Books you just couldn't get through

[Michael]

How many times have you taken a chance on a book from an unknown author and as much as you try, you just can't get through it. I would be interested to begin a list of titles and the reason's why you couldn't finish the book.

[Thomas]

The Friends of Eddie Coyle for me--about 10 years ago. I found the dialect too difficult. It was the first book for me by Higgins. I recently tried a different book Outlaws by George V. Higgins and finished it. I gave it 4 out 5 stars

[Michael]

I am glad you gave George V. Higgins another try. Funny how one book could be so bad and others much better.

[Skye]

Yes, this does happen, and frequently with me.

[Pete]

Thomas wrote: "The Friends of Eddie Coyle for me--about 10 years ago. I found the dialect too difficult. It was the first book for me by Higgins. I recently tried a different book Outlaws by Ge..."

Hey! That dialect is BAW-ston!

My father used to drink with Higgins.

[Thomas]

Pete wrote: "Thomas wrote: "The Friends of Eddie Coyle for me--about 10 years ago. I found the dialect too difficult. It was the first book for me by Higgins. I recently tried a different book ..."

I do like books that take place in Boston---Robert B Parker's books. I think Higgins went overboard w. dialect in Coyle. I also like some dialect. I worked w. many folks who were involuntarily transferred from Boston to Western NY and had no trouble understanding them.

[Marian]

Sometimes thou,for me personally,I have to be in the right frame of mine to read a book..any genre actually,when I think about it.Sometimes Im thunder struck,when I pick up a fav author and start reading..and its not doing much for me.I put the book down for a few days,pick it again..and guess what..I love it!!!Im complicated I guess..lol!

[Skye]

Yes, and I am learning that once again; I had fallen away with something so logical, but it does make sense.

[Pete]

Thomas wrote: "Pete wrote: "Thomas wrote: "The Friends of Eddie Coyle for me--about 10 years ago. I found the dialect too difficult. It was the first book for me by Higgins. I recently tried a di..."

All my stuff takes place between Boston and Cape Cod, and involves political hacks, so dialect is important - but SPARINGLY.

Here’s the latest guy to make hay with the “Boston accent.”

https://youtu.be/XKTQhKEt8Xk

And these ladies are side-splitting:

https://youtu.be/FEm0t5Wc11U

[Pete]

As for put-asides, I regret to say that I have been quitting on 75% of BookBub’s offerings within the first 20 pages. Too many to mention.

[Belle]

There is a whole series of Shit Southern Women Say too.

[Michael]

Pete wrote: "As for put-asides, I regret to say that I have been quitting on 75% of BookBub’s offerings within the first 20 pages. Too many to mention."

Good to know.

[Michael]

Marian wrote: "Sometimes thou,for me personally,I have to be in the right frame of mine to read a book..any genre actually,when I think about it.Sometimes Im thunder struck,when I pick up a fav author and start r..."

Isn't that funny how that happens...weird.

[Jean]

One I wished I hadn't finished: Gone Girl. I learned my lesson when The Girl on the Train started to give me the same "Why am I wasting my time?" feeling. I DNF'd it. Just didn't like the characters or the writing well enough to continue. I know there are many who loved both of these books, but I just didn't. There are too many other good books out there for me to enjoy.

[Skye]

Hey Jean, you that's how I felt about Dark Places: I forced myself to read it, and it made me feel gloomier and dark, just like the book. Life is too short to waste on reading books we dislike ( although I loved Gone Girl).

[Marian]

I also loved Gone Gone..A great complex psychological thriller..and I also really enjoyed "The Girl On The Train" to.

[Thomas]

I love bookbub. My wife and I both read books from it. Our quit rate is about 20%

[Skye]

Thomas, what is bookbub? You've mentioned it before.

[Thomas]

https://www.bookbub.com/ebook-deals/f...

See above link for today's books, 1 of which is Louisiana Hotshot, which I have reviewed in this group. You can sign up for emails or like them on facebook

[Skye]

Thanks, Thomas; I checked it out, and it appears to be all e-books.

[Thomas]

Yes, all ebooks--our kindles are great for trips.

[Melissa]

Jean wrote: "One I wished I hadn't finished: Gone Girl. I learned my lesson when The Girl on the Train started to give me the same "Why am I wasting my time?" feeling. I DNF'd it. Just didn't like the character..."
Gone Girl and Girl on a Train were both horrible books as far as I am concerned and I read a great deal. Thank goodness I did not waste money on them. I use bookbub but am very selective there as well as our public library to reserve 15 books at a time.

