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Reading moods are such transitory things. Sure, there are a few types of books I can find myself in the mood to read almost anytime. Typically those books are fantasy books, or young adult novels, or both. I have to usually force myself to stop reading Sandman novels, or the Harry Potter books or anything by Sarah Dessen or John Green.
As for books not falling into the above categories, I need to be in the mood. Sometimes I really am in the mood for a mindless chick lit or a mystery or a biography. But sometimes I'm not. It's not you, I have to tell this novel that's just not piquing my interest. It's me.
Now, of course there are books I just genuinely don't enjoy and I could read the whole way through without ever finding a redeeming characteristic. I try not to dwell too long on them. Nor do I force myself into finishing them because hey, I've got a large tbr pile clamoring for my attention.
But it can be tricky sometimes to sort between books I'm not in the mood for and books I genuinely don't like. I sat aside On Beauty weeks ago as hopelessly boring and overwritten. Too literary. I picked it up again the other night when I was having trouble sleeping figuring it would put me right to sleep. Except that all of a sudden I loved the detailed character study, the analysis of a family in crisis. And when I got up the next morning I wanted to read more.
Maybe I need to go back to the list of books I didn't finish. Maybe I was unfair. Maybe my new favorite book is to be found in that stack. We'll see.
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4 comments:
I'm so with you on this. I don't need any push for reading fantasy. :)
this is more true than most realize.. the mood you are in, the things happening in your life etc.. all have a factor to being able to relax and enjoy a book!
You are right. We should give those "unreadables" a second and maybe, maybe (if they're classics) a third go round. But I still don't think I can finish Doyle's A Boy Called Henry.
Isn't it funny how that works? I have a whole shelf of books that I read but didn't really like. I hope that someday I'll pick them up again and feel differently (they are mostly books that everyone else seems to love). I'm definitely a mood reader!!
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