I loathe this book and yet I forced myself to finish. Do you do that too?
After I finally finished the book (and it felt like ages), I googled the title and the author to see what other people thought. I quickly got the sense that people who liked it didn’t look much past the apparently still-titillating notion of a relationship between two women. I say this because few people commented on the god-awful writing, and the huge holes in both plot and character.
Even NPR? Yep. The headline: Steamy Novel An ‘Education’ In Youth, Love And Mistakes.
Good freakin’ grief.
I also turned to Good Reads which made me feel a bit better.
What do you do when you pick up a book and quickly realize it isn’t going to live up to your expectations?
OneChicklette 
I usually force myself to finish too. Cold Mountain was nearly the death of me. 😉
That’s one of the rare books I quit (and yet I like the movie)
I loved Chocolat the movie and hated the book!
It depends on my commitment to reading a book. If it’s something I borrowed from a friend or something I picked up on a whim because someone somewhere said it would be worth my time, I’d stop reading if the first few chapters didn’t hook me. But, if I was, say, half way through the book, or if I made a personal commitment to finish the book, I’d feel obligated to finish the whole thing.
Food for thought.
What a coincidence! I just put up a post about the same subject. Different book though. Sucks. 🙂
Ooh, I’ll go look.
I won’t finish it 😦
Once in awhile I choose not to but this time I just hoped for something to improve. It did not.
Yes, I do that too, and sometimes it is frustrating! Once I start, it’s like I have to finish it. But I also organize my bookshelves according to the ranking of the author in my mind, so…I’m kind of a book nut.
That’s admirable.
Or anal. One of those ‘A’ words.
If I really dislike a book, I will stop reading it. Same goes for a bad movie.
I am jealous of your ability. Apparently I don’t have it!
I tend to finish it if I can, but usually take a break and read other books in between. There gave only been a couple I really could not finish.
I am curious to know which books you didn’t finish
Mr Nice was unfinishable. I really struggled with Naked Lunch and Crash too.
This book is on my to read list. You’re convincing me to let it go already.
Les Miserables made me miserable. Yet I finished it because I felt I had to. It took me four months to read it.
I’d say download the free sample and then decide for yourself. We’re all different!
You are convincing me to remove this book from my to read list. It’s okay. There are others.
Les Miserables made me miserable. I finished it because I felt I should. It took me four months.
I have to finish it, and it annoys the crap out of me. Internal question throughout: it HAS to redeem itself at some point right? Wrong. The title of the last awful book I read has been erased from my memory. In happier news, Etched in Sand and Chanel Bonfire were both great reads : )
Yes. I kept thinking “maybe just after this part something interesting will happen.” Nope.
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