You know what I don't like about books...quitting them. There are perfectly good reasons to quit reading a book. I know this. But, I don't do it. Very rarely does a book bore me, annoy me, anger me, or confuse me enough to quit it. There have been a few rare occasions, and I thought I'd share about those times.
50 Shades of Grey by E.L. James: The hype of this book interested me. I don't read many books that have a phenomenal fan base surrounding them. Never read Harry Potter. Didn't read The Hunger Games. I gave in and read the Twilight series. I read Divergent but didn't read any others in the trilogy and don't plan to. So...when I started seeing people talk about this book, and I mean people that rarely read, yet they actually read this...plus, the other readers from family members to friends, I thought I'd see what the fuss was all about. I only had about 50 pages left to finish the book, I looked at my guy and said "I could care less how this ends", and he replied "Why are wasting your time? You like to read. Read something that you are interested in." So, I quit it. I could care less about the characters. Christian Grey did not excite me. Anastasia Steele bored me. I didn't care about them. I didn't care what happened to the story. I stopped. I'm glad there are books that interest people enough to create hysterics around them, but usually, they ain't for me.
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| Photo source |
The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown: Another book with a lot of fans, and another one that I quit. The reason I quit it sorta kinda seems ridiculous as I think about it. I read thrillers with serial killings. I've read books with abuse, rape, and addiction. I've read books with so many sins I can't begin to list them all and enjoyed them too (such as The Dirt from Motley Crue). But. This one, I quit this one because the Christians seemed to be the corrupted, murdering bad guys. I thought for sure that God would not be happy with me if I continued reading it. Does it make sense? No. But, it happened.
Star Man: The Right Hand Man of Rock 'n' Roll by Michael Francis: This is my kind of book...a memoir from a rough and tumble guy who ended up working in the music business for many acts in the world of music including Cher, KISS, Sheena Easton, Led Zeppelin, and my beloved, Bon Jovi. He was head of security and tour manager and got to know some of those artists pretty well. There's sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll. So. Why did I quit this book? I reached a chapter about a The Lost Week (I think it was called)...and it was going to entail explicit stories of sex and drugs with Bon Jovi. Many of fans want to read these juicy details. I don't. Jon is on a pedestal with me. I want him to stay there. He is the only celebrity I feel this way about. I respect his private life, he fights to be somewhat private, and he demands loyalty from those in his inner circle. So. I couldn't bring myself to read it. Ridiculous? Absolutely. But, it's the truth. It is still on my bookshelf at home. Maybe, one day, I'll be brave enough to finish it.
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| The author of Star Man at JBJ's wedding - photo source |
Our Mutual Friend by Charles Dickens: My friend, jenn, is a fan of this book. It is one of her favorite books of all time. You can read about her admiration here. She sent this book to me in a care package. I needed to read it, right? Right. I tried. I did. Damn, if Mr. Dickens isn't a sunovabitch to read. I think I kept it at my bedside for almost two years, trying to convince myself to read it. I couldn't do it. I don't know how far I got. Maybe 100ish pages out of 800ish, but I couldn't do it. I have another friend who is an English teacher and a fan of early British literature. So much so that she got this tattoo of Charles Dickens. I picked up Our Mutual Friend again after seeing her in May. I think I read five pages (maybe) before saying goodbye to Dickens.
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| Tattoo by Gabriel Massey at Scorpion Studios, Houston TX |
If you are familiar with Kristen, you know she loves herself some P&P (you tells you about that love here). Kristen, I love you. You are funny, pretty, smart, and make me smile on a regular basis. I really wanted to read this book for you, but I couldn't........
Pride & Prejudice by Jane Austen: So many characters. So much dialogue. I was either confused or distracted or lost or bored. There are 5 Bennet sisters, and some of them have nicknames. There's a few more sisters mixed in the story...sisters of suitors. Oh, the suitors. Mr. Collins & Mr. Bingley & Mr. Darcy & Mr. Wickham and some soldiers too. Honestly, I couldn't keep them straight. Maybe I'm not smart enough for Pride & Prejudice. I need a family tree, a flow chart, and a dictionary to attempt to read this. I probably should watch the movie instead. I like Keira Knightley.
What are your thoughts about quitting books? Any specific ones you quit that come to mind?
I hated the 50 Shades book but I was determined to finish it. Only because everyone I worked with was talking about it and I didn't want to feel left out. I know sad right?
ReplyDeleteI understand about P&P. it makes me sad, but I understand.
ReplyDeleteI couldn't even get through the first page of 50 shades. No thank you very much.
