Top Ten Tuesday: Ten Books I Almost Put Down But Didn't

'Top Ten Tuesday' is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish. I love making lists, so this feature fits me perfectly! If you also take part in this feature or have any additions to my lists, please get in touch; I'd love to hear from you!  

  Ten Books I Almost Put Down But Didn't   The lists for the Top Ten Tuesday feature have been a lot of fun the past couple of weeks. However, this week's list is quite a challenging one! I hardly ever put a book down. I have this silly rule that I NEED to finish every book I start, even if the book is driving me crazy or if it's just really boring. Here are ten of the books I remember almost putting down, but deciding I simply had to finish it, no matter what!  

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1. Gregory Maguire - 'Wicked'

I'm a big fan of anything that has to do with 'The Wizard of Oz' (I couldn't get enough of the film version with Judy Garland when I was a little girl), so I was really excited to read 'Wicked.' However, somehow, I couldn't get through the book. It took me ages to finish and I just wanted to put it down several times. I'm glad I finished it, and I think I have to give it another chance sometime, but I was surprised how long it took me to get through it.
 

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2. Ashley Prentice Norton - 'The Chocolate Money'  

  I really struggled with this book. I read reviews by other bloggers who loved this novel, but I couldn't get through it. Not my cup of tea, I guess!  

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  3. Jodi Picoult - 'Lone Wolf'  

  I haven't read many of Jodi Picoult's books, but the ones I've read have been quite captivating. Except for 'Lone Wolf', that is; somehow this book didn't manage to grab all of my attention, but enough for me to finish it.  

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4. Stephenie Meyer - 'The Host'   

I loved the Twilight series and looked forward to reading 'The Host'! However, it took me quite a bit of time to get into the novel and almost put it down, because I thought it just wasn't for me. I'm really glad I decided to continue reading, because I ended up really enjoying it!  

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  5. Jonathan Safran Foer - 'Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close'  

This is one of those books everyone was talking about and out of curiosity I also wanted to give it a chance. I ended up not liking it that much, and it took me a bit of willpower to actually finish it instead of putting it down.

 

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6. J.M. Coetzee - 'Disgrace'  

  For several of my university courses I had to read books by J.M. Coetzee. I'm almost a bit scared to admit I didn't enjoy any of them, and I really had to struggle my way through them... but finished them all!
 

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7. Shakespeare's plays  

   I love Shakespeare's stories, especially because so many elements are still used in books nowadays, over and over again. Yet, actually reading Shakespeare's original plays... I read all of them, in their original version, but I definitely had my 'I can't do this anymore' moments!  

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8. E.L. James - 'Fifty Shades of Grey'

  Another hype which I was curious about. I finished all three of the Fifty Shades books, but I definitely had some doubtful moments in which I just wanted to put the books down and forget all about them.  

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 9. Ernest Hemingway - 'The Sun Also Rises'

 

Another author I was introduced to during one my university courses and I distinctly remember struggling to get through this book. Once again I managed to finish it, but don't ask me how!  

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10. J.R.R. Tolkien - 'The Lord of the Rings'  

I honestly have a lot of respect for the people who managed to get through and finish Tolkien's 'Lord of the Rings'. It's a book I wanted to add to the list, because I really struggled with it and wanted to put it down multiple times... And I have to admit, I actually did and never picked it up again. Anyone willing to convince me it's worth the struggle?
Which books did you almost put down? I'd love to hear from you!