Hey blogosphere! It's been a while. What have you been up to lately? I can't say I've been busy because I haven't. I can't say I've been sick. Maybe a little sick but not enough to prevent blogging. I can't even say there is nothing to blog about. I've just been too bored to blog. I make no apologies. I'm just saying.
I've been doing a lot of reading lately but nothing seems to be grabbing me, so I am going to do something I hate doing. I'm quitting. I have been shuffling from book to book, reading a chapter in this one and a chapter in that, hoping that all books will be gotten through eventually, but I'm finding that I want less and less to read because some of these books just suck.
I feel guilty about quitting a book, like I'm giving up on it too soon, like I haven't given it time to reach it's full potential. I hate giving up on a story that may just be building up to something interesting. Especially if it's a book that others have raved about. Especially if it's a book that I spent money on. I might hurt the little guys feelings. Well phooey to guilt. So there. Childish, I know but that's what I'm about.
So here is what I have decided to quit under the cliche that life is too short:
Lake Wobegon Days - A library copy of the last book for the Take a Chance Challenge. Even though the challenge ended about 2 weeks ago I wanted to finish it for my own sense of accomplishment. Man, is this book boring. I kept thinking, "So why am I supposed to care about the founding of this town, about the bears that chased away students from it's first college? And why was this book on the Bestsellers List way back when?" So I quit it at page 150.
The Philobiblon of Richard de Bury: The Love of Books - With a title like that I figured I couldn't go wrong. I bought it. It didn't matter that I had no clue who de Bury was or that the book was written in biblical language in the 14th century. It was extremely thin and called The Love of Books. How bad could it be? Well I disagree with de Bury and his writing is hard to follow, not just because of the language but because he changed tenses from chapter to chapter, and because he worships books the way zealots worship God. He even misquotes the Bible to do it. I'm a Christian and a book lover but this was too much. So I quit it at page 19.
The White Mary - So many people have praised this one. Based on the description I wasn't so sure about it so I got the audio version since sometimes that helps me get through a book faster. Nope. I should have trusted my instincts. The degree of research is impressive and the writing is just fine but the subject matter is not my cuppa tea. I thought it sounded a lot like The Heart of Darkness but that made me want to reread The Heart of Darkness, not to continue reading The White Mary. Sorry to the people who loved it, but I quit it at Disk 3.
Awww. I feel so much better. Now I can move on to more interesting books like Alias Grace and The Snowflake. The guilt will just have to crawl into a hole somewhere in the cellar.
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7 comments:
My experience with things related to Garrison Keillor is that they are all based on long-running in-jokes. I've listened to Prairie Home Companion here and there, and it's often amusing, but I always feel like I'm missing something. And then I saw the movie A Prairie Home Companion and I was just like... what? But my parents, who have been listening to Keillor since forever ago, thought it was wonderful and actually seemed to know what was going on. :)
Sadly, I think it might be a little late to catch up on all of Keillor's shows...
I probably didn't get it because I was raised in SoCal in the 80s. Valley girls I get. Country life I don't.
Lake Woebegone Days didn't do much for me either, so don't feel bad.
My parents loved listening to that radio show, too- but I never really got it. Don't feel bad about quitting! I give up on plenty of books- it leaves time to read the ones I really enjoy.
I support you! Life, and particularly the month of December, is definitely too short to waste time on books that aren't doing anything for you.
It really does feel nice to set aside books that just aren't working for you!
I have a really hard time quitting a book I'm not invested in, but this year I am going to change that! I admire you for being able to just walk away with no guilt. I know my reading would be much better if I did just that!
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