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Tuesday, March 09, 2010A Bad Book is Like a Bad Song...
it can turn you off the artist...for life!
I just finished what was a very bad book for me, anyhow, it's actually gotten really great reviews from all the 'right' sources. What killed it for me? Too much information too soon and absolutely no information about the actual plot of the book. For example, I knew everything about the main characters' history, actions likes and dislikes (Hero, Heroine, Best friend, Business partner) within the first four chapters. But I knew nothing about the premise of the book...so for four chapters the author wrote about the past...which is good information to have. But it was a little much for me. I didn't care that the Heroine won her 7th Grade Spelling Bee, that the Hero always wanted to be a sports hero, that the business partner has always had a way with numbers or that the best friend has had jealousy issues since, well, birth. BLEH!!
I wanted to read about the story from the back of the book - not the pasts of the characters. For me the actual story didn't start until about 3/4s of the way through Chapter 7. Way too late. Because at that point I was done with the book. What happened from chapters 4 through 7? Nothing really. A few conversations at the local Dairy Barn about the weather, a shopping trip for something, meeting several more characters that may or may not hold importance as the book goes on...You get the picture. When the 'real story' didn't hold my interest for more than 4 pages, I dropped the book. It's now back on the TBR pile. At the very bottom.
The bad thing? I have three other books from this author which have now moved very far down the TBR pile, too. In fact, they may never get read, that's how annoyed I am at this point. This particular book has turned me off the author, an author I've read a lot of in the past, an author I've wanted to be able to write as well as...and now I'm just bummed about the book and wondering what the writer and editors were thinking. Because this book broke every rule about writing I've ever learned.
So, what about you guys? What do you do when you begin a book that has promise but quickly gets weighed down by the weight of the past, detailed descriptions of everything including the scarred sink? Have you ever left an author on the shelf because of your experience with a prior book? What made you (if you have) try that author again?
