As part of my read more/blog more New Year’s Resolution, I’ve decided to read all the books I stopped reading, unfinished, for one reason or another, in 2016.
To my knowledge, they are:
- Tom Jones – Henry Fielding
- The Name of the Rose – Umberto Eco
- A Strangeness in my Mind – Orhan Pamuk
- Bel Canto – Ann Patchett
- Great Expectations – Charles Dickens
- The Meaning of Night – Michael Cox
- The French Lieutenant’s Woman – John Fowles
- Anna Karenina – Leo Tolstoy
Looking at the books now, all of them are actually interesting, and I probably stopped reading them because they were too long (except for Bel Canto) and I got distracted by a novel that I wanted to read more. Whenever that happens, I always tell myself that I would return to the temporarily abandoned book…but sometimes I get distracted by another novel, then another, then another….
So anyway, I promise to read…and finish…these 8 novels in 2017, and promise (promise?!) that I won’t abandon any books in 2017 (*gulp*).
What about you, are there any books you abandoned in 2016?
The Misanthropologist 
I loved Bel Canto – I hope you enjoy it if you finish it!
Thanks! I’ve heard a lot of good things about it. I’ll read it again this year.
I made an attempt at infinite jest, then had a new baby 200 pages in
Hahaha! I tried reading Infinite Jest ages ago and just gave up. I don’t think I’ll ever try to read it again…just like Ulysses.
Great post, think I might post my tl;dnr list as well
Thanks!
I hope you enjoy them. The Name of the Rose is a great story; Tom Jones is a slow read but great fun.
Thanks! I will try to read (and finish)them this year.
Good luck! Loved Great Expectations. I think it took me a few attempts to finish Anna Karenina – once I stopped putting it down and focused, I really enjoyed it. Good luck! I’ll be interested in what you think of The Name of the Rose as it’s been on my “plan to read” list for quite some time…
Thanks! Great Expectations seems interesting but I think I was just distracted when I was reading it. I’ve been trying to read The Name of the Rose for the past 10 years or so…I can never make it halfway through the book. It’s very interesting but the writing is a bit hard to read….
I’m currently reading AK and I’ve been making good progress. But so far I’m a bit disappointed with it..,.
Thanks!
Sounds like you are making progress – good luck! And, it’s been a number of years since I read AK… part of the reason I might recall enjoying it so much is that it felt like such an accomplishment to finish the book! 😀 I really loved the characters in GE, so I do hope you enjoy that one!
Finishing AK is an accomplishment!
Thanks! I’ll try reading all those unfinished novels this year.
Interesting challenge for yourself!! Best of luck with it. Slightly similarly I make a list of all of the library books I return unread because of course I’ll just re-request them later… but…. perhaps I need to do something like this one of these years!
Thanks! I hope I get to do it too!