Wednesday, March 3, 2010

I just couldn't take it anymore...

Okay, I've put this off long enough.  I've just been feeling guilty about my visit to abandoned bookdom.  I have not been very lucky in the past two months in reading books that I have particularly liked (exceptions, of course, were Shutter Island and my current read, The Silent Governess).  After forcing myself to finish Unity: The Aelf Club (review here), I had high hopes for Powers by John B. Olson.  That didn't last long! I made it about 130 pages in and I just thought, "I'm not going to put myself through this again!"  There are too many books out there to waste my time on a book that I'm forcing myself to read.  Now I'm not in the habit of giving up on books and if this would have been a classic, I may have given it more pages before giving up.  However, despite feeling mildly guilty, I feel this was the right decision.

Here is a brief explanation as to why I abandoned Powers (from my review on Library Thing):

The plot is so convoluted and strange. Nothing really makes sense. Like others have said, it could be because I haven't read the first book, but honestly I just did not like the writing style at all. The characters were not likeable...they were actually really annoying. I rarely abandon a book, but in this case, I just could not make my self read another 270 pages to finish this book.

There it is...in a nutshell!

How long do you read a book before you decide you just can't take it anymore?!

11 comments:

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  1. I had the same problems with this book. I too couldn't finish it.

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  2. Juju--glad I wasn't the only one! One of the things that bothered me...what was up with bu-phone and bu-car? Just utterly strange!

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  3. I don't blame you for putting down a book you don't enjoy. I don't put down books often either, but if I can't get into the story there is really no need for me to waste my time. I will give it a few chapters before I decide weather or not it's just not my kind of book.

    Here is to hoping your next book is better! :)

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  4. I applaud your decision. I was loading up a new bookshelf the other day, and I marveled at how many books I have that I'm dying to read. There's just so much good stuff out there. Glad you didn't waste your time!

    Thanks for stopping by Pat's blog for my guest post, too!

    Laura Hartness
    The Calico Critic

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  5. I've had to "put down" a couple books in the past month as well. Both were translations. One I gave up after two pages of enormously long, runon sentences. The other just didn't have a story that grabbed me. And there are so many books on my TBR pile that it doesn't make sense to struggle with something dissatisfactory.

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  6. Thanks guys! Glad to see that others feel the same way as I do.

    You're welcome Laura!

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  7. Like the new background!! If I can get past at least 100 pages I do not read it. But now that I am reviewing I feel guilty if I do not finish a review book. I do have a fantasy one coming up and I do not care for fantasy but will have to finish.....

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  8. Depends on the book. Usually I try to read a 1/4 of it before I give up, but if it's bad it's bad.

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  9. I haven't read many positive reviews of this book, so it doesn't seem you are by yourself on this one. Everything I've heard about this one makes me think I wouldn't care for it either, and good for you for sticking to your guns.

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  10. CelticLady--I know what you mean about the "for review" thing. If it's from an author or for a blog tour, I try to get through it (Unity: Aelf Club, for instance). This one was a Library Thing early reviewer copy and I usually try to finish books from them as well, but this one I just could not. There has only been one other one I received from them that I couldn't finish. Thanks about the layout. I was so excited when I found it today!

    Heidenkind--that's my general rule. About a quarter in...that's what I did with this book.

    Ryan--I have not heard great things about this one either. I also read most of the reviews over at Library Thing. There weren't very many positive ones. Thanks for your support! =O)

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  11. I do not give a book very long. If it does not appeal to me pretty fast, good-bye, book!

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