Oh, dear, and I put it on my Wish List at Paperbackswap.com! Well, if a copy of it comes my way, I'll have a try at reading it, but if all that talking is about a boring subject, I'll get rid of it. My TBR pile is too tall already.

I'm updating this thread because it helps me to weed out my long list of books to check out if i know others gave up on certain books.
So, what have you all abandoned as hopeless?
I couldn't take the Time Travelers Wife. So stressful, keeping up with the changes in time and the underlying issue of the child/adult relationship. Creepy. I know everyone loved this book but I tried three times and then gave it away.

Last month I gave up on Cross Creek by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings. It is a memoir and I just did not connect with her at all although I think she would be an interesting peson to meet.
I think that I don't give up on as many books as I used to because of these boards and all the other resources we have today to research books before we actually read them.
I have two avid reader friends at work and they will finish any book they start even if they don't like it. They both have said they feel like they are missing something if they don't finish it. They cannot understand how I can simply put a book down. But I simply do and have done many times.

gbg

I did give up on a book once in the first chapter because I could not visualise the characters. I took it with me to the dentist as I had an appointment before going on to the library. I had a long wait and the dentist only had old motoring magazines, so I tried the book again, this time from Chapter 2. This somehow worked and I enjoyed it after all!
I usually try to finish books but if I'm not that interested, I skip to the last pages to see how things work out. Unfortunately sometimes there are a whole lot of characters that have come into the book later, so I'm no wiser!

I also gave up on "Shantarum." Couldn't take the violence. I've become uber-sensitive to violence in books and movies in recent years ... not sure why.

Gave up on 2 David Mitchell hits: "Cloud Atlas" and "Black Swan Green." Just could not deal with all the dialect/unfamiliar terms and the jumping around in the first, in terms of lack of linearity. (and I am not even a "linear person"). Yet I know this author is talented and highly acclaimed.

I gave up on The Historian. I know everyone loves it but I'm just not a vampire lover! It was well written and intriguing but too long about things I don't care about. I enjoy some paranormal/ fantasy stuff but not vampires.

I gave up on Bel Canto a few years ago but will try again for the discussion. It just didn't grab me but can't really remember why.

I'll give up pretty quick on a book if I'm bored. Too many things to read to spend time being bored.

I also gave up on Bel Canto. It didn't grab me either. I had read "The Magician's Assistant" and liked it okay. I also read "The Patron Saint of Liars" by Patchett, which my friend loved. I thought it was okay. I just don't relate to Patchett's characters too well, I guess.

I also gave up on Black Swan Green, but I think it was more a matter of my mood at the time rather than a case of actively disliking the book. I loved Cloud Atlas, so I might give BSG another try.

I liked Black Swan Green better than Cloud Atlas.

I gave up on Lamphiere's Dictionary.

I am now reading The Geographer's Library by Jon Fasman. Has anyone else read it? It is my book club's next discussion book which is the only reason I am still plugging away at it. Tough slogging. Ugh... if it weren't for my fellow book clubbies, I'd toss it aside. PLEASE, someone, post and tell me it gets better!

PAM

Gave up on
Housekeeping Marianne Robinson Great until 3/4's
Cloud Atlas
Somebody and Dr. Strange

Should have given up on"
BEL CANTO What a waste of time

I love seeing others that gave up on Bel Canto. Me too! I felt so alone! Here's another confession....I didn't give up on Shadow of the Wind, which was a mistake. I should have.

I loved Bel Canto right up until the end...at which point I threw the book across the room.

Shantaram was the read of a lifetime for me. I will always remember it.
I should have given up on The Memory Keeper's Daughter. What an unpleasant waste of time.

going up for mary katherine.

I feel so guilty when I give up on a book!

And yet. . .

I recently gave up on Headlong by Michael Frayn. It started out as a light, humorous read with interesting details about art history. But about 60 pages into the main character became obsessed with cheating his neighbor out of a piece of art and it I got sick of how conniving he became.

I also gave up on The Known World but I don't think that counts since I only picked up because it was required reading for a class.

Yes - couldn't agree more about Headlong. Couldn't understand the motivation of any of the characters. And it wasn't funny. Sixty pages? That sounds about right!

I gave up on Cold Comfort Farm. Too silly for words.

murraymint, I so agree! Same, here!

Me too! Didn't see the satire, although I have read the type of book it was supposedly mocking, didn't see the funny at ALL, didn't like the characters-didn't waste the time.

Oh, I loved Cold Comfort Farm, its even funnier when you see it on film. I also am one of the few I know who loved Bel Canto, and really didn't mind the ending - it wasn't the ending that I wanted, but it made sense. (more on the bel canto thread)

I liked Headlong, but then I like books with a tad bit of fantasy thrown in.

I give up on books frequently, and often can't remember the titles. I just know that inbetween my fav reads, I'll go through about five or six duds. Latest one that disappointed me was Historian. This book was so up my alley in so many ways - and by the third story within a story I tossed it aside with the rest of the library returns.

Couldn't get far into Jonathan Strange, again another book that I should have loved. And Black Swan Green - I read it, but it was such a disappointment after Cloud Atlas that I was sorry I wasted my time.