Good riddance!

I will take a short break from ranting about the books I read. Instead, here I write about those books (some great actually) I could not finish reading. Here is a list (of course I will list for I know nothing better) of those abruptly ending reads:

1. Adventure Capitalist by Jim Rogers

On reading this wonderful work, I was despondent over world status at the turn of millenium. This book is about Jim Rogers' trip around the world with his girlfriend turned wife during the trip. I repeat, the book is a fantastic read but I just ended it after he finished roaming some 100th country (out of 116 countries he visited). 

Reason:

Me and Rogers just fell apart. May be I was tired of all the information overload.

Future:

I look forward to definitely go back to the book from where I left it.

2. The Story of my Experiments with Truth by M.K.Gandhi

I bought this book (I vaguely remember it being a gift by my mom) owing to my childhood fascination with Gandhian principles. More on this here. Our father of the nation gives an account of his life and truth experiments in this autobiography.

Reason:

By the time I reached midway of the book I started exhibiting symptoms of hypersomnia just so to avoid holding the book for a longer time. I had outgrown my childish fascination for Gandhiji and also did not find any relevance of his stories to my present life.

Future:

Definitely not reading in this lifetime. Perhaps I might return to this work for my research (you see the wide chances!)

3. The Power Of Your Subconscious Mind by Joseph Murphy

This book was given to me by my best friend (perhaps he guessed it right! I needed to harness my will power at that time). I hardly read 50 pages and this book entirely put an end to negative self talk in me. Till this day I consciously avoid slipping into the detrimental negative self talk mode. 

Reason:

I felt fifty pages is all I could take of this super stuffed psychological book. Since I got the jist of whatever Murphy had to convey, I was at peace with giving up this read.

Future:

I might flip through the book to say if there is anything else that could capture my attention.

4. Jinnah: India, Partition, Independence by Jaswant Singh

I bought this controversial book spending a lot, I tell you a lot of money as a student. It took my 5 month savings to get hold of this voluminous book. Irony is and as you know I didn't do justice for my pocket money. I secretly stuffed it under a lot of other books to collect dust.

Reason:

The writing was not captivating and a lot of political and historical information failed to hold my interest for long. The 700 page book was painfully slow and I read less than 70 pages.

Future:

I wish to be brave enough to sit through the entire volume and have the satisfaction of reading this carefully documented book by a senior politician.

5. The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown

Who could have resisted the temptation of laying hands on one of Dan Brown's books? Blown by the brilliance of The Angels and Demons and The Da VInci Code I was eager to read his next big release 'The Lost Symbol'. 50-70 and the book lost my interest!

Reason:

When 'different' becomes the definition of your writing style and plots its difficult to stay in readers' goodwill unless you keep producing different works repeatedly. This book had the repetition of same style, similar twists, more and more "getting down a mile of stairs to uncover secret" scenes.

Future:

I will never return to this book. I am satisfied with having read 3 works of Dan Brown.

6. The Secret of The Veda by Sri Aurobindo

I overestimated my skills of assimilation and bought this book to finish reading in about a week. But it was not destined to be such an easy read. The book high on philosophy and spirituality shouldn't be taken in overdose. 

Reason:

I am yet to mature spiritually and to understand vedic interpretation of a scholar I need more patience and determination.

Future:

My 2013 resolution will be to finish reading this book of immense spiritual content.

7. Word Power Made Easy by Norman Lewis

This is a book every graduate studies in hope to improve his/her vocabulary, to prepare for a competitive exam or to be more knowledgeable about the semantics of English language. 

Reason:

I have into read and reread this book almost 6 times each time failing to go beyond 200 pages. I was not preparing for any competitive exam and the rote learning of words occasionally tired me out. I took to improving my language through reading books, newspapers and magazines which proved to be a better learning method for me.

Future:

I will continue to have this book in my shelf always in hope of learning more words.

8. Lord of the Rings by J.R.R.Tolkien

I became a full fledged reader only in my graduate days. I took up books which I missed reading as a child and Lord of The Rings was one such masterpiece.

Reason:
The mistake I made was starting with 'The Hobbit' and getting forever struck at the page where Bilbo Baggins' feet hair is explained for a good length. While it is undisputedly a classic, Lord of the Rings is not a breezy read.

Future:
I do not think I can bare the very long descriptions of mundane things such as length and hair of people involved. I might venture into watching the films though! Afterall 'The Hobbit' movie is going to be released soon.

9. Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer 

I was evading the many suggestions by my friends to read 'Twilight" series. I was trying to pose as a vampire-series-hater for many years. One fortunate day I decided to give up to the (secret) temptation to delve into vampire series and laid my hands on the third book in the "Twilight" series.

Reason:
I was a naivete in vampire world and jumping directly onto the third book left me with a lot of questions and finally complete loss of interest in the series. Smugly I gave up on touching the book for another couple of years.

Future:
I chanced to watch all the movies in the series and absolutely loved "Breaking Dawn", both as a movie and a book. I read selected chapters in 'Eclipse' thrice. I developed appreciation for many quotes on love and longing in the book.

I declare myself a 'Twilight' series fan.

10. Mr.Sampath, The Printer of Malgudi by R.K.Narayan

After loving classic works by R.K.Narayan such as Guide, Swami and His Friends and Malgudi Days I bought one more of his works "Mr.Sampath" speaking of a printer in Malgudi.

Reason:
I had outgrown stories and writing style of R.K.Narayan. The language was of a lesser standard laiden with grammatical and spelling errors and the narration was a weakling. I was excited neither by the story nor the style.

Future:
R.K.Narayan will always be the author of my first read 'The Guide' and the composer of my all time favourite 'Malgudi Days'. I am never going to mar his impression on my mind by reading 'Mr.Sampath'.

P.S: Share the works which you haven't been able to complete reading and yet remain in your heart.