I think many, if not most, readers feel the same way: not finishing a book is a failure. At least, I have always felt that way, but maybe I'm wrong. I've just recently discovered that there's a rule about quitting. the "rule of 50", stated by author and librarian Nancy Pearl, a contributed on NPR's Morning Edition. "If you’re fifty years of age or younger, give a book fifty pages before you decide to commit to reading it or give it up. If you’re over fifty, which is when time gets even shorter, subtract your age from 100—the result is the number of pages you should read before making your decision to stay with it or quit."
Maybe I should give it a try. There have been some books in the last year that I have not finished, after reading much more than the rule says, including some highly acclaimed books published recently. And who knows? Maybe they include books that other readers would thoroughly enjoy. Me, not so much, and I have dozens of other books to get to.
The first one really hurts: Administrations of Lunacy, the history of Georgia's state mental institution, Central State Hospital, built in Milledgeville in the mid 1800s, a part of the asylum movement inspired by crusading reformer Dorothea Dix. I'm a native Georgian, and I lived and taught in Milledgeville for several years, and I find the institution's history fascinating, but I can't finish this book. It's thorough and well researched, but it's become too clinical, pun intended, almost like going through a box of records in an archive.
How Much of These Hills Is Gold is a first novel for C. Pam Zhang, and it won a long list of accolades. It's set during the California gold rush and focuses on the story of two Chinese sisters who are orphaned and embark on a journey to make a place for themselves. This book started dragging for me early on, one calamity after another. The breaking point came when it was revealed that every single hardship and calamity suffered by the girls and their parents would have been prevented if the older sister hadn't done one incredibly stupid thing. Everything was her fault.
The Office of Historical Corrections. I was deceived. Or maybe I just should have read the reviews and blurbs more closely. The title and what I read about the book implied that the short stories contained within had some connection or new insights into history or connection to history. Wrong. It's really just a collection of stories about incredibly sad and unlikable women with miserable lives and relationships. Maybe it got better; I only made it through 3 stories.
I like Taylor Brown. I really do. I really enjoyed The River of Kings, although it did take me a while. However, I started Gods of Howl Mountain and never finished it. Then, I saw the buzz for Pride of Eden and thought I'd give it a try. Once again, I was plunged into misery. It's the story of a man running an animal refuge in coastal Georgia. My problem with the book is that every single human and animal in the book is so physically and psychologically damaged. Every page seems to be a different trauma.
Finally, Ghost Dancer, a Howard Moon Deer mystery, book 1, the story of a Native American detective solving murders in the west. But wait, does that sound familiar. Yeah, after reading all of Tony Hillerman's Leaphorn mystery series, Ghost Dancer was a very pale attempted imitation.
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