As I’ve mentioned before, 2009 has been a remarkably good reading year. Looking over my records, I noticed that the average grade I’ve awarded the 95 books I’ve read so far is B Minus. Given that I’m a picky reader, this is a pretty high grade to be my average.
There are a couple of reasons which could explain this. Firstly, I don’t buy books on impulse anymore. The only ones I purchase without waiting for reviews are those by authors I like and trust. For newer authors, I rely heavily on reviews, I read excerpts, and I think before I click. I’m convinced this considerably lessens the chance of buying a total dud.
The other explanation for my relatively high grading average is the dreaded TBF pile. My TBF – or To Be Finished – pile is where my started-then-discarded books congregate. These are books which for whatever reason failed to capture my attention in the first few pages and were put aside to finish at a later date. In the good old days when I had more time to devote to reading, I rarely failed to finish a book, no matter how bad it was. If I’d spent money on a book, I was especially keen to stick with it until the bitter end. These days, I have neither the time nor the inclination to persevere with a book which doesn’t engage me.
Many of the books which end up in the TBF pile are ones which I eventually finish. For example, Moon Called by Patricia Briggs languished in the TBF pile for over a year before I finished it. I ultimately gave it a B+. Sometimes I’m simply not in the mood for a particular type of story. In this case, it doesn’t matter how well-written the book is. I won’t enjoy it. In other instances, it’s the book itself which fails to interest me. If I can’t get into it on a second attempt, it ends up as an official DNF (Did Not Finish).
Do you have a TBF pile? If so, do you eventually go back and give the book another try? At what point do you decide it’s a DNF? (Note: Books which obviously suck don’t end up in my TBF pile. They are quickly consigned to DNF hell.)
{ 20 comments }
I rarely have a TBF pile – I usually go back to the book soon afterwards. And I don’t have a DNF pile at all. I will read the worst book til the bitter end. And then I return them. So far, in recent memory, I’ve done this twice. Not bad, I guess. Or else I’m just a glutton for punishment.
Care to share any of the titles on your TBF or DNF pile? LOL
@Stacy ~ Here are a few recent additions to the TBF pile, with explanations:
Double Play by Jill Shalvis – I think this one will be good, actually, but I wasn’t in the mood for a sports star hero when I started it.
Halfway to the Grave – Cat annoyed me in the first couple of chapters. I’ll go back and give it another go at some point.
The Rest Falls Away by Colleen Gleason – Maybe it was my mood but I really could not get into this one. Might end up being a DNF.
And Only to Deceive by Tasha Alexander – I bought this one after enjoying Deanna Raybourn’s Silent trilogy. The first chapter didn’t engage me.
Talk of the Town by Karen Hawkins – This has been on the TBF pile for so long at this stage, I might as well call it a DNF.
My TBF pile consists of one book.
Vellum.
It’s been there since early 2007.
SIGH
@Christian What??? I thought you’d finally finished that one!
I love the TBF definition! And yes, I am definitely nurturing one too. Two reasons: (1) I start reading a book and realise I’m not in the mood for that particular plot / genre (2) I start reading on my way home from the bookstore, get home and am promptly distracted.
My TBF pile inevitably becomes my DNF pile. If I don’t like it enough to read it in a few days, odds are I’m never going to get through it. Sometimes, though, I do start them over again and finish them, it’s just that normally it doesn’t happen! The pile is only 2 or 3 books at the moment, so I almost always finish what I start.
I don’t have a TBF pile because ultimately those books have the TBF “stink” on them. I’ll see them sitting there, think I should try one of them (again) and say to myself, “Self, you tried that book already, you got bored, you didn’t finish it.” So there the books will sit, collecting dust, mocking my very existence.
So I do one of two things. I stop reading, declare it a DNF and chuck in the UBS bag. Or, what’s more likely to happen? I skim to the end, get the gist of it, and move on.
Cast in Secret by Michelle Sagara is the top of my TBR pile. I have to be interested in that type of series otherwise I just can’t get into the books, but man when I do… they’re fabulous. A book doesn’t end up in my DNF pile unless it absolutely drives me batty. In general, a book is usually readable as long as I’m in the mood for that type of story. So I shelve it until I feel the urge.
