The Round House

The one book I didn’t finish in 2013…I think…

I think I might have been in the wrong frame of mind to read this book. I read most of it, but I just couldn’t do it. I was surprised as it had been recommended by two people who’s taste in books I respect – one is an English teacher and the other a librarian. The subject matter is pretty heavy and maybe it was just too much for me with my new baby and five year old…

 

(July 2013)

Crazy Love

Okay, so I'm probably going to be hated for this, but I did not enjoy this book at all. UGH. I actually put it down. Went back to it. Still disliked it intensely. Skimmed through it. Disliked it even more.

And I feel like I should at least like it, if not love it. I'd never heard of David Martin before, but from what the internet tells me, people wait with bated breath for his latest book. I couldn't find a single negative review about this book.

I'm not going to go as far as to say I hated it, but I didn't like it. Nope. Not at all. And I can't even put my finger on why. The characters seem to be well developed. The story line isn't overly complicated or hard to follow.

So, here we go, 2 months into 2011 and I have two books on the list of books I'm not going to finish. I still feel a bit guilty, but I'm trying to remind myself it's just a book and I don't have to like every book I pick up...

I got this book in a stack from Alex's dad before Christmas. There were about 10 books in the stack and most of them were pretty much new. Like I don't think the spine had ever been cracked on this one...I hope the rest are better received by my brain.

The Vegetarian Myth

Do you remember rule number 1? I sure do. And today I'm oh so glad I put it in my rules for this challenge.

Rule number 1:

If I cannot, absolutely bring myself to finish a book, I will not. I tend to torture myself and force myself to finish books even when they're not keeping my interest and I'm not enjoying them. I'm not going to do that for this challenge.

and as a result of rule number 1, rule number 2 also applies:

If I don't finish a book, I will still blog about it. Then I will attempt to read another book in that same, now truncated, month.

Because this book fits in to that rule. I had to request The Vegetarian Myth (and the university didn't have it!) and my name came up two days before we left to go away for Christmas. So I took it with me.


Um. Yeah. It's not exactly a Christmas reading kind of book. It required that I pay attention and file information in my brain for a later date.

So I decided I'd wait until I got back. Well, it's going back to the library today. I can't renew it because there is a long list of other people who would like to read it. For a while I fooled myself into believing I'd add my name back onto that list, but really, I'm not going to.

I was really interested by the topic of the book and it was recommended by a couple of people as I looked up more information about the GAPS diet. Lierre Keith is a former vegetarian and former vegan who argues that a vegetarian diet creates as much or more destruction to animal life and to plant life as a meat diet does. It's an interesting thought and the way she arrived at her arguments was compelling, but after 70+ pages, it felt like torture.

I started the weekend hoping I'd have it done by the time Alex heads to work tonight - then no late fees because he can drop it in the box. But sometime on Saturday I realized I couldn't do it. As fascinating as it seemed, I just couldn't get into the book. Lierre Keith mentions a couple of times that she was a staunch vegan, set in her beliefs and, (I can't remember if she explicitly says this or if I made it up, reading between the lines) somewhat preachy in her views, but that after a time of illness and research, she has changed her stance. But I kind of felt this book was preachy...just the opposite preaching to what a vegan would preach.

So, if you've read it, I'd love to hear what you thought of the whole book. Maybe one day I'll pick it up again...or maybe I won't. But I tried.

And yes, I will try to read two other books this month...not sure what they will be yet, but I have a stack on the go.