Thursday, July 15, 2010

Did Not Could Not Finish

You know those moments when you realize that a book is just wasting your time?  You start imagining all the other amazing things that are going on in the piles of unread books sitting on your desk, nightstand, bookshelf, etc?  Well, I had one of those moments.  Without further ado....my Did Not Could Not Finish books.

Shiver - Maggie Stiefvater (Audio Book)

I should have known.  I mean, I read most of the Twilight series but really couldn't care about how it ended. So that should have told me right there.  Shiver is another YA girl in love with a werewolf kind of thing, but I read so many good reviews and, well, just look at the cover...gorgeous!!  BUT.  Maybe it was because it was an audio version and the writing seemed, well juvenile (I know it's a YA but still).  I think Maggie took writing lessons a' la Stephenie Meyer.  For example, when Sam started thinking about Grace and then thought of a poem and the guitar riff that would accompany it, well, I just had to snicker.  Also, in the audio version, Sam, voiced by a guy, does impersonations of Grace that just makes me wince.  Then there's Grace's bizarre romantic thoughts about a wolf.  I mean, isn't that illegal in most States if not all?  I just got to a certain point and realized I was wasting my time.  I'm sorry Maggie Stiefvater, you have tons of fans but I'll just pass on this one.

Into the Wilderness - Sara Donati

I had so high hopes for this one but I should have known when I checked it out at the library and the book is seriously around 900 pages long.  Um, really?  I have been reading on my iPod touch the classic story The Last of the Mohicans by James Fenimore Cooper.  One of my favorite movies is The Last of the Mohicans so I've been slowly reading this 19th Century classic.  When I heard Into the Wilderness was about the main characters' son and his tale, I thought this was a must-read.  I love this period in American history and wanted to love this book.  I will admit the writing is not bad.  But the main problem? The length!  I got to page 391 when I realized that had this been an average sized book, I would have finished it by now.  It was starting to get old reading about the same things over and over and over.  I mean, how many times can the spinster 29 year old who falls in love with the main hero wonder how anyone finds her attractive at her age and how she is so unversed in the going ons between two people in love.   Blah.  So sorry Sara Donati, maybe when you come out with an abridged version I'll check back with you.

***What are your Did Not Could Not Finish books?

8 comments:

  1. I've haven't even tried Shiver yet. Sooo burned out on YA paranormal lit.

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  2. I'm really surprised about Shiver. I've seen tons of good reviews, too. Thanks for the candid opinion.

    My could-not-finish book was The Friday Night Knitting Club. I hate it when something comes completely out of nowhere and bulldozes the road the plot was on before. It's not that I want something predictable, but there's a difference between making a left turn and getting picked up and dropped in Singapore.

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  3. I actually finished Into The Wilderness. And yes, the woman needs a good editor. I have the next book in that series but haven't tried it yet. I'm afraid.

    I have tried repeatedly to finish The Great Gatsby. Uh. Never again. I also gave up on Loving Frank -- what a group of narcissistic, obnoxiously self-serving people. Who wants to read about that? BAH!

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  4. I can't do audio books because if the person doing them is horrible, I just can't take it! Ugh! But, the one on my list is a recent one in the past year, that I just could not finish and I know other people liked it -- Labyrinth, by Kate Mosse. I love those types of story lines, but I just could not get into this one! :(

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  5. I finish almost everything, but not a ghost story called "Julian's House". Also I got really irritated with "Edgar Sawtelle" and put it down once I realized I was actually reading a rehash of a certain classic play I will refrain from naming, just in case.

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  6. I really do want to read Shiver and Linger one day but it's not at the top of the reading pile.

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  7. I started and just couldn't get into Alice Sebold's The Almost Moon. I also started Eat, Pray, Love, but couldn't get ito it. I thought I would start it again when I was ain a different place, just to see!

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  8. I keep picking up Into the Wilderness, but I've never actually started it. I probably never will!

    I couldn't finish Eat, Pray, Love either.

    Oh, by the way...I just found your blog!

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