Recent DNFs - 7 in all

In an effort to get myself up to date I'm combining all my recent DNF (Did Not Finish) books into one post.  Here goes ...


I picked up several audiobooks for the long car rides over the summer.  The key is that they had to be interesting for the entire family.  That didn't work in all cases.

• Mr. Revere and I, by Robert Lawson - This story, told by Paul Revere's horse, could have been a good one since Kiddo loves this time period, however it was narrated by Davina Porter.  Although I LOVE her narration in general, she made this book sound like an adult book and Kiddo simply wasn't interested.  In reality, neither was I.
  
  
  
• Thunder Rolling in the Mountains, by Scott O'Dell - According to Kiddo, "I don't like Indians." Meaning, of course, that he's not interested in stories about Native Americans.  I did give this one a try though, since it follows the story of Chief Joseph and the Nez Perce, but the story didn't catch my attention quickly enough.

Another long car ride found my husband and I (minus Kiddo) trying to listen to The Mutiny On Board HMS Bounty, by William Bligh and Norman Dietz.  What I failed to realize when I checked this out of the library is that this was the original account of the mutiny as detailed by the ill-fated Captain Bligh.  Man, was he ever long-winded! After the first 30 minutes or so, Hubby and I both agreed that we couldn't take any more of it. 


On that same car ride we tried to listen to an old favorite of Hubby's The Red Badge of Courage, by Stephen Crane.  How come I didn't know this was about the Civil War?  Honestly, I had no idea.  And unfortunately I just wasn't in the mood for a war story, so we gave up on it.




Then there was a case of mistaken identity.  In my mind I somehow (?!) confused The Remains of the Day, by Kazuo Ishiguro with Howards End, by E.M. Forster. (I'm still not exactly sure how I did that.) I listened to the first hour or so of Howards End and kept wondering when the butler would make an appearance.  When I finally figured out my mistake I was highly disappointed and simply couldn't get into the story at all.



I also decided to try another of Laurie R. King's standalone novels, Folly. I listened to the first hour or so before calling it quits.  Let's just say that although I truly love her Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes books, I am not really a fan of her standalones.


And finally we come to Duality, by Aaron Chumbris, which is a mix of epic and urban fantasy.  I liked the premise of the book and generally enjoyed what I read, but after getting halfway through the book I really wasn't invested in the characters or the story at all.  In addition, I was reminded that fantasy in an urban setting doesn't really work for me.  I was able to visualize the standard fantasy portions of the book but I couldn't wrap my head around the urban sections. 


That's a bit about the books I've put aside during the course of the summer.  How many DNFs have you had lately?