This week’s Top Ten Tuesday asks us to consider ten books that we may have given up on too soon. I have a whole category of book in Goodreads called On Hiatus (currently hovering around 90 books) and while sometimes that category includes books that have needed to go back to the library before I could finish them, more often than not those books are never going to be cycled back to without prompting. Here are some I’ve reconsidered:

1. Walden & Civil Disobedience by Henry David Thoreau: Karen and I were going to slog through this book together, but I kept abandoning it on her.
2. Donna Tartt’s The Secret History: Jenn sent me a copy of this, but like many literary darlings, it’s darker than I like and seemed to take itself awfully seriously.
3. Surely You’re Joking, Mr. Feynman! by Richard Feynman: Because I do science for a living (and because it’s not a passion of mine), reading about it in my spare time feels like work. It’s a funny book, though, and I will return to it someday when I’m no longer doing science.
4. Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan: I will often abandon books when they reach a turning point where the choice characters seem likely to make seems ominous. (It does not always follow that the decision is ominous, it turns out, according to some other books I’ve returned to after a time out.)
5. Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury: This was just a wrong book at the wrong time. I suspect I will actually like this one, based on what I’d read, and do plan to get back to it.
6. Mindy Kalig’s Is Everyone Hanging Out without Me?: I tried to listen to this after finishing Tina Fey’s and Amy Pohler’s books and should have given myself more time before starting another comedian’s memoir. She’s a funny woman and I’d like to give it another listen at some point.
7. Girl Waits with Gun by Amy Stewart: I think this must have dropped into this category because I had to return the book to the library and the holds list was long. I enjoyed the part I read, and I should probably pick it back up and give it another shot, since they’re going to make a tv series (or movie maybe?) based on it.
8. Jason Reynolds’ When I Was the Greatest: This was another turning point put-down. However, since I’ve liked every other Jason Reynolds book I’ve read, I should at least give it another try (not the least because it features a character learning to knit to deal with stress).
9. Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders: Ultimately, I’m hoping this is a format problem and that switching to the paper book, rather than trying to listen to it, may fix it.
10. Elizabeth Gaskell’s North and South: I was listening to a podcast reading of this and then I just pretty much ceased listening to podcasts. I do still listen to audiobooks, though, so I should just request this one from the library.

How about you? Do you give up on books, even when they become a slog? Do you second guess that decision at all? And if yes, what books have you reconsidered giving another shot to?