How to DNF Books Like a Boss

(found picture here)
There are so many excuses out there: reading slumps, mood, etc. that can be used for why a book is not working for you. There does come a time when you need to admit

(I’m sorry I cannot remember where this picture came from)

If anyone ever wants to ask me why I dump so many books this is why. I have no time for it. It being all the excuses and reasoning to keep on with a bad/eh book. I have continued with too many books that do not have a rainbow at the end. There is no magical  moment that makes everything feel worth it.

How to DNF and Not Feel Guilty About It

1. Look up 1 star or negative reviews of the said book  right after  or when you are contemplating dnfing it. Most of the time someone will feel the exact same way you do, so you are not alone.
2. Don’t Spend too much time looking up reviews.
3. Once you are done looking up reviews, move on to something else and don’t look back.
4. Think about how awful the book is, then think about all the amazing things you could be reading.  You could be reading one of your favorite author or the million of other books on your tbr.
5. Never think that there is not another book out there that can feel the potential that x book did not.
6. You do not owe an author anything. Your time is precious.
7. You can always comeback to the book if you care about it enough later.
8. Remember, your reading experience is about you not anyone else. So if it is not for school or some other requirement let it go.

Let it go

Bookhauls 2/14/14

I got  fewer books  overall towards my library and  book buying.

Library

Non-fiction

Most of these are for one of my brothers classes.

  This was originally for his class but it didn’t fit the time period parameters so he won’t be able to read it. I actually already started this and it amazing, I hope that I am not writing this too soon.

 I couldn’t find  Incident in the Life of a Slave Girl but I saw this. I decided to get it because I don’t want to miss out on this book next time I go to the library.

  I really love Cleopatra the Great’s cover.

 

Graphic Novels/ Manga

 I am going to be honest and state that I don’t know if I will like this book.

 for my brother. I already read this last year, it was really good.

I keep accidentally getting the sequels to books…

 I’m going to read this one anyway then get the first one later.

 I can’t read this one though. I read the synopsis (female captain) and thought of Captain Janeway from off of Star Trek. A female captain and the just extreme want for a good science fiction novel sold this book to me. I really want this  other book called The Martian by Andy Weir but it is not at the library.

I want some good science fiction and fantasy books so bad it is sad.

So all together I am going to read 4 of these books. I might read some of the other non-fiction books.

Bought

First Impression (foreword): I already started this and it is okay so far. I think it is good enough to continue, there are promising things here. The ending of the foreword and the science fiction elements so far didn’t get me. I feel that the build up was cool. I honestly do think it is a book worth continuing. I had a plan to do a theme called Go Epic or Go Home: 40 Days and 40 Nights, it is me reading The Otherland and The Stand. I want to read The Otherland right now while it is still new and has that immediate want to read factor.  I have to see how much I like this book and how much time I have. I really want to scale back with the amount of books I am reading at one time.  The Last Empress is big so I want to be able to devote enough time to finishing it before it is due at the library.

 I already have all of his short stories and 2 of his books. The excellent thing is if I finish this book I can get move 3 books off of my books left to read shelf. I already read The Hound of Baskervilles and The Sign of Four so I have a lot more books of his to read.

(all covers are from goodreads)

Library Checkout Reviews {11}

I haven’t been doing any library book hauls because I have been going almost every week now.

DNF

Bad Girls

-average teens

Wonder Woman: Odyssey vol. 1

Comments: I can’t figure out if I don’t like Wonder Woman or the way that authors are writing her. I just couldn’t get excited about this one.

I just was not feeling any of these.

I’m starting to think that the older the comic the less interested I seem to be. I may have also over did things with the superheroes.

The Flash of Two Worlds

Yellow Rose of Texas The Myth of Emily Morgan

Dead Robin

I did not realize this was the 5th book in the series. It doesn’t matter because I couldn’t sum up interest to read through this book.