I would never be able to list all the books I quit. I quit three last week alone. LOL Or was it two?
ReplyDeleteThe one that always comes to mind for me is The Corrections. Hated it.
Hahaha, I forget which book it was but I had to draw a family tree just to keep everyone straight too! And I went back to it frequently! I almost quit Eat, Pray Love because the "pray" section bored me terribly. Recently I quit Adventure Divas and Teatime for Firefly because I lost interest. I also never made it past the first Harry Potter book. I do feel bad when I quit books in the middle though.
ReplyDeleteI read Twilight and the 50 Shades series and loved them at the time, embarrassingly enough. I don't think I'd really like either now. Well, maybe I'd still enjoy Twilight. But I wouldn't admit it to anyone if I did. The only book that really sticks out to me that I couldn't finish was the 5th Harry Potter book. I read the first four, got the fifth one, started reading it but couldn't get into it and left it for a long time. I started over and I couldn't get into it, again. SO boring. So I didn't read any more of the books.
ReplyDeleteI have no qualms about quitting a book after 100 pages if I'm not into it. I have so many books on the list of books I want to read why waste time reading something I'm not enjoying? I just quit Tiny Little Things this weekend, it's not a bad book I just don't care about a girl raised to be a politicians wife and the downfall of it all.
ReplyDeleteI genuinely cannot quit a book. It truly is odd but I cannot quit a book. I read it even if I hate it. I read 50 shades - the entire series - it was ok to me. I read twilight and hunger games too. But I could not do the HP series. Nope. couldnt do it.
ReplyDeleteMy mum stole my copy of the Da Vinci Code. I read it and felt bad for reading it - my mum didnt think I should have it in her christian house and to date I legit dont know what she did with it haha
I actually have just started quitting books instead of finishing them! I finally got tired of finishing books that I knew were not going to be good and it was just a trial to get through them. I never picked up 50 shades other then I glanced at the first page so how about the writing was and was like no no thank you. I know it started as fanfiction and normally I love fanfiction but I just couldn't
ReplyDeleteYeah, I don't want to read anything that makes JBJ sound anything less than perfect. I adore him.
ReplyDeleteThe DaVinci Code is, I think, different than you think it's going to turn out. You should give it another go.
girl YES. i fridggen hated 50 shades like no other. and p&p i don't even think I could handle. but! i love that damn movie. most ardently. :) i have no shame in not finishing a book. i mean i have a moment of "shit, i should have finished this" but sometimes, our time is just too precious! (i recently couldn't finish 'wild' and thought people may stone me. i just could not do it)
ReplyDeletexoxo cheshire kat
I've quite P&P about 3 times...I don't know why I keep trying!
ReplyDeleteI quit Wuthering Heights. It made me want to top myself in despair! But I loved Jane Eyre. Go figure.
ReplyDeleteNice to see an honest review of books :)
ReplyDeleteI've read 50 shades.. all of them... don't ask me why!
But Dan Brown I've heard great things about.
I'm an absolute bookworm and haven't read any of these - blush
www.bohemianmuses.blogspot.com
I have no problem quitting books. I read through 50 Shades because I refused to let it beat me. I've not read Harry Potter or Twilight or Divergent and have no plans to.
ReplyDeleteI quit on several books this year, most notably The Rosie Effect and The Journalist and the Murderer. I might quit on A Little Life because it's just so damn depressing and I'm not feeling it right now. Life is too short to read books that don't do it for you.
I quit 50 Shades as well! I tried to like it, but just kept thinking the same thing - I don't care what happens in this book. I rarely quit a book but that was the last one!
ReplyDeleteI don't think I've ever completely quit a book before. Sometimes I wish I could force myself to do this, but I just can't. There were a few times in the past when I'd put a book down for too long (think 2 weeks or longer) and then realize I no longer remembered what was going on when I tried to get back into it. I always go back and finish them eventually, though ... I just have to start over.
ReplyDeleteThe only book on this list that I've read was Pride and Prejudice. I didn't hate it, but I didn't love it either. It's one of those books that was just "meh" for me and probably would receive 2 stars if I rated it on Goodreads.
I won't even bother with 50 Shades because I just know I would hate it. Everything I've ever heard or read about it confirms that it's probably just not the book series for me. I'm not opposed to explicit sex in books, but this just doesn't interest me at all.
I usually try to finish every book I start to read because mostly I start them because they really sound interesting. I did start 50 Shades of Grey as well because I wanted to know what all the fuss is about. I quit after only 5 pages because it was so horrible. :)
ReplyDelete