30 Days of Reading:Days 7-13

 Update On List

1. David Copperfield- classic
2. One Hundred Years of Solitude- classic, magic realism Dumped
3. The Observations- historical fiction, mystery, gothic
4. Misfortune- historical fiction
5. Scandalous Countess- historical fiction, 18th century
6. Nine Princes In Amber-sf, fantasy
7. The Vampire Lestat- paranormal
8. Louisa May Alcott and the Missing Heiress- mystery, historical fiction
9. Ginger Star- fantasy, sf
10. Girl Interrupted-nonfiction Finished
11. Orphans of the Sky- sf Dumped
12. Phoenix Rising – sf,fantasy, mystery, steam punk
13. A Day No Pigs Will Die- ya, historical fiction, classic  Dumped
14. Cabin Fever- humor, middle grade Finished
15. Tess of D’ubervilles- classic
16. No Safety In Numbers Dumped
17. Little Women and Werewolves Dumped
18. The Winter Queen- hf
19. Between Two Queens- hf
20. All Together Dead- pnr
21. Savages
22. Missing Abby Dumped
23. The Diamond Age
24. The Mirror of Her Dreams Dumped
25. The Snow Queen
26. Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter

June 23-29

 I am past 50% and this is not going well for me. I have a problem with books that show little snippets or big irregular moments of interesting stuff. I delude myself into thinking a book  is laying foundation for it to get really epic. Then, I reach close to half-way in a book to realize this book is not going to go anywhere. I feel that it is meandering around and it could have been way shorter. What made me really be done with this book besides losing interest is finishing my review for Before I Go to Sleep. There is nothing like reminiscing about a good book to make me realize, wow this current  book being read is lame. I see the author is trying to make it funny and feel for the main character but I just frankly… do not care. This book is straddling the fence of boring . I am going to finish this book next week but prepare to see a very negative review.

I  do not care for the main character and actively want her to fail. She is one of those stuck-up spunky heroines that are in every facet of literature. I actually was more interested in her sister as a character. The main character has potential to grow and fall which I am waiting for.  I will be waiting for that fall with a smile on my face. She is already set herself up on certain things to fall. I can say that historically in my opinion ( I am not a expert in the Tudor history) that it seems to stand true. What I mean is that the Kate Emerson is not afraid to just let characters be themselves. The characters do the things they did during the historical time period even if it is distasteful. I find most of the characters actions stupid to be blunt. I was looking for a romance angle honestly. Between Two Queens does not seem to be that so far.

 Let me list a couple of the things I like

1. stuck up classic people

2. stuck up classic people getting their come uponce.

3. Learning about a time period

4. That I want to know more about the time period

5. Characters

6. Poems at the beginning of the chapters

I started this book last year doing a little bit of my Les Miserable fiasco stuff, not really listening to the audiobook. I felt a urge recently to start it over and read it. I am happy that I started it over and took the time to listen to it. The weird thing to realize what I thought the book was actually about after finally really listening/reading it. It is totally different from what I thought it was about.

A few of my favorite things about this book:

1. fast pace mystery

 2. historical fiction

3. set in Russia

 The more I get into this world the less I am interested. The writing is weird and confusing. I experienced this also with Lord Foul’s Bane which made me dump those books. I felt like I did not give the author enough of a chance which lead me to this book. Now I can finally let myself give up on Stephen Donaldson without any regrets.  Dumped

 So it turns out that I need to finish this book by July 15 not Jully 31.  Like 1. new and reaccuring characters 2. characters with flaws 3. progression

 Still not depressed. I do not have a lot to say other than it is okay right now.

has already introduced 25+ characters in six chapters. I know that this is 1,414 page in the uncut version so I should not be reading this book right now. I know I  cannot possibly finish this in 18 days. My only explanation is I felt like reading it.  So far it is good  and stuff is happening. I heard that this is a lot of peoples favorite book by Stephen King. I have only read Carrie, Cujo, and little bits of some of his other books.

Discussion

• This week a couple of people told me a couple of things: I do not like a lot of books because I read a bunch of books at one time, I will not remember all the books I’m reading, and  overall insinuating I should read one book at a time. My initial reaction is bafflement not anger just bafflement every time someone comments on how many books I read. The more I thought about I did get angry. Then I come out the end of this week  not angry anymore thinking that there are so many reading habits that I do that are more harmful than reading more than one book at a time. Not excusing reading multiple books as perfect, it does have its faults. So I will do a post in itself because there are so many. If people are going to point out my bad reading habits who else better than me to point them out.