Batman Chronicles

Finished

The Incredibles

+action right away, fun

-the portrayal of the women in this book

[Possible Spoilers]Comments: It bothered me that most girls storyline is pushing them to be in a relationship. I know that was were the daughter was in the movie but it still bugs me a bit. It makes me feel that writers don’t know how to write teen girls so they just input the romance storyline. My problem with the mom is that she couldn’t run the team by herself even though she was a superhero before working with her husband. It is like she cannot come up with basic superhero saving strategies without her husband being around. Another scene in the book that bothered me is when a bus is stuck on a cliff and she  is catty to a police officer. I did enjoy the book but am annoyed with the way that women are portrayed in books.

Walking Dead vol. 2

+realistic, moral issues

African American Classics

+the artwork

-most of the stories were eh/not good, perpetuates  stereotypes a bit, none of the stories had an impact, emotionally didn’t catch me

Astro City: The Dark Age Book One: Brothers & Other Strangers

+brothers relationship, showcases a world that superheroes are a common place, shows the conflicts that could come with superheroes being a common place, even though the characters are African-American it is not about race, in the point of view of non-heroes

(all images are via goodreads)

The Classics Spin #5

The Classics Club Spin #5 was to make a list of 20 books then they were going to pick a random number. The random number is the book you have to read by April.

Since I posted this a day late the number is 20. Emma Brown, I already made a plan on how I am going to read it. I will read the first two chapters which are the chapters Charlotte Bronte wrote. Then, I will write up possible scenarios on how I think/want it to continue. After that I will finish it and review it.

1. Moby Dick
2. Dombey and Son
3. Nicholas Nickleby
4. His Last Bow
5. A Tale of Two Cities
6. Hard Times
7. The Complete Adventures & Memories of Sherlocke Holmes
8. Portrait of a Lady
9. Ivanhoe
10. Canterbury Tales
11. Euriphides (Medea, Hippolytus, Electra,Helen)
12. The Jungle
13. Heart of Darkness & The Secret Sharer
14. Secret Agent
15. The Tell Tale Heart and other Stories
16. The Three Muskters
17. The Count of Monte Cristo
18. Main Street
19. Tono-Bungay
20. Emma Brown

It is a good thing I have until April to finish Emma Brown because I’m eh with my books right now.

December Reading (with 2014 Commentary)

I generally did not feel any excitement about any of these books because I did not feel like reading this month. I will comeback to these when I am in the mood to read. Last year I did not finish any books in December so I think this is the month were I just don’t feel like reading.

1. Through Wolf’s Eyes[chapter 1]- The book seems like it is going to only be about politics. I was overall not  interested in the story or characters DNF
2. Brave New World[30 or so pages]- I just don’t have enjoyment or see the point of this dystopia. DNF
3. A Voice in The Wind[chapter 1]- I am sick of lack of diversity and genericness. I like Francine Rivers but this made me read the first chapter then promptly close it. I finally tried to read through one of her other books and couldn’t do it. So I bulk DNF all of her books.
4. A Clash of Kings[2 character chapters] – I’m just not into it. I need game of thrones fever to comeback. still not finished yet. I’ll probably get into it closer to when Game of Thrones season 4 comes out.
5. East of Eden- I just lost interest. still not finished.
6. A Feast for Crows[prologue]- I just was not into it. I think I need to finish A Clash of Kings and possibly reread book 3. There are so many things I don’t remember from A Storm of Swords that it is truly odd.
7. First Men in the Moon I finished it. It was okay.

Previews (and a random discussion on my opinions on ya and romance )

I just was not into these books that much.

I think I was looking for thoughtful diversity in all the wrong places. I mean chick-lit and ya, didn’t I decide to dnf these two genres all around a couple of months ago.

A part of me still wants chick-lit or romance to be great. I feel that I have out grown ya. I feel that I have out grown the writing that many chick-lit novels suffer from too.. I have not outgrown the want to see a great romance portrayed. I’m watching a rom-com Korean drama right now, Let’s Eat. What I like about the show is the romance is developing. I want to feel the romance.  I could read a book with romance in it as a side or main focus if the writing was were I needed it to be. Then again maybe I am looking in all the wrong places for good romance books. I just don’t feel like looking for a needle in a haystack.

