{Book Review} JACK by Penny Dee

 

Jack

Kings of Mayhem MC Tennessee Book 1

Penny Dee

MC Romance

Released May 28, 2021

Blurb:

What doesn't kill me had better start running...

Life as I knew it ended with a bullet.
It stole my brother from me and destroyed my family.
From the ashes, I rose stronger and meaner, to exact the kind of revenge best served bloody and cold.
I took out every single person I held responsible,
Except one.
He’s a phantom but his days are numbered.
Because I won’t stop until I’m done.

Then she shows up.
The forbidden fruit.
A light to my darkness.
I should resist her because what I touch, I destroy.
And my feisty wildflower deserves more.
More than this.
More than me.

But there is a monster lurking in the shadows.
A psychopath.
Watching her.
Watching us.
His threats torment her.
And they make my black heart burn.
But he should know,
You don’t ever mess with me, or the people I love.

JACK, is book one in the Kings of Mayhem MC Tennessee series.
For readers 18+

My Review:

I was really excited for this book after reading books in Penny Dee's Kings of Mayhem series and loving them. I don't know if it's just been a while since I read that series or if it was because I decided to read this book while rewatching Sons of Anarchy but this book just didn't do it for me for a few reasons. 

So, Jack's little brother that he essentially raised is murdered and Jack gets really depressed and tries to push everyone away including his first wife and she just lets him? I thought biker wives or "Old Ladies" were supposed to be in it for the long haul and she just leaves him knowing that Jack is depressed and eventually marries someone else? Doesn't sound like any other MC type book I've read before but I suppose the author had to free up Jack to match him up with his new toddler... I mean love interest. You could have killed the wife off, really made Jack on the warpath. 

Which brings me to my next point, Jack is killing people - scumbags granted - but like nobody cares that these people are just dropping dead? The cops aren't investigating? Not checking who had a grudge against these guys? It's just cool that Jack is murdering people? Alright I guess...

Then there is Jack and Bronte's relationship. Not only did they have little, if any, chemistry but trying to do the math on their age difference made me a little sick. Bronte was basically a toddler when Jack moved in next door who was already late teens/early twenties, MARRIED and a father of THREE KIDS. Bronte befriends Jack's brother who is around the age of Jack's three small children and Jack basically watches Bronte grow up and now the author wants readers to be okay with Jack hooking up with Bronte? It just didn't sit well with me. I mean I can handle age differences in books, but this is a pretty huge gap. 

Overall, I really did not enjoy this book and once I figured that the author was pairing up Jack and Bronte I lost interest in finishing the book and mostly skimmed the ending. 

My Rating:

🌟🌟

2 of 5 Stars!

{Book Review} BIG SUMMER by Jennifer Weiner

 

Big Summer

Standalone

Jennifer Weiner

Chick Lit / Mystery

368 Pages

Blurb:

The #1 New York Times bestselling author of the “nothing short of brilliant” (People) Mrs. Everything returns with an unforgettable novel about friendship and forgiveness set during a disastrous wedding on picturesque Cape Cod.

Six years after the fight that ended their friendship, Daphne Berg is shocked when Drue Cavanaugh walks back into her life, looking as lovely and successful as ever, with a massive favor to ask. Daphne hasn’t spoken one word to Drue in all this time—she doesn’t even hate-follow her ex-best friend on social media—so when Drue asks if she will be her maid-of-honor at the society wedding of the summer, Daphne is rightfully speechless.

Drue was always the one who had everything—except the ability to hold onto friends. Meanwhile, Daphne’s no longer the same self-effacing sidekick she was back in high school. She’s built a life that she loves, including a growing career as a plus-size Instagram influencer. Letting glamorous, seductive Drue back into her life is risky, but it comes with an invitation to spend a weekend in a waterfront Cape Cod mansion. When Drue begs and pleads and dangles the prospect of cute single guys, Daphne finds herself powerless as ever to resist her friend’s siren song.

