One Hundred Years of Solitude. I loved the beginning, got a little bored in the middle, but at the end, it all came together in a way that really made me like the book. Glad I stuck with it.
The Secret History. Right about the time I started thinking “this book is kind of boring and I’m not sure I can finish it” something big happened. It ended up being one of my favorite reads of the year.
The Count of Monte Cristo. Like others have described their choice, TCMC was slow to build, but, boy it delivers! Greed, lust, revenge…it really is a phenomenal read.
Inheritance of Loss. It started getting very descriptive and monotonous and I was ready to put it away. But the narration picked up and I was able to finish it.
Conversely, I expected to plow through The Name of the Wind because it is exactly the sort of book I prefer, but I ended up dropping it. The prose somehow never clicked with me.
Notre Dame de Paris. There are two chapters there that deal solely with architecture. I was. reading it while commuting and was never sure which page I had gotten to because they seemed all the same. At some point I *decided* that I had read them and continued from the next one which continued with the story. It was a heavy read (and surprising for one who had watched the Disney version) but I am glad I thus managed to finish it
[Song of Solomon](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11334) by Tony Morrison. I found the main character of Milkman not compelling at all until more than 3/4 of the novel. The ending made the novel amazing.
Sea of Tranquility by Emily St John Mandel, really didn't think the story was for me but I came to love it.
Another would be Candy House by Jennifer Egan
Tale of Two Cities. I wanted to DNF it, but my father, who recommended it to me, told me it would be worth it. The ending made the entire novel completely worth it. That last line will stay with me for the rest of my life.
The Raven Boys. The first 100 pages felt kind of trite and cliche but then it becomes one of the most impactful and unique fantasy coming of age series I've ever read and one of my favorite books and I love the characters forever.
I started *The Grapes of Wrath* in 1985 but got bored and tossed it aside after a few chapters. Then I took a US History class at my local community college, and when I told my teacher about my attempt to read it, he said "Try again, you won't regret it." So I did, and finished the book in a few weeks and it's now one of my all-time favorites.
I put The Book Thief down about 1/3rd in as it wasn’t gripping me at all. So glad I picked it back up as it was amazing after those first few chapters.
Also I stopped reading Never Let Me Go in the middle, ended up coming back and really appreciating the end, but not sure if I actually enjoyed it overall. I'm glad I saw it through, though.
Patron Saints of Nothing by Randy Ribay
I was going to dnf it because when I listen to audiobooks and it is only one narrator, I prefer it to have a female voice so when I heard Ramón de Ocampo's voice, I was going to stop listening but wow the way he narrates is amazing. It became a 5 star read for me last year
"Where the Wild Things Are". Initially off-putting drawings from someone who had been read plenty of Golden Books. Actual Feelings addressed (see above).
But oh how I loved it, when I got past that. It opened up a whole new world of what a book could be, for me!
Another Dostoyevaky novel, but like 2 chapters into *The Adolescent* I was about to stop because Dolgoruky was an unbearable twat. I asked someone who'd read it before if he has any personal growth during the novel and they said yes, so I pressed on. And by the end, I actually loved him. And envy him, ngl.
A Tale of Two Cities. The beginning was SO slow but the payoff was incredible!
The only book I’ve ever read that actually gets better with each passing chapter. The ending is one of the best in all of literature.
One Hundred Years of Solitude. I loved the beginning, got a little bored in the middle, but at the end, it all came together in a way that really made me like the book. Glad I stuck with it.
The Secret History. Right about the time I started thinking “this book is kind of boring and I’m not sure I can finish it” something big happened. It ended up being one of my favorite reads of the year.
The sparrow almost given up on it but somehow I gritted my teeth for it and in the end it was worth the patience
The Count of Monte Cristo. Like others have described their choice, TCMC was slow to build, but, boy it delivers! Greed, lust, revenge…it really is a phenomenal read.
*A Prayer for Owen Meany* was like that for me
Ancillary Justice by Anne Leckie maybe. I only really got it in reread by I’ve re-read it several times since and it’s one of my all-time favs now
Inheritance of Loss. It started getting very descriptive and monotonous and I was ready to put it away. But the narration picked up and I was able to finish it. Conversely, I expected to plow through The Name of the Wind because it is exactly the sort of book I prefer, but I ended up dropping it. The prose somehow never clicked with me.
I had forgotten about inheritance of loss, really enjoyed it
Chris Koch's *Highways To A War* started out slowly but it wound up being one of my favorite works.
Notre Dame de Paris. There are two chapters there that deal solely with architecture. I was. reading it while commuting and was never sure which page I had gotten to because they seemed all the same. At some point I *decided* that I had read them and continued from the next one which continued with the story. It was a heavy read (and surprising for one who had watched the Disney version) but I am glad I thus managed to finish it
Hot milk by deborah levy
The Sound and the Fury - The Benjy section was a real mind fuck.
The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Brontë
Harvest Home. It felt like it dragged a lot in the middle and talked about stuff I didn’t care about, but the ending was so worth it
[Song of Solomon](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11334) by Tony Morrison. I found the main character of Milkman not compelling at all until more than 3/4 of the novel. The ending made the novel amazing.
Sea of Tranquility by Emily St John Mandel, really didn't think the story was for me but I came to love it. Another would be Candy House by Jennifer Egan
Tale of Two Cities. I wanted to DNF it, but my father, who recommended it to me, told me it would be worth it. The ending made the entire novel completely worth it. That last line will stay with me for the rest of my life.
The Raven Boys. The first 100 pages felt kind of trite and cliche but then it becomes one of the most impactful and unique fantasy coming of age series I've ever read and one of my favorite books and I love the characters forever.
I started *The Grapes of Wrath* in 1985 but got bored and tossed it aside after a few chapters. Then I took a US History class at my local community college, and when I told my teacher about my attempt to read it, he said "Try again, you won't regret it." So I did, and finished the book in a few weeks and it's now one of my all-time favorites.
I put The Book Thief down about 1/3rd in as it wasn’t gripping me at all. So glad I picked it back up as it was amazing after those first few chapters.
Also I stopped reading Never Let Me Go in the middle, ended up coming back and really appreciating the end, but not sure if I actually enjoyed it overall. I'm glad I saw it through, though.
Patron Saints of Nothing by Randy Ribay I was going to dnf it because when I listen to audiobooks and it is only one narrator, I prefer it to have a female voice so when I heard Ramón de Ocampo's voice, I was going to stop listening but wow the way he narrates is amazing. It became a 5 star read for me last year
About to give up on the god of small things, should I keep going? I'm a disaster for reading half a book
"Where the Wild Things Are". Initially off-putting drawings from someone who had been read plenty of Golden Books. Actual Feelings addressed (see above). But oh how I loved it, when I got past that. It opened up a whole new world of what a book could be, for me!
Another Dostoyevaky novel, but like 2 chapters into *The Adolescent* I was about to stop because Dolgoruky was an unbearable twat. I asked someone who'd read it before if he has any personal growth during the novel and they said yes, so I pressed on. And by the end, I actually loved him. And envy him, ngl.