Manifest  by Artist Arthur

Unexpected Interruptions by Trice Hickman

Rants

My New Anthem

All I want is everything
Yes everything too much is not enough
I’m sick of settling for in between
And I’m not givin’ up 

Using the lyrics from Victoria Justice’s song  “All I Want Is Everything”. These lyrics explain my feelings right now. I am sick of settling for almost. I want a fantasy world that is unique and interesting. I do not want a fantasy world that is just a repeat of our world. I do not want a fantasy world that is different but not interesting. I want what I want and I am not giving up until I get it. It explains also why I am not reading the books I own. They are not what I want. I do not feel like trying to get into a book that is not what I really want.

A day or two later… I had to mellow out because I was getting really intensely (reading depression/slump inducing)  mad/sad about how much my books don’t have a interesting fantasy world. I had to step back and decide to read something else. Since, I am not going to the library I need to stick to reading the books I own. Still a problem. It is actually one of the main reasons that February as a month will probably  not have any novels on it. However, since I am being more introspective about my reading and trying new things it has gotten better. Most graphic novels are fulfilling my need for action and adventure right now. Graphic novels so far is the genre that knows how to take care of business. 

Things I Am Noticing

 A lot of book covers are not good. I blame this on the Top Ten Tuesday post I did on redesign covers. I did not notice this phenomenon until recently. I think one of the reasons is I only recently stopped using book covers for most of my books. Early on I trained myself to not pay attention to the covers of books.  I exclusively buy used books so finding any book that I want is a gift. I worry more about price than I worry about covers. I should do another post about book covers.

If authors wonder if  a reader will not continue a book because of these reasons they will.

http://www.writersdigest.com/editor-blogs/guide-to-literary-agents/7-reasons-agents-stop-reading-your-first-chapter

Pet Peeve That Keeps on Giving (Lack of Diversity)

I am starting to get mad at this point. I’m getting really sick of reading books set in past with a non-poc main character. Then the author cannot even allow the main character to not be the same [default] race character who feels stereotypical. Still irritating!

Bookhaul and Purge

I bought 14 books and dumped 37 books. I am at 99 [179 including my 80 desert island books]. I might not have to pick 10 books to do a theme each month so I can purge on some books. So I can probably pick 7-8 now. I will probably only finish 2 out of 8, 7, or even 10.  I  am happy that I have actually went down rather than up on my books left to read.

80 Desert Isand/H&NAS/just books I don’t finish before the end of the year

A. I am toying with the idea of reading books that in a series out of order. There are some books that the first book is hard to get and I just think it would be easier to just read the books I own.

B. I purged a lot more books off of the list. I think that space needs to be saved for authors such as Charles Dickens or George r.r. Martin who I only read 1-2 at the most a year. Instead, of having authors such as Agatha Christie taking up space with books I will never like. I don’t like Poirot now so I will most definitely not like him later. I will keep all her other books on the list. I need my 80 books to be filled with books that I will like. I actually am lowering the amount of books on my desert island books to 50 or lower. I also am going to try to read more books a year by authors that I like. I don’t want authors that I actually like to sit around. Why have books I like sitting around when I can read and enjoy them? I still probably cannot possibly read more than 1-2 Charles Dickens a year just because of the size.

Why I Read

I recently saw a video talking about why they read. They talked about how they read out of curiosity. I read for many reasons but I will just focus on two reasons here. I read out of curiosity and imagination. When I feel that these two are not getting fulfilled I get annoyed. I have ranted about lack of creativity in authors writing.  So I will not get more into that. I have written a bit on the curiosity angle of my reading but probably have not went in depth. I am curious about peoples lives. I feel that every person has a story, dimensions, motivation.  I wonder a lot what is this persons life like. Why are they the way they are? It makes me annoyed to see one dimensional or generic characters. Our world is so expansive and filled with unique people. Even people who we think are one dimensional or shallow have a something. Why are authors making characters who are one dimensional?  When things go right I can enjoy a world that shows characters x time period or like x. I like big books because they have more time to show the everyday life of characters. There is also more time to develop characters and show their different relationships.

