I tried the Sonia and Sunny book too, but the writing style just didn’t appeal to me.
I’m also about 2/3 through The Frozen People, a time travel mystery by Elly Griffiths. I’m enjoying it so much that I’m trying not to race through it, but it’s hard to do!
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I’ve been giving myself permission not to finish books that don’t captivate me at some point. Fifty or a hundred pages are often the tipping point (but Look At Me lasted 230 or so). Occasionally I’ll get fed up after just a few chapters, which almost happened with Sonia and Sunny, and I can’t rule out that I’ll tire of it as well.
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I enjoyed that, I also like her Ruth Galloway series.
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I’ve been a degreed librarian since 1975, and it’s my professional and personal belief that life’s too short to waste it reading things you don’t like. Forcing yourself to go to the bitter end is a sure way to learn to dislike a book/author. I would guess that most of us are past the age of having to read an assigned book for school, thank goodness!
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One of my neighbors has this mini (FREE) library at the end of her driveway. Give a book – take a book scenario. If I get a book I don’t like, I turn it back in and take another one.
Just because I didn’t like a book doesn’t mean that the next person won’t enjoy it.
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Free little libraries are all over town here. One of my projects is to box up the piles of books I’ve already read and won’t be reading again and drive around distributing them to the libraries.
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Excellent! I have a Little Free Library too.
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Thanks to both you and @Desert-Dan. Donations are the key to a thriving LFL.
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Thank you so much for having one. It is such a great idea.
It’s also fun looking for that next book to read!!
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It’s super popular with kids and adults!
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I stop reading books I find depressing, as I don’t need to hear more crap with everything going on. Example: started a non fiction read on private equity. That book depressed me and made me angry as hell. Private equity is longer capitalism, it’s a bastardization where laws have sheltered some “investing” where there’s no consequences for bad behavior. We’re in trouble for a reason. Life is too short…and I still have memories of having to read Jane Austin in 7th grade and Homer in 6th. Who the hell does that to kids if the intent to get them to read.
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I never saw the appeal of Jane Austin. I really love Jane Eyre. I love books that you just can’t put down, fight off sleep to keep on reading.
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There is a whole school of people who think that books are like medicine and should be good for you, not necessarily enjoyable. When I was a school librarian, I had many discussions with parents about why we weren’t recommending “the classics”. My feeling is that many of them are inaccessible and even boring. Also had lots of conversations about graphic books (comic format) vs. “real books”. My philosophy is that reading is reading. Many students loved graphic books and were voracious consumers. “Real books” left them cold.
I’m also not a fan of Jane Austin. Too subtle for me!
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Yes, thank goodness. I was a children’s librarian for many years and enjoyed most of what came across my desk. As with all writings, you have to find what works for you.
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Imagine 7th graders reading Jane Austin…lots of blank stares and snoozing. In any case, yeah, reading stuff that’s interesting and engaging to the demographic is the way to go. I remember helping an adult literacy program via another non-profit and by golly they came to the same conclusion…no see Dick run or Jane run…instead adult content is what got late learners reading and wanting to learn. I remember thinking, of course that makes sense, like duh.
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(Austen, not Austin)
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Remember Hooked on Books?
When my daughter was a teen she read lots of books but was refusing to read The Catcher in the Rye … I’m convinced it was because the cover seemed unappealing to her. She’s quite stubborn but I was able to convince her to give it a chance and she ended up loving it.
Alas, I could never get her to read Jane Eyre.
When I was a teacher I really wanted to turn kids on to reading.
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