I Didn’t Finish

We’ve talked some about finishing books, or not. We’ve talked some about my historical reluctance to not finish a book I started. Like other aspects of my reading this continues to evolve. Intellectually, I agree that there is no good argument for me to devote my time to a book I’m not enjoying when there are so many other books I want to read. I struggle with it anyway. It is hard for me to get past the feeling that I have failed; that I was weak. 

That said, in the past week I started and put down two books. Not only didn’t I finish, but I decided pretty early on that I wasn’t going to finish. 

I’m not going to name the books or writers. I prefer to keep our focus on books and writers we enjoy, but I will say a little about the process.

The first book was from the featured writer interview at an event I went to and there were aspects of how the book was written that intrigued me. From the first sentence, the writing got in the way for me. Sometimes writing is so good that my reading is slowed because I’m stopping to think about a word or a phrase or a sentence. That isn’t what was happening with this book. The writing was annoying me. It was annoying me to the point that I couldn’t enjoy the story. I put it down after a handful of chapters.

The second was a book that caught my eye in the library. Historical fiction, a topic that interested me, and a recommendation on the cover from a writer I respected – What could go wrong? The writing, again the writing. It might not have even been two chapters and I was ready to move on. I saw the recommendation on the cover again and thought that maybe I was being hasty so I read some more, but not too much more; back to the library.

It is still a struggle for me, but I am becoming a believer in choosing to quickly move on from books you don’t enjoy.

How about you? What do you think? Let us know at twosides2thestory@yahoo.com