January Reading 2014

I highlighted all the books from my personal shelf.

This is all the library books I finished this month: https://themollyweather.wordpress.com/2014/02/01/library-checkout-reviews-9-10/

Currently Reading/Finished books I do not own

1. The Lightning Saga Finished
2. The Bloody Benders Finished
3. The Walking Dead vol. 2
4. Wonder Woman Odyssey, vol. 1
5. Bad Girls

DNF

1. Annie of Green Gables
2. Lady Chatterley’s Lover
3. The House of Caine
4. The Swiss Family Robinson
5. Empress
6. The Emperor’s Pearl
7. The Good Earth
8. Bleak House- I did a rant about the entire experience.  https://themollyweather.wordpress.com/2014/02/04/bleak-house-readalong-i-xi-dnf/
9. Oscar Wilde and a Death of No Importance
10. Mermaid Saga volume 1
11. A Beautiful Blue Death
12. Horns
13. Instruments of Darkness
14. American Psycho
15. The Icarus Girl
16. Crazy Rich Asians
17. Critique of Criminal Reasoning
18. A Once Crowded Sky
19. Mists of Avalon

I think Misery ruined my reading with its getting to the good stuff right away. All these other books seem to be meandering around. I want to care. I don’t want to have millions of reasons to dnf books. But It is easy to dnf books when you are bored/not invested. I got despaired and  a bit  saddened with just the sheer amount of books I have been dumping in January, the first month of the year. I have to keep remembering that this is me. I dnf books on this level almost every month. It just gets wearing at times having to be disappointed again and again. I thought this year I would make better book choices that I could avoid dnfing as many books.

My ratio  of 4 dnfs for every 1 finished book is still a thing.

Finished

1. First Men in the Moon- not H.G. Wells best.
2. Misery- horror why did I not get more into you sooner?
3. All Together Dead- not the best in the series.

Previews Extravaganza https://themollyweather.wordpress.com/2014/01/15/previews-extravaganza/

I reviewed all the books in my library checkout.

I did not mention Horns and Dune which, I dnf. I did not feel like getting Things Fall Apart and Who Fears Death because they both do not appeal to me right now. Books are boring me right now. I just want a good  fantasy/horror/mystery novel that is unique and written well.

Thoughts/Rants

• Do you regret reading books? I was thinking about this recently when I was drafting a post about the worst books I read in 2013. The specific book was Gone with the Wind. As much pain and suffering I went through I do not regret Gone with the Wind. I feel that out of every worst book I read this year I regret none of them. I feel that I get something out of every book I read. Even if it is a simple I need to stop reading x genre.
• Booktube Problems. I have been seeing a lot of videos on the problems that are prevalent in the booktube community. I may not agree with everything some people are saying but I support the community getting more critical and getting out of its bubble. I have been a part of the community (just watching) for many years so I have many things that bother me about the community. I think the biggest thing is this idea that anything critical is mean. The entire thing that happened a couple of years or so ago about book bashing. It bothered me that people feel that giving a rant or saying anything slightly negative is mean. I’m really enjoying videos such as https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kLxovtFYo3E  and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r8ewGKWM1h8 who both sum up my overall criticism of the community. I think That both of these videos are also are things that I had to realize as a reader being apart of the book community.
• You Cannot have x thing in a book and think that is enough. For example I have recently been reading books with diversity in them. I have been dnfed all the books with diversity in them. My brother asked me why I have been doing that. Just having diversity or something I want is not enough to make a book great. It has to have all these other elements to make me finish all the way to the end. To assume that I have to finish or enjoy every book that has diversity is giving a pat to authors who do stereotypes or who just put one thing for points. It lumps the authors who do the bare minimum a pat on the back. It is nothing to just have a non-default character. It is amazing to have a dimensional, interesting, non-stereotype different race character who is not just there for points.
• Lack of Creativity: It depresses me that the problem that plagued me last year is rearing its head again this year, the lack of creative fantasy books. I even would settle non-creative if it could only be interesting. It defeats the purpose being a fantasy novel if the only thing you are going to do is focus on kingdom stuff. I got so dejected that I started brainstorming a fantasy novel. The thing is that I do not want to be a writer. I want authors to be creative enough so that I don’t feel that I have to write to get all the imagination out. What I’m reading right now bores me.

