What's Going On Here?

There are SO MANY wonderful book review blogs out there and I can't compete with them, that is for sure. So this is not a book review blog. This is just a way for me to organize what I have read so that I can be better at matching the right book to the right person. The blog title comes from the brilliant mind of the most talented woman who ever lived, Ms. Judy Garland. The full quote is, "Always be a first-rate version of yourself, instead of a second-rate version of someone else." That is what I hope to do here and in ever aspect of my life.

Wednesday, October 1, 2014

Breaking up with a book

My dear friend, Mackenzie, is helping me to understand that it is okay to break up with a book.  It is okay to realize that when a relationship isn't going anywhere, it is okay, even right, to say goodbye.
I had been stuck lately.  Reading a lot of books at the same time but none of them were blowing me away.
 First, I had read a review in Publishers Weekly or Booklist that said that House of Small Shadows was so frightening the reader would want to bury it when it was over.  Bury it!  How cool is that? I was sad not to see if available in audio but I bought the ebook anyway.  I just couldn't resist.  It should have been a warning to me that the book wasn't available on audio.  Now I know you can't always go by that, but I should have at least read more about the book before I bought it.  First off, I was disappointed.  I didn't read carefully enough to learn that book is set in England.  That won't matter to most people, not at all, but you know how I am about off-putting Briticisms. I also didn't realize that there would be a lot of love-lost and boo hoo hooing in the book.  I have never read Bridget Jones Diary but I would imagine that this is the horror story version.  I got 60% of the way and about 50% of that was this single woman moaning and groaning about love lost and "mean girls" and being fat.  Plus she drank.  A lot.  Now that is not to say that other folks wouldn't like a story like this.  But I just couldn't do it.  And so I broke p with HOSS.
At the same time I was reading Breakfast Served Anytime.   Neat cover, nice premise.  But it just didn't suck me in and so I broke up with it as well.
Next it was time to say goodbye to Ghost Road Blues.  I really didn't want to give up on this.  But man...I was listening to it and it was more than 12 hours long and I could only get through about two of them.  Just not for me, either.
Finally I broke up with Three Times Lucky.  Party I broke up with TTL because I was listening to it the old fashioned way, on CDs.  And the reading was just too slow.  I am used to at least double speed and so it just sounded funny.  And then, as always and other big reason why I don't like books on CD, CD #4 started skipping.  I cleaned it and cleaned but it still skipped.  So I know I will be having to buy it for the library because, as is my very expensive custom, I whipped the disc out of my player and into the back seat of my car.  Now my car is more organized so maybe I will find it, but probably not.  The disc was broken anyway, so the library from which I borrowed it will need the money to replace it.  I hope they don't get another CD though.  CDs just don't stand up.
So I broke up with four books in one day.
Mackenzie had told me that breaking up with a book is good for both parties.  I thought she was kidding, but now that I think about it.  Had I kept on going with TTL, GRB and BSA, I would probably have written really mean and nasty and ugly things about them.  And that really wouldn't be fair.  They were fine books, just not for me.
HOSS though...dude...I wish I would have buried it before I started it.

No comments:

Post a Comment