Tuesday 5 September 2017

Top Ten Tuesday | Books I Struggled to Finish


Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature created at The Broke and the Bookish. Each week you compile a list of ten books which coincide with that week's theme. You can find everything you need to know about joining in here!


This week's theme is 'Ten Books I Struggled to Get Into But Ended Up Loving or Ten Books That Were A Chore To Get Through or Ten Books I've Most Recently Put Down', so I decided to talk about some of the books I struggled to get through. Some of them I ended up enjoying, some of them I really didn't, and the first five are all books I had to read for school/university.



Hamlet by William Shakespeare: I had to read this at school and at university and I can't stand it. I know Hamlet's a masterpiece, I know it's many people's favourite Shakespeare play, but I loathe it; Hamlet's so whiny and useless and I can't believe I kept having to study it over and over again.

Regeneration by Pat Barker: I didn't completely hate this novel, set during the First World War, but I was 17 when I read it and I definitely found it pretty dull. Having said that, I do remember quite a lot about it so maybe it had more of an impact on me than I realise.

The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins: I made myself read this over the summer before my third year of university, knowing I would be studying it for my module in Victorian Popular Fiction, and I'm really glad I forced myself through it; not only was I well prepared to talk about it for my classes, but it also ended up becoming one of my favourite classics.

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald: I know this book is beloved by a lot of people, and I completely understand why, but I had to read it during sixth form and I hated it. All of the characters are pretty awful and I just didn't like it.

Persuasion by Jane Austen: This is one of the classics I had to read for school that I'd like to revisit, because it's thanks to this book that, at 18, I convinced myself I hated everything Austen. The older I get the more I understand Austen and I'd like to try reading this again because, as beloved as Pride and Prejudice is, a lot of people consider this novel to be her true masterpiece.



Vinegar Girl by Anne Tyler: This is a retelling of The Taming of the Shrew in the Hogarth Shakespeare series and I was really excited for it. I ended up hating it, but I forced my way through it because it's fairly short. Check out my review here.

Requiem by Lauren Oliver: I really, really liked Delirium, the first book in this series, but both Pandemonium and Requiem were such disappointments for me and Requiem in particular I really had to force myself through, only to be given the most disappointing ending I've ever come across in a series. I could see what Oliver was trying to do, but I think she should have wrapped the story up just a little more.

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern: Undoubtedly this is a beautiful book, but I didn't love this one as much as I thought I would because it took me so long to get through it. Morgenstern's writing and her descriptions were beautiful, but I found Celia and Marco's relationship a bit too dull to really be invested in and, looking back, I don't think I ever really cared how the book was going to end.

Uprooted by Naomi Novik: I had a similar problem with this novel, I loved the ideas behind it but something about Novik's writing meant I didn't completely get on with it and it ended up taking me a while to finish it. I enjoyed it, but when I put it down I didn't feel compelled to pick it back up. Check out my review here.

Diving Belles by Lucy Wood: Unfortunately this one is probably my most disappointing read of this year because I so wanted to love it, but I realised fairly early on it wasn't what I was hoping it would be and that meant that, like Uprooted, I just didn't feel compelled to pick it up and read it and I ended up having to force my way through the end just to cross it off my TBR. Check out my review here if you want to know more about why I wasn't a big fan!

Which books made your list this week?

31 comments:

  1. I like your comments about Uprooted. I got about halfway before getting distracted by something else. but it's not a bad story, I'll just need to go back and finish it sometime.

    My TTT this week.

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    1. Agreed! It's not bad, it's just not totally compelling either.

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  2. I'm so glad we never had to read any Jane Austen for school, because it meant none of them got ruined for me :) Persuasion's one of my favourites - it's the most romantic I think! I never understand why people like 'the Great Gatsby' either, but at least it was short :/

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    1. I'm actually rereading Persuasion now and I'm enjoying it a LOT more than when I first read it. =) Thanks for stopping by, Catherine!

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  3. Hi! I struggled with Hamlet, too. I liked a lot of the Shakespeare plays I read, but that one I couldn't get into. I'm starting to see a pattern with Uprooted this week! I just put it on my TBR list from last Tuesday, I think. haha.
    My TTT
    Leslie

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    1. So many of Shakespeare's plays are fantastic, Hamlet's just not one of the better ones in my opinion. I hope you enjoy Uprooted more than I did! =)

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  4. Interesting. I felt the same way about The Moonstone - which I had to read for class. But I sped through Persuasion and Night Circus.