My Books Left to Read Status: I am at 124 books all together including the 80 desert island books.  On the subject of my 80 desert island books I might lower the number to 50. In light of my experience in this month I don’t want to leave room for duds. If it is not a classic or an author I like, it is not going on the list. I dnfed about the same amount I usually do in a month. I thought how is it that some people can know if a book can work for them while I can’t. I am questioning if it is okay to still be dnfing books at this amount even when I changed my reading focus.  It really bothers me that I still have not gotten a good creative fantasy and mystery novel. I want to have more enjoyable reading but where do I go to get interesting novels? The only genre that seems to be doing anything special is horror.

Plans for February

1. Ask myself while picking a book does this really sound good? What is this about?
2. I think I need to get into non-fiction. I am going to start with my brothers books he is getting for class on women in royalty. No, it is not going to be exclusively England royalty so I hopefully will not be ranting.
3. Reading less novels for a bit which, sucks in the point that I won’t probably be finishing any books I own in February. I just am not feeling novels right now.

(I can already say since I am posting this a couple of days into February is a better month so far. )

Bleak House Readalong I-XI [DNF]

First things first, I was not able to reach chapter eleven. I made it up to chapter 4.

I struggled with deciding to continue this book just to finally get through it or  just dnf it. I decided to dnf it. Here are my reasons:

1. All the characters are bland.I have read David Copperfield  and Oliver Twist so I expect a vast amount of characterization in the characters. I expect that if anyone should get pages upon pages of back story it should at least be the main character. That did not happen however. Esther got maybe a chapter on a bit of her lifet story and that is it. This chapter was not a chapter that sold her character to me.Esther reminded me of Jane Eyre and a bit of David Copperfield. Except Jane and David had personalities. I heard that Charles Dickens based Esther off of Jane Eyre, he felt that Jane Eyre was not thankful enough. Looking at this the way the character is structured Esthers personality makes sense. He just took all the personality and what makes Jane, Jane Eyre out.  Readers get to see Janes struggles and understand her strife. Esther we just get a chapter and her personality is so thin that I honestly don’t see it. I kept hearing that Charles Dickens cannot write women characters and I had not experienced it so I did not believe it. I can really see it with this book. It really makes me angry because he gave so much to his other characters but did not give anything to hold onto to this one. I think Charlotte Bronte  herself sums up my issues with Esther “…weak and twaddling ; amiable nature is caricatured, not faithfully rendered…”  If his characters from Bleak House were just problematic that would have been possibly okay  but they have the audacity to be boring as well, no.
2. The Story is bland too. I honestly do not know what is exactly going on but I do not care that much.
3. My resolve not to finish books that I know I will not enjoy. I kind of struggled a bit with deciding to let this book go. I felt that because he was one of my favorite authors I needed to get through this book. That reading through this book like a good soldier was getting things done. Then when that thought crossed my mind it seemed like I was doing a chore. I thought at one point, if this was any other author I would dnf and never read the authors books again. I cannot in good conscience allow myself to finish a book that I do not like that is this big just because the author is one of my favorite authors. I could be reading any other books that is interesting and makes me excited to read it. I could be reading Les Miserables or one of the other 20+ classic books I have. I have too many books left to read  that I own and don’t own to waste on this book. It is too much to read 900+ pages just to give it a don’t like.

It seriously bothers me that so many people are going to read this listening to how so many count this as a favorite, not like it  and most likely never read a Charles Dickens ever again.  This is not Charles Dickens best by far.  Bleak House is not my last novel by Charles Dickens definitely. I just am hoping this is not one of those trends were the rest of his books suck too.