• One major thing that I deal with reading so many books at a time is finishing. I do not want to slip back into the way I was during the other number challenges. Nonetheless, I want to finish/dump books. I want to make more progress with my books left to read. I have to keep telling my self just read. The best way to cure my book worries is to pick up a bunch of books basically reading how I normally read.

337: Before I Go To Sleep

Synopsis:

“As I sleep, my mind will erase everything I did today. I will wake up tomorrow as I did this morning. Thinking I’m still a child. Thinking I have a whole lifetime of choice ahead of me …’ Memories define us. So what if you lost yours every time you went to sleep? Your name, your identity, your past, even the people you love—all forgotten overnight. And the one person you trust may only be telling you half the story. Welcome to Christine’s life.”

The Good

The beginning surprised me because it is psychological thriller not a murder mystery. I felt that being a psychological thriller would make the story less interesting. As a matter of a fact it made the story more interesting. There are moments when you and the main character have to question her credibility. Her credibility is suspect because she goes to sleep  everyday forgetting the events of that day and  does not remember anything beyond a certain age.  Honestly, the book was okay at first. It was one of my many books that I put down a couple of times for other books that are better at the moment.  Then the story got really really good. Revelations start popping out. I could not put it down. I was not just planning how many pages to read a day but turning pages.  I wanted to know what happens next.

The Bad/The Meh

So the momentum for the story at this point is fast. It is at the final countdown the final show. At this point I was pumped. Then the ending happened. The ending was so anticlimactic.

Overall: I do not like endings most of the time so I cannot get  mad. The ending did not kill this story so that is what matters. I have come to the conclusion that, I need more mystery in my life. To get a book that at end makes you want to read more in a good way has done something amazing.

30 Days of Reading: Day 1-6

So I  started two days early because my reading week starts on Sundays. Some of those books will bleed into this list.

Preliminaries (June 15-16)

1. The Summer Country (Preview)
2. Secondhand Spirits (Preview)
3. Deeper Than Dead (Preview)
4. Sweet Silver Blues (Preview)
5. The Inn at Eagle Point (Preview)
6. Tithe (Preview)
7. Tempt Me with Darkness (Preview)
8. Girl, Interrupted
9. Louisa May Alcott and the Missing Heiress
10. Phoenix Rising
11. Cabin Fever

June 17-22

Reading for Goodreads Groups

( ends June 30)

The beginning was really interesting but then things went wrong. I HATE  jumping around and pointless things happening. It really does not help that I read  another book with magical realism, After Dark by Haruki Murakami which  did it better.

I’m wrestling with putting it down to the side for a little bit. I just question if I am not feeling it right now or just plain don’t like it. Dump

(ends July 31 )  I’m waiting on the really depressing stuff to happen. I am reading Charles Dickens which is not all that depressing but most of his characters have a rough life. So this book needs to hop to it. I think because I was spoiled before and told how so very extremely depressing it is.  I can say that when it is good it is good. I did put a long response to all the events that have happened so far but had to take it out. I could not figure out how to do spoilers on WordPress.

(Ends July 15)

I do not have much to say except it is still good.

Other Books Read

 Very slow-moving. It is good and stuff is actually happening. Nonetheless, it is going slow about it.

A Day No Pigs Will Die– jumps around. Do not know if this is because I listened to it on audio book. Then it is autobiography. Coming of age story how I  do not like you.   I was one hour into the three hour audiobook when the not feeling it hit me. I thought maybe you just need a break. I came back not wanting to continue. I do not want to fall into finishing books just to finish them to say I read blank books this week. Dumped

Heresy – I am not feeling this book.  I just kept thinking about this book and how much I was not feeling it. I did not like the main character and just felt like it would be useless to continue with the book Dump

Missing Abby/No Safety In Numbers-Read the first few chapters, reeks of poorly written ya. Dump

Orphan of the Sky- questionable content/ hard to get through Dump

Little Women and Werewolves- I read Little Women a couple of weeks ago and did not like it. The reason I got Little Women in the first place is because of this book. So I started this book and realized something that probably is really obvious, I am kind of rereading Little Women by reading this. I will not reread through the boring mess that is Little Women. Dump

