I started reading Pillars of the Earth and then I stop and find something else to read. :lol:

I think I'm almost 1/4 of the way through the book, but I just finished one book and started another...so maybe someday I'll stick with it....who knows?!? :spin:

i also seem to convince myself i have to read every book i start no matter how terrible it is. The worst book I ever read and _almost_ finished was Dhalgren by Samuel R Delaney- supposed to be one of THE best sci-fi books of all time. PUH! worst piece of crap I ever read.

I had difficulty getting into Harry Potter the first couple of times I tried, same with 100 years of Solitude (which is now in my top 5 best books of all time).

The books I've tried and just can't get into are the Robert Jordan Wheel of Time series. Can't get past the first chapter of the first book. I just HATE it. I don't know why.

Oh I have tried to read that a few times it was the most poorly written book I had ever even tried to read..... so someone suggested trying his other book which was just as horrendously written

I have given up on those.... maybe I am an intellectual snob but those books were so badly written I couldn't even read them.
s

Heh, I totally get that with Irving, but I do have to say that the ending of A Prayer for Owen Meany is spectacular - I get the shivers everytime I read it. Everything in the book comes together and it's extremely powerful (and I am not a religious person).

I do put down recommended books all the time. There are so many great books to read, if a book doesn't grab me immediately I almost always put it down for something else.

I did struggle and eventual get through Jonathan Strange and Dr. Morell - it took me at least 2 checkouts from the library. I wanted to love it, but ugh! I did finally finish it, but it was tough.

Comments on other books mentioned above:

The Road - relentlessly depressing. I did like it but man, it does NOT cheer up.

Anita Blake books - she's a parody at this point (someone said she "humped" the shark instead of "jumped" the shark and I thought that was hilarious) but her first 2-3 Anita Blake books were good, in a hard boiled, semi noir kind of way. Complete garbage now.

Outlander - love love love!!! I did get horribly bored with the last 2 books in the series, I don't think I even finished the last one. But that first book, in my top 10 ;)

American Psycho - seriously disturbing, did not finish!

Yep, that's another one! I don't think I lasted 3 chapters.

I tried to read a few James Patterson novels, but his style completely contradicts everything that my 3rd-grade English taught me about choppy sentences.

OK, I really enjoyed The Da Vinci code because it was a fun story, although it was hard to get past the stupid literary cliches in every other sentence. However, Angels and Demons? Awful. Just awful. Worst book ever. :lol: (Maybe not ever.) Could not finish it.

How about The Hobbit? Ugh, couldn't finish it.

Hmm, what else? Sense and Sensibility. Pride and Prejudice is one of my all-time favorite books, so I had to try, but I just couldn't do it.

40stillfat, Funny you mentioned the Stephanie Plum series. I just love it. Couldn't stop laughing and I love books like that. Also, I liked "I Know This Much is True". But different people different tastes, right?

Oh, absolutely loved the Harry Potter series. My son and I took turns reading the books as they came out. :)

Maybe it's the story. I haven't read either. But I loved the Pride and Prejudice movie (the Colin Firth version only, please!), but the Sense and Sensibility movie never pulled me in. I just didn't care for a lot of the plot and underlying ideas.

The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton. Maybe it was just the place I was in at time time, but I could only get through half of it.

My best friend is always recommending books that I can't finish. I can't remember the name of the one I'm thinking of... the plot had a heavy set female lead character... JJ something... anyway, the author couldn't decide if she was writing in 1st or 3rd person and it drove me batty, so I couldn't finish it.

I loved the Outlander series though, all of them. I love historical fiction and Diana Gabaldon does her research! It's funny, the group of girls who got me into reading the Outlander books, well, their husbands (mine too) went around referring to them as "historical porn." It was very annoying. Especially since there isn't much in way of "relations" after the first book.

Good Calories, Bad Calories by Gary Taubes. Not only was it SO dense, I found him so freaking condescending (and his arguments not all that solid, science-wise, or at least, no more solid than the ones he was disputing...). I have a REALLY hard time when I feel that authors are condescending in tone, which mostly comes in with non-fiction, and particularly with weight and weight loss books.

I love the wheel of time books, but they do take A LOT of effort. And sometimes i skip chapters :D

I hate hate hate pride and prejudice. I have never been able to finish it. We had to read it at high school, so i just watched the BBC series :dizzy: horrendous book, but the series was good

This is why it's always so frustrating to me to read book threads or bulletin boards. Someone raves about a book, but doesn't give you any actual information to give me a clue about whether or not it would be something I would care for. There are so many books here that we are passionate about - and one of us loves and another hates the very same book. :D


I have so many friends that agree with this.

One of my best books ever! And I like the sequel, World Without End. Interesting to see that people didn't like it.

Can't stand John Irving. I read World According to Garp. As Glory says, everything came together, but I HATED it. Then I read Hotel New Hampshire, not realizing it was the same author. Started realizing it as the same themes came up. HATED it. Started Widow for a Year. As soon as I realized it was the same author I put it down. I've never touched another one of his. He can cure you of thinking you have to finish a book.

And I loved the Diana Gabaldon series, the first ones better than the later ones.

I could never finish A Lion, A Witch and the Wardrobe and I've started it at least 3 times.

Sometimes the same person, the same book, a different time in their life and the reaction to the book is completely different. I know I read Uncle Tom's Cabin & The Grapes of Wrath both at the right times. Not sure I would have liked either one at a different time.

I read one of those books all the way through. It was just boring. I obviously didn't GET it. That's when I noticed a theme that a lot of "women's" books are about relationships and a lot of "men's" books are about journeys. Some folks don't like books where "If you know on the first page that A & B are going to fall in love and get together, why read it?" Others don't like books where "If you know on the first page that A is going on a quest and will get B, why read it?"

mp3 player
 

Hi all, I have a new way of getting through difficult reading and using my chore times to do it. I use an mp player and get my books downloaded from the net. It is fantastic and I can multitask and have a book done in just a short period of time. Like the Kite runner was so terrific when you heard the author reading it to you. I got through the Mists of Avalon series without reading a page..... anyway, for those of you who love books but don't have the hours of sitting time to accomplish it this is the way of the future.
Peace,
Roseblush

I can't remember the name of the author - she probably has about 200 books out (popular female non-fiction writer).

I've tried reading her books and just couldn't get past the first chapter LOL.

I did have someone at work lend me "Time Traveler's Wife". I forced myself to finish it... it took me about a month LOL! (I can usually finish a 300 page novel within a couple of days). But I'm happy I did. Very interesting.

If I had purchased the book myself insted of borrowing it, I would have traded it in already.