No one should ever finish a book they're not enjoying, no matter how popular or well reviewed the book is.---Nancy PearlNancy Pearl, a well-known librarian from Seattle and author of Book Lust is a voracious reader who encourages readers to abandon books they don't like after reading at least 50 pages. Life is too short to spend time reading a book one doesn't like.
Today I am trying to follow Nancy Pearl's advice, to dredge up the strength and determination to abandon not one, not two, but three books. Gulp! And two of these books are award winners so I really should WANT to finish them, but I don't.
The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains by Nicholas Carr---a Pulitzer Prize finalist in 2011 in the General Nonfiction category. I am fascinated by the topic but the book depresses me. I am not kidding. I have to stop listening to this audiobook, at least for the time being, because I am not in a good place to hear about how we (humans) are no longer capable of reading long texts which is going to render books obsolete. Ugh. Progress: 50%.
Behind the Beautiful Forevers by Katherine Boo---another nonfiction selection. This book won the National Book Award in 2012/13. The subtitle is Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity. It is really depressing to read about the poverty and corruption in India today. The only problem with abandoning this book is it is a book club selection. I haven't quite made it to 50 pages. What I think I will do is abandon the audiobook and just skim/speed read the print edition to get the gist of it. But I am not sure if I can make myself do this. I am a finisher when it comes to books , especially ones for book club.
What do you think? Can you abandon books you don't like, even books you "should" read?
