Today’s Top Five Wednesday post is all about the books that tend to sit in our “currently reading” piles for weeks or months. I really don’t mind DNF’ing books. Although yes, I feel guilty DNF’ing a book that I’ve already read the first 100 pages or so, or have spent quite a bit of time reading, but I’ve learned over the years that I’d much rather read a book I actually like than struggle through one I’m not enjoying too much. However, books for today’s Top Five Wednesday could also be ones that just genuinely took us a long time to read. I usually fall into this category when it comes to audiobooks or longer books. In most cases, I end up reading 2 other books on the side when I’m also reading a lengthier book. 

Becoming by Michelle Obama –  It took me about 7 weeks over this past April and May to listen to Becoming as an audiobook. While the physical book is slightly over 400 pages and I believe the audiobook is about 19 hours long on a regular speed, I blame taking this one slowly on the fact that I was reading Becoming during the height of the pandemic and was rarely driving anywhere. I was then only really listening to Becoming on walks or during the occasional adult coloring book session. You might know that while I love listening to podcasts and have grown to enjoy audiobooks, but I have to be doing something that forces me to focus only on the audio (aka when walking and as something to listen to while driving). 

Supernova (Renegades #3) by Marissa Meyer – I’m probably cheating with this one because Supernova only took me about 2 weeks to finish, but compared to the first two books in the Renegades series, I slugged through it. These books are on the longer side for YA at about 400-600 pages each, but I distinctly remember laying in bed at home during Thanksgiving break and winter break respectively bingeing Renegades and Archenemies.  My mistakes with Supernova were that I read Renegades and Archenemies fairly back to back and then read Supernova two months later, I read it during a super busy time during the spring semester and couldn’t fully dedicate myself to it…and I just didn’t enjoy it as much as the first two books.

The Sullivan Sisters by Kathryn Ormsbee – I feel like my experience with The Sullivan Sisters was a common dilemma book bloggers often run into when it comes to reading books for review. Obviously, we shouldn’t feel pressured to read a book just because we’re sent it, but at the same time I felt sort’ve obligated to read this one. While I did somewhat enjoy The Sullivan Sisters, it took me over a month to fully read it. 

Sawkill Girls by Claire Legrand – Sawkill Girls is a prime example of a book I should’ve DNF’ed, but so many of my friends were liking it and there was hype then surrounding Claire Legrand’s Furyborn series. I trudged through it over a few weeks during the fall semester of my junior year and should’ve picked it up to read something I would’ve genuinely enjoyed more!

An American Marriage by Tayari Jones – I trudged through An American Marriage not because I wasn’t enjoying it, but also because literary fiction tends to take me longer to read than contemporary or romance books. I was also reading it during the summer and was reading it between my summer romance beach reads.

What books took you a while to read? How do you feel about DNF’ing books? Have you read any of the books I mentioned? Share in the comments!