[Skye]

Melissa; this is so interesting; both books are compared with one another, and in all my years, I have never seen a distinct division between thumbs up or down. Those who liked both, did so vigorously; those who did not were vehement about their feelings. I am intrigued by this.

[Pete]

BookBub appears to be the most successful (and well funded) independent promoter of free and reduced price ebooks on the internet.

It has, over the past few years, developed opt-in email lists containing millions of ebook buyers, by genre. So, you sign up for the daily email in the Thriller category, and every day, you learn of 2-5 new offerings, between Free and $4.99.

They have thousands of sponsorship requests from indies, and they attempt to curating them principally by looking at the number of 5 star reviews, cover, blurb, etc. I know a LOT of great indie books that have been rejected, and too many that should have been.

One excellent sign of its efficacy for the author is that many backlist items of formerly traditionally published authors (some who’ve been around since the 60’s-70’s, like Leon Uris) are promoted, either by the authors themselves or frequently Open Road Media, which has made a huge business of buying rights or arranging rights management with a lot of copyright holders, such as the estates of deceased authors.

So there is great quality at the top end, for sure. I just don’t seem to have had good luck with the indie stuff.

I will offer an example of a superb crime/mystery novel that BB has rejected twice. Have a glance at Loisaida -- A New York Story.

(Sorry for the O/T)

[Melissa]

Thanks, Pete. I think I'm just easy, meaning I will read almost anything as long as it is not obvious trash or romance or sci fi. I do not know why Gone Girl and Girl on a Train turned me off soooooo much when others loved them. I look at Bookbub as fun reading when my library requests are not coming through fast enough. I just ordered your recommendation. See, I am easy! See you in September!

[Thomas]

Pete wrote: "BookBub appears to be the most successful (and well funded) independent promoter of free and reduced price ebooks on the internet.

It has, over the past few years, developed opt-in email lists co..."
I also bought your recommended book.

[Skye]

Thanks, Pete: it is a great place for e-books.

[Pete]

Wow, I’m eager to know if you think my recs are trash!

[Melissa]

I seriously doubt that given the great quality of the books you write!

[Skye]

Pete, was your comment for me? I don't read e-books.

[Melissa]

Skye,

I doubt it. Pete and I are friends from high school (just a few decades or so ago) so I'm thinking it was directed at me. I read everything he writes as well as his recommendations.

Melissa

[Michael]

Melissa wrote: "Jean wrote: "One I wished I hadn't finished: Gone Girl. I learned my lesson when The Girl on the Train started to give me the same "Why am I wasting my time?" feeling. I DNF'd it. Just didn't like ..."

Hi Melissa,

I haven't read the book, but I did see Gone Girl, the movie. If the book is anything like the movie, I am glad I didn't read the book. It wasn't very good.

[Skye]

Melissa wrote: "Skye,

I doubt it. Pete and I are friends from high school (just a few decades or so ago) so I'm thinking it was directed at me. I read everything he writes as well as his recommendations.

Melissa"
Thanks, Melissa: wasn't certain.

[Skye]

Michael wrote: "Melissa wrote: "Jean wrote: "One I wished I hadn't finished: Gone Girl. I learned my lesson when The Girl on the Train started to give me the same "Why am I wasting my time?" feeling. I DNF'd it. J..."

I personally loved Gone Girl ( the book).

[Michael]

Several years back I started John Grisham's, The Litigators. I tried really hard to finish it, but my interests got distracted to other books.

[Skye]

That happens sometimes, and it's good you could put it aside.

[Bill]

I put down Gray'S Mountain by Grisham. For me it would have been better if he would have stuck with the legal clinic instead of going the environmental route

[Skye]

I never read it; sometimes writers get caught within their own entrapments: Stephen King easily branched out in various areas that were atypical with his original books.

[Samantha]

I've never gave up on a book. There is a few I thought I wouldn't finish but I just grind through it

[Michael]

Samantha wrote: "I've never gave up on a book. There is a few I thought I wouldn't finish but I just grind through it"

Good for you Samantha!

[Samantha]

Does get hard sometimes. One book I thought I would of gave up on was *the detectives daughter*. Took me ages to finish that

[Michael]

I just remember another book I just couldn't read another page, The Partnership, by Steven Harper. The first few chapters dealt with billable hours by attorneys. Not the most engaging subject.

