What is the book that took you a couple tries before it clicked?

I find myself to be a fickle reader sometimes, where I’ll find books that from either the synopsis or a friend’s recommendation interest me, but when I start reading it takes me multiple attempts to get past the first few pages, even if I end up loving the book! I attribute it in large part to ADHD but sometimes a book is just a tough read until it gets its hooks in me.

One book that really is doing this to me right now is Perdido Street Station by China Miéville. I really am fascinated by the world he creates in the story so far but I’ve tried reading it a few times now and I’ve never gotten farther than the first 100 pages. I love Weird Fiction and his writing is very well done, but all the world building, while done well, is hard for me to get super into, and I’m wanting to get on with the plot that he’s started!!

The biggest saving grace is that the world building is reminding me of the Ambergris Trilogy by Jeff VanderMeer and I LOVED those books even though the first book of that trilogy also took some work to get into.

I’m curious, what books have been like this for you and what are your strategies for overcoming this issue?