standard is excellent story/characterization + prose that matches. But I’ll hang in there with a book if there’s a two out of three combination. Characters I love, even if the story moves a little slowly, a pot boiler, even if the characters are a little flat. And so on.
I tend to be a mood reader. I also try to respect a book for what it is. If something’s a lighthearted romp full of camp, I’m not going to get upset when the characters don’t bleed their emotions on the page. Ditto something that’s angst-ridden and angry. It is what it is.
I’m also an “aspiration” reader. I will read something because it was a NYT notable book, or won a Pulitzer, a National Book Award, A Newbery, and so on. I like to understand why something received that honor, even if I end up not really liking the book.
My (highly personal) bias is a writer should read outside her comfort zone once in a while.
Who knew there was so much to say about not reading.
Writing Wrongs 
I agree with so much of what you’ve said here. I don’t read prize winners just because they’ve won the most recent prize, but I do include them on my list. I like reading outside my comfort zone but also am aware that there are good reasons that I don’t read certain types of book very often. I wouldn’t read the Da Vinci Code, largely because I read the earlier factual book that it ripped off.
Good answer! I like what you said about being a mood reader – you have to take books for what they are. And I agree about reading outside the comfort zone. This question made me aware that I could do more of that.
I am a mood reader too. I don’t pick up books which have won awards or anything like that. Sometimes an unheard of writer is worth reading so much more.
I read and really didn’t enjoy The DaVinci Code. Since then lots of people have said, “You have to read Angels and Demons it’s so much better!” Not true. I can’t believe I fell for that. I’d almost say there was a conspiracy afoot.
Ooops. Sorry about the italics mistake!
I am definitely a mood reader, but since I have to read so many different things for different reasons, sometimes I get dragged into reading things I wouldn’t normally and that’s usually a good thing. A recent find was Dissolution by C J Samson. It’s about a humpbacked lawyer in Tudor England as the monasteries are being disbanded. And I loved it.