 Update On List

1. David Copperfield- classic
2. One Hundred Years of Solitude- classic, magic realism Dumped
3. The Observations- historical fiction, mystery, gothic
4. Misfortune- historical fiction
5. Scandalous Countess- historical fiction, 18th century
6. Nine Princes In Amber-sf, fantasy
7. The Vampire Lestat- paranormal
8. Louisa May Alcott and the Missing Heiress- mystery, historical fiction
9. Ginger Star- fantasy, sf
10. Girl Interrupted-nonfiction Finished
11. Orphans of the Sky- sf Dumped
12. Phoenix Rising – sf,fantasy, mystery, steam punk
13. A Day No Pigs Will Die- ya, historical fiction, classic  Dumped
14. Cabin Fever- humor, middle grade Finished
15. Tess of D’ubervilles- classic
16. No Safety In Numbers Dumped
17. Little Women and Werewolves Dumped
18. The Winter Queen- hf
19. Between Two Queens- hf
20. All Together Dead- pnr
21. Savages
22. Missing Abby Dumped
23. The Diamond Age
24. The Mirror of Her Dreams
25. The Snow Queen
26. Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter

Previews

I do not know how to exactly classify preview books because they are not a full book that I am reading for the challenge. So the are not apart of the 30 books on my own list.  Nonetheless, they are portions of a book I am reading to decide if I want to continue with a series.

1. The New Kid
2. Crimson City

30 Day Book Challenge

I found this challenge at:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f-DObsq8oGM

Challenge: Read 30 books in 30 days.

I  view it as a extended version of checking books out from the library.  It is just 9 more days added to the usual length that I get to check books from the library for.

A couple of Things I will say period. Doing this challenge is contradictory to my reading goal for this year. I am supposed to not do numbered challenges but …

• I am reading like a snail. Not the snail that I usually am but a super slow going on not finishing any books for this month snail.
• I am not excited like I want to be about the books I am reading. There are so many reasons that could be attributed to this. I think it has something to do with the books be books I own  not being  new, shiny library books. ( I want to go to the library so bad. Sadly, that might not even help the state I am in.) I feel that I need to do something to excite or kick start my reading.
• Numbered challenges while having burned me in the past could work taking into account my reading style. Plus, it is always good to comeback and say you know what I did not see the full picture.
• After I finish this challenge I will most definitely not continue doing a numbered challenge for the rest of the year.

A couple of things I need to say to my future self:

• Don’t Be afraid to dump books.
• Don’t be afraid to put books down until later.
• So this is a win for you either you can finish, dump, or make progress in a bunch of books.
• Do not be afraid to take a day off.
• Do not force yourself or feel that you need to finish books. (Remember the 100 book challenges) You are not going to read 30 books in 30 days because you do not usually read 30 books in a month. Also, you dump about 30 books in a month. So do not stress yourself because you will not obtain this goal. I will probably read 7-8 books at the end of the challenge because for every 1 book I finish I dump 4.
• Please, do not spend all day reading! Take a break play The Sims and watch your Asian shows.

 

3o Books in  30 Days

1. David Copperfield- classic
2. One Hundred Years of Solitude- classic, magic realism
3. The Observations- historical fiction, mystery, gothic
4. Misfortune- historical fiction
5. Scandalous Countess- historical fiction, 18th century
6. Nine Princes In Amber-sf, fantasy
7. The Vampire Lestat- paranormal
8. Louisa May Alcott and the Missing Heiress- mystery, historical fiction
9. Ginger Star- fantasy, sf
10. Girl Interrupted-nonfiction
11. Orphans of the Sky- sf
12. Phoenix Rising – sf,fantasy, mystery, steam punk
13. A Day No Pigs Will Die- ya, historical fiction, classic
14. Cabin Fever- humor, middle grade
15. Tess of D’ubervilles- classic

I am only putting half for my spontaneousness when reading. There is not a guarantee that I will even read all of these books.

338: Anna Karenina

How I started the story: I saw the movie edition of the book on the shelf while shopping for thanksgiving groceries with my mom. I started reading it while waiting for my mom as she was doing something. I  was immediately hooked on the first page. The only reason it did not get bought that day is I can not get myself to spend $15 dollars for any book.

