Thursday, November 18, 2010

What to do with a not-so-great book?

There are a lot of books out in the world.

As someone who has been reading since two, I happen to be a big fan of most of the books out there. But, let's face it, people, there are also a lot of books out there that, oh, say what's the word for it? Suck! They just down right suck.

The question is: What do you do about it?

Well, most of us would just chuck it in the recycling bin (if you're a world hugger) or the garbage can (if you're not); or maybe we'll donate it to a library (if you're a good book Samaritan) or Goodwill (if you're just looking for a tax write-off); or maybe we'll do what many do around this time of winter season and re-gift to someone you really don't want to shop for. The list goes on and on.

But what do we book bloggers do?

There's a whole book blogging community out there, and authors and publishers are using it to their advantage by giving away complimentary copies of their books for an honest review and a featured post on the blog. That's show business, folks! Strictly publicity.....for the author or publisher. But for the blogger, it's sheer heaven. I mean, who wouldn't jump at the chance to get a free book?

Now, most of us can read through the whole book and say it was excellent in the end. Best read ever, couldn't put it, highly recommend it to any bum I see on the street, yadda, yadda, yadda! But there are times, so few really, when we run into books we can't get through. No matter what we do, we just can't generate an interest in it. I mean, if you're like me, you strive to give the book a chance because it may actually pick up in the middle even though it had a slow start in the beginning. (I've read many books like this, BTW) But what happens if the books still isn't interesting by the time you get to chapter 30? What do bloggers do? Do you type in DNF in the post for "Did Not Finish?" Or do you write a fake review even though you couldn't get past page 5?

Well, you know what I do? I skip. No, not like Bugs Bunny. I skip paragraphs or even pages to get through the book. Why do I do this, you ask? Why don't I just stop reading it all together? Because even if I die tomorrow, I still want to know how the book ends; however, I don't want to waste my last precious moments on Earth reading something I don't like. That's why.

So there it is: my answer to what to do with a not-so-great book.

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