SLIDER

Books I Gave Up On


1.) This Charming Man by Marian Keyes
author site/source


This Charming Man follows the "One Man, Many Women" formula. In this case, it is Paddy de Courcy, a local politician and he is getting engaged. The story follows three or four different women who have known him and through them, we get to know him. (Spoiler alert: he's actually a jackass, but that's not a really real spoiler, because any reader with a half of a half of a half of a brain would know that within the first couple pages.

Each woman does manage to have a distinct voice, which speaks well of the author. However. The first woman we meet, Lola, is no less than obsessed with him. Her voice is a not-at-all-subtle shout-out to Bridget Jones, except that Lola is not funny and doesn't have that kind, warm heart to make up for being so ditzy. In fact, Lola is nothing less than infuriating. She falls for his glib manner, thinks the sleazy, skeezy things he does are "romantic" and turns into a complete mess and nearly destroys her entire career from being so upset when he gets engaged to another woman - in spite of the fact that there was literally zero indication that he wanted her for anything other than sex. 

I normally love Marian Keyes, but this was a rare miss. 


2.) The Tommyknockers by Stephen King
author site/source

One word: 
BORING!!!



3.) The Taliban Shuffle by Kim Barker
source

Ugh. Groan. I was super intrigued by this book because I had watched Whiskey Tango Foxtrot (and hated it), but I figured obviously something had been lost in translation, the book would definitely be better and more thorough and - all the things.
And then the book was worse. 
For one thing, the way the book was written was all over the place, flitting around like a drunken butterfly. I knew more about Kim Barker's wardrobe preferences in the first five pages than anyone should EVER know in a book written by a professional journalist that is ostensibly about being on assignment in a war zone. 
All I could think while I read what I did of this book is that this is why people hate Americans. This is why people hate American women, and especially White American Women. It is one thing to tell a story about an experience and have it be filtered through your own view, or to relate a memoir about yourself with the added backdrop of a certain place or time. This book should be called "Kim Barker somehow manages to make everything in the Middle East about herself." 

Have you given up on any books? Any recommendations?
















2 comments

  1. Oh gosh, these sound awful! It takes A LOT for me to stop reading a book, even if it feels like torture, I just have this thing where I HAVE TO FINISH IT. And hate myself in the process. One I had to put aside: A Clockwork Orange. UGHHHHH.

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    1. I've never actually read "Clockwork Orange" but I definitely intend to someday. (Probably.) The whole book thing happened when I was reading "An Arsonist's Guide to Writer's Homes in New England." I was like "If I had five years left to live, would I bother wasting any of that time finishing this book?" NO! So many other, better, books out there! LOL

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