Books I abandoned in 2025

I’m not someone who usually abandons books. Not because I’m morally opposed to it, or because I think finishing everything you start makes you a better reader. It's just that once I begin something I tend to want to see it through. There’s a quiet satisfaction in finishing, even when a book isn’t quite working for me. Usually I find if I give the book enough time I can become engrossed enough in the story to see it through. And yet, the older I get the more I’m aware of using my time wisely. Life is probably too short, my pile of unread books is too long and there are too many other competing interests and claims on my time to keep pushing on with something that never really asks to be finished.

With that in mind I thought I would have a quick look at the 3 books I abandoned in 2025. 

The first was Joe Cinque's Consolation by Helen Garner. Joe Cinque was in the ABC Radio National Top 100 Books of the 21st Century Count Down, which was my reminder to pick it up. It's written by one of Australia's most talented authors and covers the trial of a famous murder case in the Australia Capital Territory. It's often hailed as a meaningful exploration of culpability, evil and the gap between moral behaviour and the law. It seems that many people have a strong emotional reaction to this book, finding significance of Garner's exploration of these themes. I didn't and I believe I know why. For some years I was a trial lawyer, responsible for defending many accused perpetrators of terrible crimes. I've had occasion to see these issues first hand. I've seen the awful things that people can do to one another. I've seen behind the scenes the awful things that have often been done to them earlier in their lives. I've seen where the law convergers from what would commonly be thought of as fairness. It's usually for a reason that hard to discern. I couldn't finish the book because it wasn't anything that I hadn't see or explored myself.

The second was Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Hurari. This was another one that the ABC count down had recommended to me, but that ultimately I found the pace a little slow and the information a little uninteresting to my particular tastes.

The third was A Gentlemen in Moscow by Amor Towles. I really wanted and expected to enjoy this book, especially when it came third in the ABC Radio National Top 100 Books of the 21st Century Count Down. And yet, despite giving it a good go, I didn't find myself becoming lost in the story in the way that I expected. It might be that I needed to perservere a little longer - I could see that it was a more of a character driven slow-burn novel. Unfortunately though, I had borrowed this one from the library and it soon became clear that I wasn't going to finish it before it was due to be returned. So, I returned it early. Unlike Sapiens, however, I won't give up on this one entirely. With any luck it will reappear in my 2026 reading list as a finished book.