Book Club

[on the bay]

I don't often do this but I got this book from the library books on sale and it looked interesting and the librarian said it was such a good choice.

I usually like those English mysteries where they don't talk much about the body you know a la Ms Marple! So this was a departure.

I read a lot and fast but this is 617 pages! I went to read reviews of this on Amazon and though there were many 5 stars, there were a lot of 1's that agreed with me.

Its called A Prayer for Owen Meany

and it is one of the few books I can't wait until I'm finished! But now I have to see what happens to the characters of course!

I've only completely abandoned a book before if it was horribly depressing with no end in sight or horribly gruesome.This one isn'too much but just kind of dismal and wordy, though sometimes funny. Some books you just wish you had never picked up.

Still it makes me feel like I can't wait to read something I enjoy!

I know this is absurd but I feel compelled to finish. I can't leave the characters flopping in the twilight zone, never to know what happens!

[Laura14]

The last book that did this to me was The Fireman by Joe Hill. 

If I had the actual book and not just listened to it on audio, I would have thrown it across the room. 

I hate when you go all through a book (especially a long one) that is dragging waiting for the climax which is so ridiculous when it does happen (sort of) and then the ending you see coming a mile away.........it's been a year and I am STILL not over my first and last experience with this author.   Never again.

I know this experience and I hate it too.  It's honestly the reason I don't read much fiction anymore. 

[Vivian]

Oh yes. I have done this many times, I have my favorite British mystery writers but lately some of them have turned out really lousy books. I made my way to the end, recycled the book to my village fair, and vowed never to read another in the series ever again.

[2blonde]

@on the bay  I have a pretty short attention span, so I just read periodicals.....no big commitment there and I gather a lot of information!  

[chiclets]

Yes. The book was The Help, and another was Gone Girl.

[pateacher]

As a former English teacher, I am loathe to put down a partially -read book.

After years of prodding (read threatening) students about not finishing a reading assignment, I always feel hypocritical if I don't read on to the bitter end.

Most of the time, my persistance pays off.  I usually find some saving grace in whatever I read.

The only book I never finished was Reading Lolita in Tehran.

[SXMGirl]

I don't do it too often, but I recently finished Bonfire by Krysten Ritter.  The more that I read of the book, the more I disliked the main character.  Since I paid for the book, I felt that I should finish it.  More often, I am reading Kindle Unlimited books.  If I don't like one of those, it is easy to delete; but, most of the time, the books are good.

[PA Mom-mom]

Finnegan's Wake. It was required of English majors. I didn't have enough time to try to figure it out, even though I knew what the themes were supposed to be. Hey, it took James Joyce 17 years to write it, so...

The only book I put down after the second chapter was Gone Girl. I actually spent good money on that one at the recommendation of my SIL!

The other book I didn't finish was All The Pretty Horses. But, I think it was just at the wrong stage of my life. Think I'll revisit it after I retire.

[DiAnne]

I have done that but I try to use the 70 page rule.  If the book has not grabbed me by page 70 I move on.  

[Spurt]

There was one cozy mystery, "The Price Of Truth", the author is Cam Tang.

The premise sounding interesting, it took place at an auction. But the book was so slow going and the author's style didn't flow so it was not easy to read.  If that wasn't bad enough the author kept repeating the same things she already said. Surely a good editor should have noticed and corrected this!...I FORCED myself to finish the book in order to solve the mystery, and then I wrote a negative review in the hopes of steering others away from this book!  ..