Mine’s The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath. Thick books never stopped me from reading nonstop before, but there are entries in the book that just has me stopping and taking time to mull things over.
Also, sharing this excerpt: “Not to be sentimental, as I sound, but why the hell are we conditioned into the smooth strawberry-and-cream Mother-Goose-world, Alice-in-Wonderland fable, only to be broken on the wheel as we grow older and become aware of ourselves as individuals with a dull responsibility in life?”
The hobbits my longest one with like at least four years I pretty much never get past the trolls and I have restarted at least twice. I am determined to one day read them all but have seen the movies too many times and have other newer more interesting stories to read.
crime and punishment, I took a break for a few months
Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind I just read a small piece every now and then. I am not worried about making progress in the pages that I read. I rather to remember what I am reading
The Autobiography of Malcolm X - I started it at the beginning of September and am not yet halfway through. Trying to finish it before the end of the year, though.
It’s very good and interesting, just a bit denser than what I usually read in physical book form. I find it hard to sit and read a lot of it. Trying to read at least 1 chapter between every other book.
That’s not very long, though. In 2020, before I started making a real effort to get back into reading, it took me 6 months to read Good Omens (which I loved). And in my college years, it took me 4 years to read the ASOIAF series.
Mr Pneumbra’s 24 Hour Bookstore, I have savored and ignored and neglected that book since 2014? 2015? I’m only maybe 60% finished.
I never got past the first couple pages of IQ84. I never quite found or even know what mood to get myself in to read the book 🫠
Insurgent by Veronica Roth
I read divergent and absolutely loved it. It was so much better than the movie and interested me from the first to the last word. But as soon as I started to read insurgent, it bored me. The movie wasn’t my favourite, but I figured the book would be better. And it is better, but I’ve found it really hard to get into it.
Another one is Medusa by Jessie Burton
It’s such a short book yet I have no urge to try and finish it. I know some people really enjoyed it and I wanted to as well because I love Greek mythology. But the wording and the way it’s written I’ve found is far y’all simple for me and I’ve really struggled to get any further
Moby Dick. The pace drops about a third of the way through like you’re swimming in honey and I just can’t bring myself to finish.