Am I the only person who has problem books? These are books that I want to read, that I have started many times but never ever finish. Every time I pick up one of my Problem Books I power on but deep down know I’ll probably run in to problems again. I have two in particular that I should make a super human effort on. The surprising thing is these are both books I really, really want to read.
The first is the final Harry Potter. Yes, the very same book I went and sat in line for the morning it was released. I’ve never made it past the fourth chapter in four tries. The other is the final Rebus novel, five attempts at that one and no further than the third chapter. And just to prove it’s not only ‘final’ books there’s one Iain Banks novel, Dead Air, that I just can’t get in to and I’ve tried his, as Iain M Banks, Player Of Games umpteen millions of times.
I’m currently waiting on a few books from the UK (oddly enough, one is by iain Banks and another by Ian Rankin) and have a week or so window until the first should arrive. So, tell me, what should I read?
Deathly Hallows, Exit Music or Dead Air? Leave your votes in the comments, I’ll start it on the weekend.
Not Harry Potter. I want to re-read.
I want to re-read all my Terry Goodkind books but I can’t seem to get past the 2nd novel. There’s 11 of the bastards to read. Ugh. And I remember loving them the first time around. I forced myself through all of the Capote novel though (that was rather intense).
I definitely have Problem Books. Funnily enough I’m also stuck with Dead Air, perhaps it’s a sticky kind of book? I’ve made it to the 2/3 point in Dostoyevsky’s Crime & Punishment about 6 times, and never got to the end. I routinely get up to halfway through book 3 (Green Mars) of Kim Stanley Robinson’s Mars trilogy, which I REALLY like, and I’ve read books 1 & 2 a few times each, yet I can’t push it through to finish it. There are others but my sleep-deprived brain is not supplying them right now.
I’m not going to vote, and I certainly have problem books, but I would note that Jeremy (11) has read The Deathly Hallows twice.
Ever thought your problem might be confined to books connected with Scotland?