After only writing four “non-reviews” in the history of this blog, now this is the second time this week. Ah well. I hate giving up on a book, but I also dislike wasting my time on something I know I won’t enjoy. Frustration occasionally wins out, particularly when I can tell early on exactly why I’m not enjoying said book.
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Archive for the ‘Non-Reviews’ Category
Maureen Child’s “Bedeviled,” a non-review
Tuesday, February 3rd, 2009Cooke’s “Kiss of Fate,” a non-review
Monday, February 2nd, 2009Once upon a time, I got so caught up in the plots of the books I read and movies I watched that no matter how poor the execution of those plots was, I had to find out how they turned out once I started them. Since then, my priorities have changed. Maybe it’s that I don’t have the free time I once did, so I don’t want to waste it on something I don’t fully enjoy. Maybe it’s that there’s a limited number of ways for plots to turn out, and I’ve pretty much seen them all by now, so if the window dressing on the way there isn’t good, there’s no reason for me to stick around.
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James’s “Dragon Master,” a non-review
Thursday, October 23rd, 2008I don’t review the books I don’t finish. I don’t talk about them on Amazon or Epinions, I don’t rate them on a numerical scale, and I don’t pretend to know for sure whether they’re good or bad books ultimately. But I don’t mind telling you exactly why I decided not to finish them.
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Melina Morel’s “Prey”, a non-review
Wednesday, August 27th, 2008Usually I finish the books I start reading, even those I don’t like all that much—but that’s changing, perhaps because I have so little free time these days and so many books to review. It’s entirely possible I’d come out of Melina Morel’s Prey thinking it was a so-so book, not a terrible one, but the truth is I’m not going to find that out.
I don’t review the books I don’t finish. I don’t talk about them on Amazon or Epinions, I don’t rate them on a numerical scale, and I don’t pretend to know for sure whether they’re good or bad books ultimately. But I don’t mind telling you exactly why I decided not to finish them.
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Susan Johnson’s ‘Hot Property’, a non-review
Friday, June 27th, 2008I rarely fail to finish reading a book that I start, but it’s happening a little more often lately—probably because I have so many books to read that I have less tolerance for cruddy ones. If there’s something I’m enjoying about the book or I’m having trouble putting my finger on why I don’t like it I might still finish it, but otherwise, why bother?
Anyway, while I’m not going to do a ‘review’ of a book I haven’t finished, nor share my thoughts of it on sites like Amazon or Epinions, I don’t mind noting on my blog why I decided not to finish it. And so, here are the reasons why I set aside Susan Johnson’s upcoming Hot Property around page 62 or thereabouts:
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Rice’s ‘Mystic Rider,’ a non-review
Wednesday, May 28th, 2008You’ll note I’m not including a score on this book, no pros and cons. This isn’t a review, because I didn’t finish the book. To start with, from Patricia Rice’s website, here’s the description of her upcoming book, Mystic Rider:
…err, okay, I’m used to finding the ‘official’ description of a book on the author’s website, but I haven’t been able to find it there. So instead, here it is from the back of the uncorrected proof copy I have from Penguin Group. Any typos are probably mine:
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