Until recently, I was self-conscious about not finishing books. I beat myself up pretty badly if I couldn’t finish a book. I mean an all-out mental slugfest. Picture Jim Carrey in “Liar, Liar,” splayed about in the bathroom stall with his head being repeatedly smashed—by his own hands—between the toilet base and the toilet seat yelling, “I’m kicking my own ass! Do you mind?!” to a poor old man who had asked him what he was doing. People have layers of interesting bookshelves on Goodreads. I have always longed to have a “Books I Couldn’t Finish” shelf but have always been embarrassed to create such a controversial shelf. After all, there are those who believe that one of the cardinal sins is not reading a book all the way through. I used to be one of them. The external naysayers all asked, “Well, how do you REALLY know you don’t like it if you don’t finish it?” My answer to that question is that if I’m still miserable about halfway through or if my interest is not piqued by the end of the first quarter then chances are it never will be. I believe that reading should be enjoyable not something you have to force yourself to slog through. After receiving that revelation, I am no longer ashamed. Proudly, I present to you a tiny list of books I couldn’t finish…
• Hunger Games
o This book has all of the makings of a bestselling phenomenon turned major motion picture trilogy and a half. Wait a minute…it is. While I usually find that I am allergic to the hype that some novels have piggybacking on their spines, the premise of this title sparked my curiosity. That spark faded approximately one quarter of the way into this book and I was left disappointed and feeling very, “meh.”
• Gone Girl
o Oh, hey, here’s another book shining brightly in the spotlight at the end of the long red carpet of hype. The cringing began with the first sentence, “When I think of my wife, I always think of her head.” Say what now?
• Wuthering Heights
o This one is the most disappointing one of all. Not in content—well, sort of—but rather disappointment in myself for not being able to get past the first few chapters. A classic. I know. Believe me I really tried! I have attempted to read this four times and find myself unable to read further in roughly the same vicinity in the book each and every time. I know there are readers out there who LOVE this book and read it every year. I want to be that person. As of yet, I am not. But, having said that, because it is a classic, I will certainly try to give this one yet another whirl. Maybe.
• Fifty Shades of Grey
o Seriously? Please.
About Me
- Christyscmh
- I've been known to quote famous movie lines at random, stare at the sky for hours, and complete my ATM transactions in Spanish although I only speak English. On my last birthday, I wished on my candles (29 of them, again) that the delicious Etsy community was a neighborhood where I could physically live. I am a pathological Googler and a coupon whore. I have a strong desire to become a Gilmore Girl and a strange tendency to sit in my car with a hair dryer pointing out of the window just to see how many people slow down. Since seeing the film Ghost, I have always wanted to dabble in pottery, of course the appeal could really be that I just want to play in clay with Patrick Swayze, God rest his beautiful soul. I struggle with the impulse to dance through a store instead of walk and out of sheer instinct I will break out into the Carlton dance whenever Tom Jones' "It's Not Unusual" comes across the airwaves, no matter where I am, so I hope it never becomes a church hymn, though I'm not above dancing with a pulpit. More simply put, I love to live.