But I just had to put Sacred Hearts down uncompleted. Not that it's bad, it's just not doing it for me right now. With all the drama going on in my real life I think I need a book with more bite to it - something with more action and that can make me forget MY drama (for the moment at least) and a book that takes place solely in a nunnery isn't it.
Now, I'm on to Susan Carroll's Twilight of a Queen. I'm certain that my favorite bad girl, Catherine de Medici, will do the trick!
Has there been a book that you just had to give up on simply because of the mood you're in?
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All the time! The latest was "The Zookeeper's Wife" It was moving too slowly for my pregnancy brain...
ReplyDeleteOh no! I'm going to be reading Sacred Hearts soon - hopefully I'm in the mood for it. I actually had to put down In the Company of the Courtesan because I wasn't in the mood for it, and I never picked it up again sadly.
ReplyDeleteGive up on a book? Moi? If it's not working for you it's best to move on. I'm not sure if I'll finish it either but it's been so damn hot here I'll give it one more try and read it at the gym for 30-40 minutes whilst doing cardio. So far there's only two books that were so slow they couldn't even survive that :)
ReplyDeleteHi Amy:) I'm on page 125- and I usually love historicals revolving around the Church and stuff... I'm giving myself until page 200 (I'm being generous)-I know exactly what you mean..
ReplyDeleteOh no! I was looking forward to this book, so hopefully it fits my mood. The last book I gave up on was The Millionaires - but I don't think it was my mood, the writing was just very strange and detracted from the story.
ReplyDeleteThere have been so many I cant count! The sad thing is sometimes I go back to them but most of the time I don't.
ReplyDeleteyes, but mostly non-fiction...can usually slog through fiction, but non-fiction has to be well written or it gets put down.
ReplyDeleteThis happens to me all the time. It doesn't mean the book isn't fabulous or that I won't love it later on, it just means our timing is off. (There have been any number of books I've set aside as "not in the mood" that I pick up later and just whip through because now it's exactly what I want.
ReplyDeleteYes, happens to me occasionally. Unfortuantely I usually don't give them a second chance because I have so many books to read.
ReplyDeleteMarie let me borrow this one so I'm going to give it a try!
Yep, I'm a pretty fickle reader and sometimes the timing is just wrong. I put The Pirate Hunter aside, last week. I'll get back to it. It just wasn't the right moment.
ReplyDeleteCertainly, and the most recent ones were A Separate Peace by Robert Hicks (which I intend to get back to eventually but just wasn't feeling it at the time) and most sadly, Mansfield Park by Jane Austen. I *wanted* to love the Austen (as I have her other books) but this one just dragged on and on so finally I gave up. Maybe another day? But it's hard for me to put a book aside--I'm working on that, however.
ReplyDeleteI have absolutely put books aside when it's not working out. I did that when I read Les Miserables because it was actually depressing me to read through the first half, and it's all just horrible stuff happening to people. I'm glad I picked it up a month or so later, though, because I was able to move past that, and it became my favorite novel!
ReplyDeleteI have been hearing mixed reviews about Sacred Hearts, though, so I'm going to think twice before picking that one up.
yepIYep, I loved the prose & the characters in Sacred Hearts. I don't think twilight of a queen is gonna do it for ya if you are looking for Medici. It was more of a romance with slight intrigue.
ReplyDeleteThe last book I put down was Anna Karenina -- I felt as if I were suffocating (way more detail than I need in a novel) the whole time I was reading -- I think I made it about 1/4 through it before I decided life is too short to read books I don't like. One book I almost put down was Possession (A.S. Byatt). I had heard so many wonderful things but it just wasn't appealing to me -- but then, about halfway through, it kicked in -- however, I have not sought out any of her other books. I almost put down Testimony by Anita Shreve -- probably would have had it been a really long book -- I'm just not into contemporary fiction (I actually won it)and it just did nothing for me other than wishing it would end.
ReplyDeleteI know exactly how you feel, but not about Sacred Hearts - I couldn't put it down, and loved it! However, I have yet to finish anything by Margaret Atwood, no matter how many times I try.
ReplyDeleteAnd I did not like Olive Kitteridge the first time, but loved it when I did it again with a book group. I agree that timing means a lot. I like to rotate between something really heavy and then a little fluff. It keeps reading interesting.
But I absolutely think we are not obliged or intended to like everything we read, and life is too short to force oneself to read something that 'isn't doing it.'
Go Catherine Go..
ReplyDeleteSame with S.Krishna.. I put down in the Company of a Courtesan and never picked it back up. I wasn't in the mood. Still I can't wait to pick up Sacred Hearts.
I don't usually give up, but I do sometimes take a long time to finish. LIke, weeks. Which sucks, because I am a one book at a time kind of girl.
ReplyDeleteWell I started on The Last Concubine by Leslie Downer, but I realized that at this moment it wasn't for me. I do get those now and again, so I wrote it up and will return to it hopefully one day
ReplyDeleteThanks for the warning. I'm very stressed with work right now and barely keeping up with reading and blogging. I'll put this aside until I have some time to just relax into it.
ReplyDeleteI know exactly what you mean Amy! I am trying to fight my way through A Secret Alchemy, but I find it hard reading a book written from these 3 points of view. Perhaps it is because I just flew through The Devil's Queen (another book about Catherine de Medici) and now find this a very, very slow read. You must let us know how Twilight of a Queen is!
ReplyDeleteI know exactly what you mean. When you're not feeling it...you gotta step a way for a time. That's what I do.
ReplyDeleteRead book 1 of Plaidy's trilogy on de'Medici. Enjoy it and the woman had a tortured past. Will be interested in your review of this author's view.