Synopsis:

“Anna Karenina tells of the doomed love affair between the sensuous and rebellious Anna and the dashing officer, Count Vronsky. Tragedy unfolds as Anna rejects her passionless marriage and must endure the hypocrisies of society. Set against a vast and richly textured canvas of nineteenth-century Russia, the novel’s seven major characters create a dynamic imbalance, playing out the contrasts of city and country life and all the variations on love and family happiness.”

The Good

Most people when they talk about this book mention the farming and politics as the things that they disliked about the book. I found that those parts were  actually interesting to me for the most part. It may be because my reading mood is for less of a love story and more for other stuff.  What surprised me is how relevant Anna Karenina is to our society today. Most of the topics such as the division between classes is issues we deal with now. The development of the story and characters was what interested me. I feel that all 808 pages in my edition was worth it. I do not usually like adultery books but Anna Karenina is more than a adultery book.

The Meh

I am in between on the ending. Contradictory as it may sound I would have been okay with part eight getting cut. Honestly, I probably would  still complain if it was left the way part seven ended.

The Bad

I feel that when the chips fell not everything was resolved. When it got to that point they focused on characters who did not need attention at that point. Honestly, at the ending I was ready for the story to be over. I cannot fully blame the book. I was the one who decided to read 200+ pages of a  classic book in a week. Nonetheless, it went downhill on this final week of reading Anna Karenina. I forgot names and really just did not care. The political stuff really started getting on my nerves a bit. The politics at this point was pointless really. Not like the beginning politics that actually mattered. Then again I cannot blame politics when my real issue was with Levin. Some people said up to this point about the book that they don’t like Levin because he over thinks things. At first he was a well done character then he just started analyzing stuff that is not a big deal. Levin was annoying as a character at this point. All the characters except a small few characters were annoying at this point. All the relationships in this book got on my nerves at this point. Everyone was fighting over petty stuff. It was not pretty.

Final Conclusion:  Anna Karenina encompasses why I am into big books right now. It has the well-developed characters and story. It has so much and is worth those 808 pages. As crazy as it sound if Tolstoy would have made it longer I would have been okay with that as long as he fixes a couple of things  (mainly that part 8). Despite all the issues I like it.

330: Little Women

I read the first half of Little Women & Good Wives.  After finishing Little Women I couldn’t  continue to Good Wives.

The Good

I  actually cared about the girls for a little bit. I really liked the different personalities of the sisters and even their neighbor Laurie. I did not even find the mother preachy. Because, at least the girls had  a mother around talking to them  not like most absentee parents in literature.

The Bad

Something occurred to me  nothing is really happening anymore, at least nothing that interesting. After a while I just did not care. The story became boring, the gravest sin of a book. Audiobook was my friend it helped me get through it. Even before finishing Little Women I was done mentally with the story. Then I heard whispers of what is to come in the second book Good Wives. I was really done with the bindup after that.

The Meh

Overall book.

I know that this review is short but this book was ehh overall and not that much happened.

329: Into the Woods

Synopsis

“Sasha has everything she wants: kind housefolk who take care of her during the day and the freedom to explore the woods beyond Twolegplace at night. But when Sasha is forced to leave her home, she must forge a solitary new life in the forest. Life on her own is exciting at first but quickly gets lonely. When Sasha meets Tigerstar, leader of ShadowClan, she wonders whether she would be better off joining the ranks of his forest Clan. But Tigerstar has many secrets, and Sasha must decide whether she can trust him.”

Background: When I was really young I knew someone who left their cat behind at an apartment. Even at that age the idea of leaving your pet behind was scary. What happens to house cats after they are put out in the wild?

 

The Good

I think that the relationship between the owners and Sasha was done well.  Their relationship made me think of my pet cat.

The Bad

A romance was put in randomly. The romance reminded me of a young adult novel actually. It was not built so the romance felt forced and could have easily been just kept as a strong friendship.

The Meh

The whole cat clans and stuff was ehh. The artwork was okay nothing that made me think that is so amazing.

Overall: It was okay. I will not continue with the series.

328: The Help

I started reading this book after someone asked me to borrow it after I finish reading it. I felt that her request would give me intuitive to plan and actually finish a book.

