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Abandon ship! Abandon ship! (2016 books)
Aug. 2nd, 2016 08:44 amIn a comment reply to someone else's post about books, I noted I currently have 170+ books in my To Read pile, and at my rate of about 50 books a year, that would take three years for me to get through the pile... assuming I got no new books in that time. Problem is, I seem to be getting new books even faster than I'm reading them, so my To Read pile just keeps growing and growing. It hadn't been long ago I was shocked to find I had 100 books in the pile.
So I decided to focus on reducing it. Tackle the low-hanging fruit: books that should be quick reads, ones I think I might not like (so I can get rid of them if so), or ones that are part of a series when I already own the whole series (so, if one book doesn't work for me, I can get rid of the whole series).
Last night I was able to get a surprising number of books deleted.
The Hungry Fox by Kitty Barry.
Why oh why did I have a children's book on my Kindle? Not a YA book, not a young reader book, a children's book. It had maybe 20 sentences of text total. It must have been one of those monthly free giveaways at some point. I didn't even bother reading it, once I realized what it was, I just deleted it. (No rating, didn't read.)
Noah Zarc: Mammoth Trouble by D. Robert Pease
YA (or younger) book about a family from the future who used time travel to rescue animals going extinct. Seemed like an interesting idea, except the main character kid was in a wheelchair. I'm sorry, but this culture has time travel but cannot repair a kid's legs? The writing was way too simplistic, and the bad guy seemed nothing but evil (no shades of grey in the book) -- HOW DATE PEOPLE WANT TO SAVE ANIMALS? THEY'RE DIRTY, THOSE ANIMALS! THE PLANET IS MEANT FOR PEOPLE! (Hated.)
Dog Diaries: Ginger by Kate Klimo.
I read another of these Dog Diaries last year, and didn't finish it or enjoy it, yet I had left a bunch more of them on my Kindle. Started reading Ginger. This one was about dogs in a puppymill. Like Noah Zarc, the writing was really, really simplistic and the characters black/white. Abandoned this one, deleted the other Dog Diaries books unread. (Disliked.)
Midnight's Sun by Garry Kilworth.
I read another 'talking animals' book from him, one about hares. While I finished it, I remember it being seriously long-winded (page after page of listings of the names of plants in the area, for example) and not enjoying it, so I was already in the mindset to drop this book as soon as I got a feeling I wasn't enjoying it. That happened right away. The wolves in this book were just plain odd (like they had religion and a court system for when wolves broke the rules). Abandoned, and deleted the three other talking animals books by this author I had downloaded. (Disliked.)
Werewolves of Brooklyn by Brad Vance.
I abandoned this one quite a few books back (before In Real Life), and feel bad because I forgot why. (Sorry, author!) I think it was the quality of the writing and that the main character wasn't believable. (Disliked.)
Currently reading: The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E. Pearson. Uncertain if I'll finish it or not.
Current To Read pile count: 156
So I decided to focus on reducing it. Tackle the low-hanging fruit: books that should be quick reads, ones I think I might not like (so I can get rid of them if so), or ones that are part of a series when I already own the whole series (so, if one book doesn't work for me, I can get rid of the whole series).
Last night I was able to get a surprising number of books deleted.
The Hungry Fox by Kitty Barry.
Why oh why did I have a children's book on my Kindle? Not a YA book, not a young reader book, a children's book. It had maybe 20 sentences of text total. It must have been one of those monthly free giveaways at some point. I didn't even bother reading it, once I realized what it was, I just deleted it. (No rating, didn't read.)
Noah Zarc: Mammoth Trouble by D. Robert Pease
YA (or younger) book about a family from the future who used time travel to rescue animals going extinct. Seemed like an interesting idea, except the main character kid was in a wheelchair. I'm sorry, but this culture has time travel but cannot repair a kid's legs? The writing was way too simplistic, and the bad guy seemed nothing but evil (no shades of grey in the book) -- HOW DATE PEOPLE WANT TO SAVE ANIMALS? THEY'RE DIRTY, THOSE ANIMALS! THE PLANET IS MEANT FOR PEOPLE! (Hated.)
Dog Diaries: Ginger by Kate Klimo.
I read another of these Dog Diaries last year, and didn't finish it or enjoy it, yet I had left a bunch more of them on my Kindle. Started reading Ginger. This one was about dogs in a puppymill. Like Noah Zarc, the writing was really, really simplistic and the characters black/white. Abandoned this one, deleted the other Dog Diaries books unread. (Disliked.)
Midnight's Sun by Garry Kilworth.
I read another 'talking animals' book from him, one about hares. While I finished it, I remember it being seriously long-winded (page after page of listings of the names of plants in the area, for example) and not enjoying it, so I was already in the mindset to drop this book as soon as I got a feeling I wasn't enjoying it. That happened right away. The wolves in this book were just plain odd (like they had religion and a court system for when wolves broke the rules). Abandoned, and deleted the three other talking animals books by this author I had downloaded. (Disliked.)
Werewolves of Brooklyn by Brad Vance.
I abandoned this one quite a few books back (before In Real Life), and feel bad because I forgot why. (Sorry, author!) I think it was the quality of the writing and that the main character wasn't believable. (Disliked.)
Currently reading: The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E. Pearson. Uncertain if I'll finish it or not.
Current To Read pile count: 156
