Thursday, July 11, 2013

Abandoning Good Reads?

OK, the title may be a little misleading. I was reading an article this morning about the site "Goodreads." Apparently one of their blogposts was about books that people abandon - Fifty Shades of Grey and J. K. Rowling's The Casual Vacancy were the most commonly abandoned books lately, according to the site.  I haven't read, or more correctly, started to read and then abandoned, either of them, but from the reviews I can see why many would.

The blog also lists Joseph Heller's, Catch-22 and J. R. R. Tolkien's, Lord of the Rings. Now I can understand the later - it's long, it's allegorical and I know I would find it tedious. However, my husband loves it and has re-read it several times. On the other hand, I loved Catch-22 and I have even thought of re-reading it. My husband, I know, wouldn't go near it. I am amazed that we have stayed together as long as we have - more than 30 years.



Back to abandonment, in books, that is. I know that I am guilty of putting down a book and never picking it up again. I don't usually do it after the first 50 pages though, which is usually the rule of thumb for abandonment (can I say that?). I generally stop reading a book within the last 100 pages. I did that with Edward Rutherfurd's, Sarum. I was fascinated by the early descriptions of the evolution of England, however, the closer it got to the present, the more I lost interest. I never finished Irving Stone's, The Agony and The Ecstasy either - probably because I'd had enough - lots of agony for a little ecstasy. I know that I was enjoying Leon Uris' Trinity, however, a terrorist act by the IRA stopped me in my tracks, err pages, and I didn't have the heart to finish the book.

I have put down Douglas Adams' The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, however, I intend to finish it. I just have trouble with Fantasy.

I joined the site Goodreads.com today and while I was picking out my list of preferred genres, I came across a heading that I had never seen before, Manga. I had actually heard about these Japanese style comic books, but had never seen them classified as Manga before. Now I was thinking of turning my Nanowrimo book into a graphic novel hmmmm.

Have a wonderful day!!

8 comments:

  1. Interesting post. I've skipped around the topic of book abandonment before on my own blog. I've mostly mentioned it in connection with Books That Suck, but your point that a good book to me might be one you abandon after the first chapter makes a lot more sense.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I have a hard time dedicating time to reading. It would have to be REALLY good if it were fiction or something I am interested in learning more about (non-fiction). Not much of a fiction reader or tv-er.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I had to stop a book my daughter brought me about a young man's coming of age. She said the other was better, but I am not in the habit of stopping a book and found I couldn't just pick up another one by the same author.

    I read the Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy and joyed all the layers of time going on at once. It took a lot of concentration to keep up with who was who. It was great fun and very funny.

    Mostly I read fictionalized procedural crime books, but I will always read a new Odd Thomas by Dean Koonz (sp) or anything written by Laurie King.

    Cool article. Thanks, Carol.

    I had no idea that lots of people don't finish books. I guess since I usually do.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I'm sorry. Placing 50 shades of grey (soft porn) or JKR's books among "good reads" stretches credulity.

    I do understand why some of us would put down a book- I did that with James Joyce thrice; until I was in a mood to slog through it. (I generally desire to finish a book in an hour or two; yes, that's about 160 pages an hour.) But, there's a difference between a "good" read and a "beach" read...

    ReplyDelete
  5. Alana,
    I've never heard the term "abandoning a book" before, but I'm guilty of the practice. Unfortunately I oftentimes start a book, only to pick up another one, and then another one, until I have too many books going at once. Then an intriguing magazine will come in the mail--well, you see my problem. I'm working on it, though! MUST FINISH ONE BOOK BEFORE BEGINNING ANOTHER ONE! There. Now that I typed that BOLDLY surely I'll concentrate on it! :)

    ReplyDelete
  6. I loved Sarum but White Teeth and The Line of Beauty left me cold. As for How to be Good, best not to ask....

    ReplyDelete
  7. I shamefully admit that I don't have enough time to read as many books as I would like to. To make matters even worse, if I am not interested, I tend to leave the book and never touch it again. I need to me more disciplined. as for 50 shades, well, I shamefully admit that i gave up after a couple of pages. Something must be wrong with me.

    ReplyDelete
  8. If I remember correctly, I abandoned every single Stephen King book that I started to read.

    ReplyDelete