A sparkling novel about the complexities of female friendship, the pitfalls of living out loud and online, and the resilience of the human heart, Big Summer is a witty, moving story about family, friendship, and figuring out what matters most.

My Review:

This review is going to be a little different. I DNF'd this book, meaning I did not finish it. But I definitely have some opinions on what I did read. 

I bought this book last year when it first came out and I guess I thought it was a fluffy summer beach read. Maybe I read the description then, I'm not sure. I didn't realize going in this was going to be an attempt at a murder mystery.

We start out with a prologue in 1994 and that was fine, interesting even. But I have no idea how the woman we read about or her son play into the plot. I never got that far. Fast forward to chapter 1 and suddenly it's 2018. So the four-year-old in 1994 would be 28. Are we reading about him? No. We meet Daphne, a plus-size instagram influencer meeting with Leela, a stylist/clothing designer at a coffee shop to talk about a social media collaboration. Leela is talking about ethically sourced materials and inclusivity and Daphne is thinking about all the trouble she had growing up finding clothes that look nice on her body and are stylish and that's about the point where I was like - hold up I don't need to read anymore of this BS. 

I'm a plus size woman, true. I also like to think I appreciate fashion and have an interest in acquiring nice clothing. I'm so sick of authors writing plus size characters and their whole character ARC is having a past of being bullied or having insecurities about their body. I'm over it.  If we've reached a place where we can have LGBT+ books that aren't just about coming out why can't we have books with plus size main characters where it's normalized and say "x character" is bigger the same way we'd just casually describe characters saying they were tall or short or red-haired or bald and have the main story be about a mystery or a rom-com or a horror plot that has nothing to do with pages upon pages reminiscing about their weight struggles. When I think of myself, I often don't see myself as any different than anyone else. I don't constantly internalize that my thighs are thicker than a woman I might see at the mall. I buy high-end clothing and have no trouble finding clothing that fits nice and is in my correct size. I even *GASP* feel sexy when I wear certain things. Please authors, stop reducing anyone over a size 10 into a bunch of insecure, weight obsessed, weaklings. Give us hobbies, a personality, the same as you would a skinny character! 

Moving on, I skimmed to the end of the book after I realized it was a mystery just to see who the killer was and found the reveal to be not all that surprising and their motivation mostly unoriginal. 

Overall, though I did not finish this book, I really disliked the parts that I did read. I probably will not try anything else by this author.

My Rating:

DNF

Top Ten Tuesday: 4 Books I'd Gladly Throw in the Ocean

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme created by The Broke and The Bookish and currently hosted by Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl.

Top Ten Tuesday: 4 Books I'd Gladly Throw in the Ocean

This week’s TTT is all about books we'd gladly throw in the ocean. I'm taking that to mean books we didn't like? Books we want to get rid of? Well that's the way I'm interpreting it anyway. Honestly, I could only think of 4 books I hated so strongly I'd want to obliterate them off the face of the earth. Sure, there are other books I've DNF'd but these four I definitely have an issue with...

 

1. Harrow Lake by Kat Ellis

This book was such a let down. It had all the set up to be a creepy read but you have a main character that is so annoying it's hard to get past the beginning. (I didn't. She used the word 'optimal' too many times in the first chapter or two and I just couldn't. Want a book that is similar in subject but way better written and a lot creepier? Go with The Lost Village by Camilla Sten)

2. Barking Madness by Ryan Hill

The author contacted me to review this book and it was so bad. I tried to give it a chance but the way it was written was portrayed the female character in such despicable and misogynistic ways I wanted to throw the book. Ha - I get it now... gladly throw it into the ocean 🤣

3. Heart of Ash by Kim Liggett

I don't know if this is technically "throw in the ocean"-worthy but it's a prime example of a sequel being completely different (in a bad way) from the first book. It was such a confusing read when compared with the plot of the first book.