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    1. I'm rereading Persuasion at the moment and am enjoying it more than when I first read it, so I'll have to see what I think once I finish it. =)

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  5. I always struggle with classics. Even if I end up loving them, it takes me FOREVER to get to that place, so I can totally relate to the first part of your list. The Delirium series is on my TBR bc I love Lauren Oliver's writing-- but I have heard mixed things about it. Great list :)

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    1. I hope you enjoy the trilogy! I loved Delirium, it feels very different to so much of the other YA dystopian novels out there. =)

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  6. I grew to really love Shakespeare in college but Hamlet isn't my favorite of his, I will admit. lol I actually really enjoyed Persuasion - it's the only Austen novel I've read so far though!

    -Lauren
    www.shootingstarsmag.net

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    1. I'm rereading Persuasion at the moment and I'm liking it a lot more. =) I enjoyed Northanger Abbey, so I'd recommend picking that one up if you're interested in reading some more Austen.

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  7. I really enjoyed The Night Circus! But it did take me some time to get into it. Shakespeare is meant to be seen and not read, so I never could get into reading it in school either.

    Here is our Top Ten Tuesday. Thanks

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    1. Definitely! I always take the chance to see a Shakespeare play when I have the opportunity to, they're so much more fun to see than to read.

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  8. Urgh Hamlet. I never liked that! :-) Fab list, Jess!

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  9. I really loved Persuasion but didn't read it (or any other Austen, honestly) until I was already in my late 20s...I think if I'd come across it as a teenager it would have been a lot harder to "get". And I am totally with you on Vinegar Girl. I hated it!

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    1. Glad to know I'm not the only one who didn't like Vinegar Girl! I'm just glad I got a review copy so I didn't spend any money on it. I agree, I don't think I was ready for Austen as a teenager but I understand her a lot more now that I'm in my twenties. =)

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  10. I struggled with The Great Gatsby when I read it decades ago.

    Here's a link to my TTT post this week:
    https://captivatedreader.blogspot.com/2017/09/top-ten-tuesday-ten-books-that-were.html

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    1. It's good to know I'm not the only one! Thanks for stopping by!

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  11. I'm so glad to hear you say you enjoyed The Moonstone. I haven't yet read it, but want to. I'm right there with you when it comes to Hamlet. Ugh. I not a fan of Shakespeare's plays.

    I hope you have a great rest of the week!

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    1. The Moonstone is very dense and takes a lot of patience, but I do think it's well worth it; I really enjoyed it in the end and it was really fun to see what is essentially the very beginnings of modern detective fiction, especially as The Moonstone pre-dates Sherlock Holmes. =) Thanks for stopping by, I hope you have a great week too!

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  12. I didn't care for Delirium and Pandemonium at all and decided to sell the third book with the rest of them and hearing you struggled with it, I am really glad I did so! I'm sad you didn't enjoy Vinegar Girl, I've heard very mixed reviews but I think I'll pass. Have a great week and happy reading!

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    1. If you didn't enjoy Delirium then I definitely don't think you would have enjoyed Requiem. :| Thanks, Lynn, you too!

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  13. My class had to read The Great Gatsby in tenth grade English Lit. and I actually ended up really liking it - and a lot of that I'm sure was due to my teacher! :)

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  14. I struggled with The Night Circus too!
    My TTT: https://jjbookblog.wordpress.com/2017/09/05/top-ten-tuesday-123/

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  15. Some of these I wholeheartedly agree with you on! And I disagree with none of them- I just haven't read them all ;) Definitely feel you with Hamlet, The Great Gatsby, and (of course) Uprooted. In fact, you totally summed up my feelings on Uprooted- I just didn't care if I picked it back up! And Requiem. Can I please join you in being SO MAD about Requiem? Why that "ending"? Just why? Come on Lauren, I know you can give us more than THAT. Such a great list!

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    1. Ugh, I KNOW, the ending felt like such a cop-out. You're the author, Lauren, it's your job to tell me how your story ends!

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  16. The only books I've read out of these are Uprooted and Hamlet. I loved Uprooted but my love for Hamlet only came after I saw the BBC version starring David Tennant and Patrick Stewart LOL! The Night Circus, Great Gatsby and Persuasion are all on my tbr though so we'll see!

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