What am I deciding? I'll tell you. I have received 10 books in the mail in the last three days and I've made an important decision. I am no longer going to torture myself by trying to finish a book that I'm not all that thrilled with just so I can say I reviewed that book. Why? Because half the time when I force myself to finish a story I end up not wanting to post a review anyway. A negative review can hurt the author and I do try to promote Christian fiction because I believe in it. If I still liked the book a lot but just noted some flaws, then I will continue to mention them, but I am NOT finishing dull books anymore just to end up tossing them to the side anyway.
Part of my reasoning here is I spent the day at a book fair and while sitting around I picked up a paranormal thriller - gasp, I know - and I set it down only to keep on picking it up again. Then I did what I NEVER do. I actually bought the book. I couldn't stand it anymore. I had to find out what happened. Just like with Deborah M. Piccurelli's book In the Midst of Deceit, I picked it up to peek at chapter one and then I couldn't put it down without thinking about--obsessing over--the story. From now on that is going to have to be a prerequisite for me. The book has to draw me...a lot.
SO there you have it. I ought to be able to plow through my to-be-read pile much faster now. :) And the fun thing is that unless you read my blog daily you may not notice which books drop off my "what I'm reading" list. So if you pay close attention you may figure it out. If not... Oh, well. I simply don't have the luxury of pressing on with a so-so book anymore. If it doesn't grab my interest sufficiently by chapters 3-5 or has a sagging (yawn) middle, it's getting set off to the side from this day forward. I'm putting my foot down! Comments anyone?
3 comments:
You go, girl! Just don't put my book down. ha-ha! seriously, I don't know how you read all those books--good or bad--and then find time to write, take care of your household, work full time. It is high time you quit reading the dull ones. I can't tell you how many books I've purchased only to stop reading them 1/3 of the way through. Discouraging.
Blessings,
Shar
I'm off to Florida for three weeks so I may not be posting on your site for a while.
I actually think you do readers a service if you DO mention what books lost your interest. It doesn't have to be snarky or mean, but just why it didn't hold your interest would do.
Mir
I wholeheartedly agree with your decision! I recently made a similar one. I've always felt sort of an obligation to finish books once I started them. Not because I was reviewing. Just felt like a character flaw if I didn't. I have stacks of books I'm reading to "learn from"--technique, craft, etc. I finally decided if the books were boring and I dreaded reading them, I probably didn't need to emulate them, anyway!
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