4. You by Caroline Kepnes

I watched the show first. The first season was okay, typically Lifetime stuff. I didn't like the second season and stopped watching. But the book? Joe is way more messed up and gross on the page. I couldn't get past page 60. 

***

What books would you gladly throw in the ocean?

Let me know in the comments or drop a link to your TTT!

Happy Reading Bookdragons!

-Taylor

Throwback Thursday Book Edition - 29 November 2013

First of all, Happy Thanksgiving to my U.S. Bookdragons! Welcome to Throwback Thursday: Book Edition, a weekly meme hosted by Taylor Fenner's Bookish World.

How It Works:

Each week we'll go through our Goodreads stats and throwback to what book we were reading on that specific date years earlier and what we thought about it then.

Elegy

Hereafter Book 3

by Tara Hudson

Format I Read In: Hardcover

Pages: 386

Published: June 4, 2013 by HarperTeen

Blurb:

A stalker ghost, misguided Seers, and spellbinding wraiths—Amelia Ashley has faced them all. Now her greatest hope is to spend the rest of her afterlife with her living boyfriend, Joshua. But the demonic forces return to give her an ultimatum: turn herself over to the darkness or watch them murder one living person per week until she does.

Amelia fears she might really be doomed, until the forces of light give her another option. She can join them in their quest to gather souls, with a catch: Once she joins them, she can never see Joshua again.

Faced with impossible choices, Amelia decides to take her afterlife into her own hands—and fight back.

Throwback Questions

Started Reading: November 28, 2013

Finished Reading: December 2, 2013

My Rating: 3 Stars

Shelved as on Goodreads: Paranormal, Ghost-Stories

Have You Reread This Book?: No

Would You Reread This Book?: No

Do You Still Own This Book?: No

Have I Read Other Books By This Author Since Reading This Book?: No

Things You Remember Liking About this Book:

From the beginning of the series I loved the ghost-falling-in-love-with-a-living-boy aspect, I liked both Amelia and Joshua as characters.

Favorite Character:

Joshua

50/50 Friday - Book Read in a Day/Book You DNFed

50/50 Friday is a weekly meme hosted by Carrie @ The Butterfly Reader.

What is 50/50 Friday?

Everyone has a favorite and then we also have something we dislike. Like a coin, there are two sides to every question. Example: best sequel you've read/worst sequel you've read. So that's what 50/50 Friday is all about. Carrie posts a new topic every Friday so be sure to check out her post to see the topic for the following week!

Topic for the Week

Book Read in a Day/Book You DNFed

Book Read in a Day

The last book I read in a day (that wasn't a novella or a graphic novel) was Rules for Vanishing by Kate Alice Marshall. I read it as an ARC a few weeks before it released and couldn't stop reading!

Book You DNFed

The sad thing is I was really looking forward to The Twisted Ones by T. Kingfisher but it was so slow and boring and not at all what I was expecting. 

Topic For Next Week

Favorite/Least Favorite YA Paranormal Book

Book Review: How to Love A Duke In Ten Days

How to Love a Duke in Ten Days
Devil You Know, Book 1
Kerrigan Byrne
August 27, 2019
St. Martin's Paperbacks
eBook, Paperback, audiobook 440 pages

BLURB
These men are dark, bold, and brave. And there is only one woman who can bring them to their knees...

Famed and brilliant, Lady Alexandra Lane has always known how to look out for to herself. But nobody would ever expect that she has darkness in her past—one that she pays a blackmailer to keep buried. Now, with her family nearing bankruptcy, Alexandra strikes upon a solution: Get married to one of the empire’s most wealthy eligible bachelors. Even if he does have the reputation of a devil.

