ShortBookandScribes July 2024 Reads
It’s hard to believe we’re at the end of July already and two weeks into the summer holidays too. I haven’t had the most fruitful month’s reading with only five full length books read, but I have also spent quite a bit of time on three DNFs.
I’m interested in how long you give a book before you DNF it. A lot of people say fifty pages and I guess that is long enough to find out if you like the writing style and if the plot is starting to draw you in. Personally I always feel I have to slog on until about the halfway point, at which point I either slog on for the other half because I don’t want to waste the time already spent or throw my hands up in despair at the thought of having to read the same amount again and so DNF it. This does mean I waste far too much time on books I’m not enjoying and thus have very little to show for my reading month.
Anyway, onto the ones I did finish:
A brilliant first outing for PC Lucy Halliday and her search dog, Moss. When police procedurals are executed this well I love them, especially when there’s a Line of Duty feel to it too.
This Motherless Land by Nikki May
Fabulous story of cousins Funke and Liv, one Nigerian and one British. I loved the contrasting cultures and traditions, and how the plot followed the girls over twenty years.
Message Deleted by K.L. Slater
A domestic noir/psychological thriller about Saffy, whose friend sends her three frantic messages which are swiftly deleted. Nice and twisty but could have been faster-paced for me.
Ordinary Time by Cathy Rentzenbrink
A character-driven story of a reluctant vicar’s wife who meets a man she feels a real kinship with. Small parish life is portrayed perfectly, as is human nature with all its foibles.
The Stirrings by Catherine Taylor
A good memoir about the author’s early years in Sheffield in the 70s and 80s against a backdrop of the Yorkshire Ripper terrorising the women of Yorkshire, miners’ strikes and the threat of nuclear war.
Important Artefacts….. by Leanne Shapton
A unique story of a relationship told through the pages of the auction catalogue selling the couple’s artefacts. Not much depth but certainly original.
I’d love to know what your favourite read was in July or your thoughts on DNFing books. Let me know in the comments below.
I rarely DNF a book but if I do, I think I probably read about 20-25% and if it’s a slog, then it has to go. It’s not like we’re short of books is it? 😊
I’m a reluctant DNF-er. I generally complete most books I start, I hope because I’m pretty good at choosing what I read. Bad writing or troubling content would be two reasons I’d DNF.
I’m reluctant too and I think I need to be less so.
That’s so true!
Depends, usually 50% if it’s not that bad and shows signs of improving, but eventually doesn’t, and then I might speed through it to see what happens. Otherwise probably about 25%, unless it’s truly dire and then it might be 10 or 15%!#
The ones that I DNFd I couldn’t even be bothered to speed through to see what happened at the end. I should have stopped a lot earlier!
I rarely DNF but I have ploughed on many times in hope!! I try to be subjective wondering if it’s just me…but sometimes you do just have to draw that line and decide enough!
I think that’s a big part of it – I too wonder if it’s just me that’s in a funny mood.
Usually about 50 pages of a print book and sometimes 25% of a kindle book. If however its a slog from the get go it’s an immediate DNF
I definitely need to be more ruthless in the future.