And Halfway to the Grave wavered for me for the first half of the book and almost ended up back on the shelf, but then Cat stopped being so irritating and I’m glomming the rest of the series as fast as I can. LOL
@Li Mood plays a huge role, doesn’t it? That’s why I usually try to give my TBF books a second chance.
@Meghan I’d say around a third of my TBFs end up being DNFs. I usually go back and finish them when I’m in the mood for that particular type of story.
@Wendy TBF “stink” is a good one! If a book stays in the TBF pile too long, it invariably ends up being a DNF because it obviously didn’t interest me enough to give it another chance.
@Gina I’ve heard several people say they struggled with Cat in Halfway to the Grave but ultimately enjoyed the book. That is one I intend to try again soon.
Actually, this happens fairly frequently for me. I’m glad to see someone else mention it.
There’s plenty of times I’ll pick up a book and it won’t be a style I’m in the mood for, or the characters will be different than what I’m looking for, or maybe the entire genre isn’t what I’m actually interested in at the moment… plenty of reasons, and none of them are the author’s fault. It could be an amazing book that I would love when I’m in the mood for it, but it’s like sex. If the mood’s not there… 
@Sarah
The first half of Halfway to the Grave is difficult. I nearly threw it into the DNF pile. I am very very very glad I did not, because… hm. The first book more “sets the scene.” It’s not that it’s backstory that could be summarized, because there’s a lot you need to see to get the full impact (plus it would take way too long to explain, but the books after are much, much, much better.
I will also note, give book #2 a try even despite the ending. Again, I nearly didn’t, and I would’ve missed out. They’re now up in my favorites, and it’s damn hard to get there (I usually go literally years without adding).
*Snap* Karen Hawkins’ Talk of the Town is on my TBF pile as well. I have several books in that category. Most of them are books I bought because someone (present company excepted) recommended them highly enough that they sounded good to me.
My impression is that most of mt TBFs got put down because they annoyed me at some point. Over-the-top prose, stupid characterizations, or stories that are just boring . . . that sort of thing. These books clutter my bedside table until — well, I’m not sure what happens to change that state of affairs. Move to another house? Armageddon? Not spring cleaning, that’s for sure — that season came and went with no appreciable change to my bedside piles of books.
If I finish one, you’ll probably know — my part of the US doesn’t normally get earthquakes!
I am a moody reader, so I generally have a TBF pile.. the only problem is often I will forget and list it before I get the chance to go back to it. Doh
Happened with Halfway to the Grave, pmsl
@Nonny In that case, I really must give Halfway to the Grave a second go. The series seems to be enormously popular.
@Magdalen Yeah, my nightstand is where TBF books tend to congregate and gather dust. I enjoyed some of Karen Hawkins’ old historicals, but her recent books have been pretty mediocre.
@Edie Yet another TBF Halfway to the Grave!
I usually read my books to the bitter end. I am a glass is half full kind of person, so I keep thinking it’s going to get better. Sometimes it does, and other times it doesn’t! In a year, I think out of 170 books usually three are DNFs for me. If I gave up on the book, it is highly unlikely I will ever go back to it.
Oh, and WHAT?? You couldn’t finish Halfway to the Grave!!! Man, I just breezed through that baby!
I have a couple of books that are TBF but I’m reluctant to let them go to the DNF pile. I’m leaving them in the TBF pile because I feel those books didn’t appeal to me because my mood at the time I tried to read them.
I use to make myself read a book all the way to end even if I didn’t like it but I came to my senses and realized there are too many other books in my TBR to torturer myself over books I don’t like. These go to the DNF pile immediately.
@Jill D. So much depends on mood. My problem with Halfway to the Grave was Cat and her extreme naivety, which I found grating. On the other hand, Bones was intriguing and I’ve heard Cat matures as the story progresses, so I haven’t given up on it yet.
@Donna (Fantasy Dreamer) I’d say I have about 3 or 4 books per year which are DNFs, and a few more which I set aside but eventually go back and finish. It’s pretty easy to tell a real stinker from the first chapter.
I don’t really have much of a TBF pile. I have kept books that I didn’t finish before and gone back to them, and invariably my impulse to stop reading is proven to be good (like with The Thirteenth Tale… uhg). So now I just give up on ‘em. Sometimes I’ll skim to the end.
@heidenkind I finished The Thirteenth Tale but I didn’t think much of it.