[Pete]

So here’s a question:

If a book disinterests you enough that you put it down, are you justified in posting a critical review for that reason?

Laying personal practice aside, is it fair to leave a negative “DNF” review?

I think the answer to that is an emphatic YES.

I think “Did Not Finish” is a valuable 3 word review (and there aren’t too many of those), for both reader and writer.

[Samantha]

Gifted thief I finished other day but took me weeks to ring it. Really wanted to give it up

[Michael]

Pete wrote: "So here’s a question:

If a book disinterests you enough that you put it down, are you justified in posting a critical review for that reason?

Laying personal practice aside, is it fair to leave a..."

I agree to a point, Pete. If a reader gets through half of a book, and for whatever reason, doesn't finish it then writes a review with "Did Not Finish", that is certainly justified. However, if a reader only reads a small portion of the book and then writes a review, "Did Not Finish", is that an accurate assessment? I personally don't think so. I once saw a reader write a review indicating he only read, "3 pages" of the book and had to put it down. How can a review be taken seriously if the reader only read 3 pages?

[Pete]

Michael wrote: "I once saw a reader write a review indicating he only read, "3 pages" of the book and had to put it down. How can a review be taken seriously if the reader only read 3 pages?"

Why, perhaps the book was just that bad. There are many of them, you know? Thousands.

Why would I feel obliged to read to the halfway point of a book I thought was terrible? To see if it got better?

If I go to a live music venue, and the band sucks through the first song, do I have to wait until the end of the set to form my judgment? I’m not qualified to leave a Yelp review because I only heard one song?

I’m sorry if I sound a bit militant about this, Michael - nothing personal about it - I just feel that readers have a virtually unqualified right to express their opinions, as long as the opinions are about the book. If the opinion is absurd, then it obviously won’t be taken seriously (just like all the 5 star “best book everrrrrrr” three word reviews).

[David]

Two books I could not get through were Nelson DeMille's The Gold Coast and Stephen J. Cannell's At First Sight, even though I like both authors very much.

I slogged through 200 pages before I gave up on The Gold Coast and 5 chapters before I dumped At First Sight. In both cases I posted a review stating my reason (I couldn't stand the characters) for bailing on them.

I quit reading B. A. Savage's Into Darkness after only 21 pages because I counted almost 50 grammar and usage errors in those pages.

So, I agree with Pete. I don't need to read the whole book (or even half of it) to form an opinion of it. I only need to read far enough to know that it's a lost cause, that whatever turned me off about the book to that point isn't going to get better the further I go.

But I agree with you, Michael, that 3 pages is not enough to form a valid opinion about a book. An exception would be if something in those 3 pages offended the reader to the point where they could not continue reading, and that to me would be a legitimate reason for not reading beyond that point.

[Michael]

Pete wrote: "Michael wrote: "I once saw a reader write a review indicating he only read, "3 pages" of the book and had to put it down. How can a review be taken seriously if the reader only read 3 pages?"

Why,..."
No worries Pete. I love the interaction. My point I was attempting to express is, can a reader actually draw a well-informed opinion after ONLY 3 pages? It's like only listening to one song of a band, that may not be your favorite or is bad, but they may have 14 more that are wonderful. I don't care for some of the Beatles songs, but I certainly can survive through one bad song to hear many good ones.

I have read many books that start out bad, but redeems itself as the story continued. Sometimes giving something a chance actually can change one's mind.

I can't agree with you more Pete, that readers have a right to express their opinion as long as it is not absurd. Only reading 3 pages of a 250-page novel can come across as "Absurd."

[Scott]

Michael wrote: "Pete wrote: "Michael wrote: "I once saw a reader write a review indicating he only read, "3 pages" of the book and had to put it down. How can a review be taken seriously if the reader only read 3 ..."

I'm going to disagree with you here, Michael. Many times I've tossed a book after a few pages, though three seems a tad hasty.

If I start on page one and I find excessive head-hopping, wooden dialogue, unrealistic characters, and an info-dump backstory, I have every reason to suspect that trend of poor writing will continue throughout. I simply won't waste my time on poor writing habits.

[Michael]

Scott, I respect your opinion as you make several important points. I would like to add, that head-hopping, wooden dialogue, unrealistic characters and an info-dump backstory, certainly, can't be determined in the first few pages. It does take some time to make those determinations.

If I make the determination the writing is poor after a while, then I have no problem dumping the book.