It's the end of the month so it's time for another Book Chat!
SOMETHING JUST LIKE THIS by Tracy Krimmer
Another Krimmer book this month! I really loved this one. Krimmer takes a female Grinch and turns her world on its head when Juliette meets Landon. This was a cute, sweet story, and a fast read too. I devoured it in only a few sittings. Honestly, I need more books like this in my life. Well-written, believable books. Thank goodness for Tracy!
Because…
I'm sick of crappy books!
Guys, I don't like to be negative here, especially about books or the authors who write them, which is why you only see the books I enjoyed reading and I don't talk about the books I've set aside. But 2017 must have been some sort of record! I wish I had kept track of every book I tried to read and set aside (DNF, which stands for Did Not Finish). It was more than 20, I'm sure. And they weren't all self-published either.
Just last week, I set aside a very popular YA fantasy series-beginner, traditionally published, that was a snooze-fest and so boring that at 33% no one had done anything in the story. What the hell? Where was the conflict? What was the motivation? No clue. There was none. And after reading the 1- and 2-star reviews of the book, I know I wasn't the only one who felt the same way.
In December alone, I set aside 5 different books for various problems. One, I opened the book and it was a wall of text for three Kindle screen swipes. No line breaks. No dialogue. Just the main character doing something utterly boring after waking up. PASS. Another, I got to the 50% mark and had no idea what the plot of the book was. PASS. And another, the main character leaves her home in the rain and meets a strange boy and we hear all the little details of where he lives and then I fell asleep from boredom. PASS.
Lawd. I know I'm picky but this? There are a lot of authors that need to learn about story structure, inciting incidents, hooks, and ALL THE OTHER THINGS that make a good story.
I've given up on new books for now. I bought IRON GOLD, the newest Red Rising book by Pierce Brown, and I was totally hooked after a page, BUT with my crappy memory, I couldn't remember anyone in the story. So, I've started RED RISING again from the beginning. Yes, I am re-reading the whole series. I loved all of these books and I know they will not disappoint me. The next few Book Chats will concentrate on audiobooks, I'm sure, and I'll share any further thoughts about this series as I read the books again.
PERSEPOLIS RISING by James S. A. Corey
This was another strong book in the Expanse series. Finally, someone has learned how to use the protomolecule to build spaceships and alter humans. Unfortunately, it's not the good guys that have made this advancement. Lol. It's always the bad guys! They left a major plot line hanging at the end which I hope will be resolved in the next book, but it wasn't a cliffhanger. Plenty of other plot points were wrapped up. I was sad to see the end of a character I had grown to like, but the death of this character was satisfying. All in all, I'm still very pleased with this series and I recommend it to everyone who loves really good sci-fi.
Yikes, sorry about all the DNFs. I rarely DNF, I just don’t like to, but of course everyone has to find what works for them! I can kind of relate though because I’m sick of meh books and am trying to just avoid the crappy and meh ones in the first place as much as possible this year.
I remember when I used to finish every book I read. I just don’t have the patience for it anymore. The truth of the matter is that if I’m going to give more new authors a try, new authors who are not seasoned writers, I’m going to have to be willing to give up on books where the writing is sub-par. I’m picky. I want to see good grammar and proper syntax AT THE VERY LEAST. That doesn’t even address bad storytelling. Sigh. I’m glad I’m doing a re-read now of Red Rising. I feel better about books again! Lol.
I HATE NOT FINISHING A BOOK! Yeah, I put that in caps. I have very few on my list. I will slog through, even though I really shouldn’t!
I am glad you enjoyed Something Just Like This!
I just can’t. I look at the other 1000 ebooks I have and know I should move onto something else. :) I loved Something Just Like This! <3
I’ve never been able to DNF really unless the writing itself is just really subpar—I usually end up skimming instead of actually DNFing (and even that’s been a relatively recent change). But I CAN’T read self-pubbed books with horrible grammar, and I don’t even feel bad about setting them aside. They just make me want to cry, and I can’t do it.
Books that start out slow are hard for me unless I’m listening to them. I don’t know why, but I can handle slower pacing with an audiobook than I can with a regular read. Sorry 2017 was a rough reading year!
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