If you peruse the book/writing blog circles, you've probably seen this sentiment: There isn't enough time to be reading bad books.
In theory, this makes sense. I don't know about the rest of you, but I generally know pretty quick whether I'm going to like a book or not. Maybe it's the language or the elements of the story, but it only takes a couple chapters for that "off" feeling to set in. As Maggie Stiefvater said last Wednesday, writers start a book out with a certain number of "gimme points." Every time the author does something that irks the reader, they loose points, and the instant those points run out, the book gets dropped.
Now me? I'm pretty forgiving when I read a book. There are only a handful that I never bothered to finish.
You see, I always have this slight hope that things will get better by the end. That maybe if I read one more chapter, something awesome will happen. That somehow the book will wrap up so beautifully that everything I was feeling "meh" about in the beginning will fade away to nothingness.
Sometimes this happens, but very rarely. In my case, that's how I felt about Cassandra Clare's The Mortal Instruments. Even though I couldn't get into City of Bones, I forced myself to read the sequel, City of Ashes, and was happily surprised by how much I liked it. Needless to say, I've been on the bandwagon ever since. But only because I pushed forward.
Which makes me curious about what you guys think. What books have you read lately that you couldn't get into? And how long does it take you to put down a book? Are there any story elements that turn you off immediately? Or do you always push through to the end, even when you could be reading something you enjoy more? Tell me in the comments.
Monday, June 27, 2011
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brennabraaten 77p · 718 weeks ago
squidinksarah 72p · 718 weeks ago
Jessie · 718 weeks ago
squidinksarah 72p · 718 weeks ago
I definitely agree that there are always things to learn from books. The most recent book I've struggled with was Libba Bray's Going Bovine, which won the Printz Award. It's written beautifully, and there's so much to take from that, but the voice is super heavy (if that makes sense) and it was really difficult for me to get into.
oreohmygosh 57p · 718 weeks ago
For some reason, I have the hardest time getting into the Artemis Fowl books. I started reading the first one, got three chapters in, and gave up. I came back to it a few months later, and ended up gobbling up the entire book. The same thing happened with the second book! And, I started reading the third book, but gave up. But, I know reading it is inevitable. I don't know why getting into those books are hard, but once I get into them, I can't put them down.
oreohmygosh 57p · 718 weeks ago
Aside from pretty much all required reading in school, the only book that I blatently gave up on was The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. I made it to the first page of the second chapter of the third book and gave up. Honestly, I don't know how I even got that far because I thought the books were boring. I was only reading them because I loved the movies so much. But, I was also thirteen, and I don't think I had the appreciation for that kind of writing. I've been thinking of giving the series a reread.
squidinksarah 72p · 718 weeks ago
I had trouble getting into the Artemis Fowl books too, though I imagine for different reasons. It's the faeries--they're just one of those things that I can't get into for some reason. To each their own though. *shrug*
I totally fangirled Lord of the Rings for years of my life, so I never had a problem charging through those books. In fact, I could probably list the books I never finished. Let's see . . . 1) Robert Jordan's The Eye of the World (it just felt like nothing was happening), 2) Orson Scott Card's Children of the Mind (because the characters all got obnoxious), 3) Paolo Bacigalupi's The Windup Girl (it was smartly written, but I couldn't bring myself to care), and, 4) Brent Weeks' Shadow's Edge (because the narrator's love interest made the book unbearable). But it's not that any of these books were particularly bad or anything, I just had problems getting into and enjoying them.