Synopsis: “Three ordinary women are about to take one extraordinary step.
Twenty-two-year-old Skeeter has just returned home after graduating from Ole Miss. She may have a degree, but it is 1962, Mississippi, and her mother will not be happy till Skeeter has a ring on her finger. Skeeter would normally find solace with her beloved maid Constantine, the woman who raised her, but Constantine has disappeared and no one will tell Skeeter where she has gone.
Aibileen is a black maid, a wise, regal woman raising her seventeenth white child. Something has shifted inside her after the loss of her own son, who died while his bosses looked the other way. She is devoted to the little girl she looks after, though she knows both their hearts may be broken.
Minny, Aibileen’s best friend, is short, fat, and perhaps the sassiest woman in Mississippi. She can cook like nobody’s business, but she can’t mind her tongue, so she’s lost yet another job. Minny finally finds a position working for someone too new to town to know her reputation. But her new boss has secrets of her own.
Seemingly as different from one another as can be, these women will nonetheless come together for a clandestine project that will put them all at risk. And why? Because they are suffocating within the lines that define their town and their times. And sometimes lines are made to be crossed.
In pitch-perfect voices, Kathryn Stockett creates three extraordinary women whose determination to start a movement of their own forever changes a town, and the way women – mothers, daughters, caregivers, friends – view one another. A deeply moving novel filled with poignancy, humor, and hope, The Help is a timeless and universal story about the lines we abide by, and the ones we don’t. ”

The Good

Very good adaptation to the movie. I read it in 4 days which really good for me at this time. That is it. I do not have a lot of good things to say about The Help because overall it was meh to me.

The Meh

I realized after reaching 58% or probably earlier just thought I would get into it later, it was okay. I did not feel that it was this amazing book that I want to hug and twirl around the room thinking on its awesomeness. It was one of those books that before finishing I already decided to give it away to that person who wanted to borrow it. Maybe it was because I watched the movie before reading the book. The movie was a very good adaptation so there was nothing left for me to get from the book. Ultimately,  I just did not connect with the characters or book the way I needed to.

At the end of the novel I felt  absolutely nothing.

The Bad

I just feel that I have read better more emotionally moving reads. This book is not that insightful. I believe the problem is that I  have read other African American novels and am familiar with the Civil Right Movement. This entire story has been told tried in true adding anything new or fresh to the table. The movie was better in eliciting a response from me. But I have to remember that there were very good actors to breathe life into the story. I just came to the end of this book shrugging,ehh. There were a couple of feelings I did have while reading the book. Some of the characters (Minnie specifically) made me mad. I get that she is a sassy mouth character but she thought and did things that got on my nerves. She treats and says things to Celia that makes me want to really get at her.

Other Comments: My copy of the book had a qoute by Marian Keyes praising the book and talking about how courageous it is that Kathryn Stockett wrote the book. I first of all can say that it is commendable for a author to write characters who are of a different race. Especially, at a time that writers are making excuses for why they cannot write about characters who are not Caucasion. Nonetheless, I have a problem that people think this book is courageous. We ( at least I have) seen this story time and time again. If a author who was African American or any other race wrote this would they get attention? It is not enough anymore to just address African American issues in a general way. It was not enough back then but people dealt with it because at least there are black characters in the book. It is not enough when you have so many African American novels that deal with this very subject.

People like to use the excuse of this novel not being nonfiction as a reason for it to not be historically accurate. My response is that first of all if this book was any other historical fiction book, set in any other time with majority of white characters, it would  be judged so harshly for its inaccuracies. Basically if this book was about the Tudors it would get criticism for being historically inaccurate. But since it is about African Americans in the South during the 1960s it can not be touched or criticized because at least the author is writing a book about African Americans. It is a faulty excuse because as much as the civil rights movement is talked about (because African Americans do not at all exist historically beyond slavery and the Civil Rights movement) it should be done historical accurate.

*That empty space that causes me to rant about African Americans and historical fiction is  still not filled.

Books that Did it Better …

~The Color Purple by Alice Walker

~Roots by Alex Haley (with all its issues)

~A Raisin In the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry

~(Basically almost every other African American novel written)

Reading 5/19-6/1

Finished

Little Women- what is with me and only being able to read the first half of bindups.

Warriors: Into the Woods- Why does this seem like a average young adult novel?

The Help- If you have read any African American literature before this will probably not be anything special. Yeah, it was nothing special to me.