 

Library Checkout Reviews {9}-{10}

I have been going to the library left and right so I have a lot.

DNFers
 -not interesting. – I don’t want to wade through 100+ pages or so of  boring to get to something

– jumps around -mystery is boring

I don’t feel anything…

 + I read a bit of the first chapter and the character seemed to have a personality

comments: what is it with these mystery authors creating boring mystery. I only read one chapter and that was enough for me to say eh.

 Expectation: I expected it to be Asian drama show like or at least to have three-dimensional characters who are rich and a book on their life style. Even if it was not exactly all those things I expected to just like it.

Pros: + deals with rich Asian characters +Asian culture

Cons: one-dimensional characters, I feel nothing and care about nothing

Expectation: a heavy fantasy novel that deals with something other than the typical mythology. I heard that it does deal with Nigerian mythology but I didn’t get that far to see it for myself.

Pros: +biracial girl, deals with culture shock, chapters are short and easy to read, Nigerian culture

Cons: -little girl is a little spoiled, seems to JUST deal with biracial and little girl problems, where is the fantasy stuff

Comments: I overall was not feeling were the story was or where it was going. I think in light of my dnfing of Annie of Green Gables and The Icarus Girl, I think I officially am going to stop reading books with or dealing with children too. Last year it was teen books now it has to be books with children books.

Fairest vol. 1: Wide Awake

-I just read a couple of pages and did not feel I would like it.

The Mermaid Saga volume 1

-I just didn’t care

Oscar Wild and A Death of No Importance

-I don’t care about the characters or story, don’t care about mystery, i find it hard to believe Oscar Wilde is more clever than Conan Doyle

A Once Crowded Sky

–  annoying woman character who gets mad after someone saves them (I cannot do the angry woman who is irrationally angry thing again), I didn’t feel anything towards story or characters, why is everyone so mad

+ graphic novel part in the book

Mists of Avalon

Cons:

•  I am not as angry about the feminist label on this book because I’m assuming that people put this label on the book. Also, this did come out in the 80s so just putting women in a fantasy novel I’m assuming was enough to be considered progressive. Coming from a present day stand point she didn’t do a good job with the feminism. It is not enough to say that women are getting treated wrongly. Then you counteract that message with the main character listening to someone tell her to go against everything she believes to live the life she doesn’t want. I know that I probably excuse these issues because of the time period that this is supposed to be written. But Mists of Avalon  is a fantasy novel. I know it is based on the Arthurian lore so it has a basic script to follow. Nonetheless, I dumped this book just like I dnfed the historical fiction book on Mozart’s sister. I didn’t sign up to see women having a great amazing plan just to end up being everything they didn’t want. Why would I want to read a fantasy novel that can change things but just goes with the flow?  It is epic fail when an author who came out in the 1800s, Jane Eyre, can take care of more business than a novel from the 80s.
• I couldn’t figure out how I felt about this book. Then, I realized I don’t care about anything. The character, story, politics, religion, or just every element of this book I don’t care about them. I could just walk away and not feel anything. I just read the book as far as I did in the hopes it would get better and the romance was kind of interesting.

Pro:

+romance

Pro/Con/ I mostly did not care:

-/+ Christianity vs whatever religion main character believed in, politics

Finished

– 

The only book I really liked out of all the books I got from the library

Recommended for people who like: horror, mystery, true crime, historical mysteries

The Lightning Saga

+The first two chapters were really good. It had all these different justice league characters which, made me excited to learn about them and their powers. The adventure at the beginning of the story was really interesting.

-The third chapter is when the story went down. It went down as soon as I started chapter 3. At this point I felt that my lack of knowledge about the Justice League and all the characters back stories killed my enjoyment. The story got really confusing. I got bored because I did not know what was going on and what was going on was not that interesting anyway. Then the conclusion came and I didn’t know what really happened. The after stories were eh.