Books:

Flowers for Algernon … I tried reading it twice, and both times I couldn’t persuade myself to finish.  I think it’s Charlie’s changing personality.  I just lose interest in the book at the same point.  I’m not sure if I’m going to give it a third try or not.

The Forgotten Garden … just could not get into it.  Slow-going on the front end.

A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius … I was super into this one at the very beginning; in fact, I was full of writer’s envy, even though Eggers is maybe a tad pretentious.  But in the end, I just let this one fade for me, didn’t find time to finish it.  It has been on my nightstand for about 2-3 years now.  Should I start over?

Series:

Hush, Hush series … just didn’t seem grounded enough, didn’t know the characters well enough.

The Hunger Games … the author didn’t use “who” and “whom” properly, which drove me crazy, and I just wasn’t interested in the premise of the stories.

Shiver series … I actually kind of liked the first book of this series, but I didn’t feel like I got to know the characters well enough, and the holes in the premise of the heat/cold changing the werewolves were too gaping.

What do you think?  Am I missing out?  Are there books to which you think I need to give a second (or third) chance?