Currently Reading/Updating the Queue

1. The Red Chamber- put down until further notice. I had to return it to the library and was not able to recheck it out. I liked it but something was missing to make it a really like. I will pick it back up when I go to the library next time maybe.
2. A Clash of Kings- put down until further notice. I really was just not into it. I am afraid of finishing all the books I own in the series at the rate that I am reading them. I only have four books left including A Storm of Swords which deserves a reread. Then after that there are not more books left until the next one comes out.
3. The Time In Between- I am so happy that the relationship has met its end. I still am not sold on this book. Waiting for it to get to the interesting part.
4. Until You- I read a chapter after putting it down a long time ago. I put this book down because the romance had that instant love quality and sex=love. I found the chapter to be ehhh which makes me not want to continue. I have read 100 pages of this book which means all of its chances are over. Dumped
5. Lolita- I think it is good so far. It is something that I have been reading on and off slowly for a while.
6. The Mirror of her Dreams-  Stephen Donaldson uses certain wording that seems off at times.  I get confused at least once every chapter. In addition,The magic system is nothing new  or really that exciting. Why is the only other female character seen as slutty? Then, the main thing that caught my interest about the female character is getting overdone a bit now. The author has her mention it a bunch of times but it is not really going anywhere so it is pretty lame so far.  I am going to keeping going though. Hopefully, it gets way better before 19%. On a positive note I do like that the lead guy is not the typical dashing tall, dark, and hansome man so far.
7. The Count of Monte Cristo- Only read three chapters which is 1% of the book. I might be putting this one down for a bit because I need to read David Copperfield for one of my goodreads groups.
8. The Needle in the Blood- I do not know if something is wrong with me but some of the books I have confuse me. I think this book is okay nothing amazing. It just confuses me a lot with what is happening.
9. Cold Mountain- First of all there are no quotation marks which wouldn’t be a problem if the story was interesting. I completely find the main guy character boring. I found the girl character more interesting and liked what little development that happened in her life. Every other chapter is her story so after finishing her chapter I had to read through his chapter to get back to her. It was so insanely sleep inducingly boring and confusing. After finally reading through his chapter I started on her part but found it boring. It dauned on me I do not care. I am past 19% and almost at 100 pages. Nothing happened in the past 95 pages to make me want to suffer through more. Dumped
10. Quincunx- I read one chapter. It was confusing and not gripping. put down until further notice.
11. Rot & Ruin- I never connected with this book. I did not like how the world was set up and how the characters acted. Dumped
12. Lincoln Lawyer- I read one chapter. I understood what was going on but it did not grip me right away. I realized I have to put work into getting into it. So I will put this down for a bit to read some other books. put down until further notice.

• (King Raven series)

Should I continue this series? Yes

Why? There is already action in the first preview which is a big plus. I will be honest I did see a couple of things that could make this book not good.

Rants/Random Thoughts

1. Ten Books I own I don’t want to read- is a tag that is going around. The videos gave me a negative reaction. I just thought why have books on your shelf you have no plan to read. The videos made me go on my shelf and be critical and get rid of more books. Every book on my shelves I want to read. It is pointless to hold onto something if I do not want to read it.
2. I wanted a book that is interactive. I wanted a book that has a character chart or something that goes beyond the book.
3. I am going to try to take a break from the library for a while.
4. Book jar( cup in my case)- I have been seeing this going around and thought it would not be useful for the way I read. I read very much by mood so it is not useful in that aspect. It is however useful in helping me update my queue of books started but not finished. I just pick out a sheet with the name of the book then read it. What I find funny is that sometimes I put books back because of certain reasons for example I could not find the book, I end up picking up the same sheet. I know that I need to read that book if it is coming up multiple times.
5. D(id)N(ot)F(inish)ing- I have been dumping a ton of books lately. I have been dumping books based on less than 50 pages. Most people say to read at least a 100 pages before putting down a book. I even used to give books 19% before putting a book down. Now, I have reached this new place were I would start a book and know immediately that it was not for me. I would read on to give it a chance but that now feels like a waste of time to me. After going through book after book and not liking them my patience is getting smaller and smaller. I have stopped reading books after two chapters. I mention this because I came across someone elses blog asking a couple of questions about this topic. I probably should do a blog post discussing my relationship with did not finish books.