LOVE TAKES NO PRISONERS

Piers Gedrick Atherton, the Duke of Redmayne, is seeking revenge and the first step is securing a bride. Winning a lady’s hand is not so easy, however, for a man known as the Terror of Torcliff. Then, Alexandra enters his life like a bolt of lightning. When she proposes marriage, Piers knows that, like him, trouble haunts her footsteps. But her gentleness, sharp wit, independent nature, and incredible beauty awakens every fierce desire within him. He will do whatever it takes to keep her safe in his arms.

My Review:

Let me start out by saying I don't usually read books like this because I usually find the genre to be... well a little cheesy. But when the publisher emailed me to offer me an eARC, I thought "oh, why not?" I was in a reading slump and I figured it would be a quick read. 

I can't really say if I enjoyed this one or not. It was, as I expected, cheesy and sort of a brainless read (meaning you get through it without it having much of a plot besides the romance). 

It was just an okay read for me. I'm not sure I'd continue reading the series and I probably should have just said no from the get-go. My apologies. It's just not my cup of tea.

My Rating:

🌟

1 of 5 Stars!

Book Review: The Lantern's Ember by Colleen Houck

The Lantern's Ember by Colleen Houck

Blurb:

Welcome to a world where nightmarish creatures reign supreme.

Five hundred years ago, Jack made a deal with the devil. It’s difficult for him to remember much about his mortal days. So, he focuses on fulfilling his sentence as a Lantern—one of the watchmen who guard the portals to the Otherworld, a realm crawling with every nightmarish creature imaginable. Jack has spent centuries jumping from town to town, ensuring that nary a mortal—or not-so-mortal—soul slips past him. That is, until he meets beautiful Ember O’Dare.

Seventeen, stubborn, and a natural-born witch, Ember feels a strong pull to the Otherworld. Undeterred by Jack’s warnings, she crosses into the forbidden plane with the help of a mysterious and debonair vampire—and the chase through a dazzling, dangerous world is on. Jack must do everything in his power to get Ember back where she belongs before both the earthly and unearthly worlds descend into chaos.

My Review:

To start off, I was really excited about this book when I first heard about it. The author described it as a retelling of the Legend of Sleepy Hollow (which I love!) but to be honest... I've read better reimaginings of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. This book just kind of fell flat for me.

It has a gorgeous cover, don't get me wrong, but the story inside is just kind of ... meh. I didn't care for our naive heroine, the fact that all of the male characters were in love with her, the steampunk themes, and I guess I was expecting something a little spookier.

Overall, this book was not for me. Maybe it would appeal to somebody younger, I don't know. I really wanted to love this one but I just couldn't. I'm left feeling disappointed.

My Rating:

🌟

1 of 5 Stars!

Book Review: Song of Blood and Stone by L. Penelope

Song of Blood and Stone (Earthsinger Chronicles #1) by L. Penelope

Blurb:

A treacherous, thrilling, epic fantasy about an outcast drawn into a war between two powerful rulers. 

Orphaned and alone, Jasminda lives in a land where cold whispers of invasion and war linger on the wind. Jasminda herself is an outcast in her homeland of Elsira, where her gift of Earthsong is feared. When ruthless soldiers seek refuge in her isolated cabin, they bring with them a captive--an injured spy who threatens to steal her heart. 

Jack's mission behind enemy lines to prove that the Mantle between Elsira and Lagamiri is about to fall nearly cost him his life, but he is saved by the healing Song of a mysterious young woman. Now he must do whatever it takes to save Elsira and it's people from the True Father and he needs Jasminda's Earthsong to do it. They escape their ruthless captors and together they embark on a perilous journey to save Elsira and to uncover the secrets of The Queen Who Sleeps. 

Thrust into a hostile society, Jasminda and Jack must rely on one another even as secrets jeopardize their bond. As an ancient evil gains power, Jasminda races to unlock a mystery that promises salvation. 

The fates of two nations hang in the balance as Jasminda and Jack must choose between love and duty to fulfill their destinies and end the war.

My Review:

I really tried to like this book, honest I did. The cover is nice but initially this book had points against it from the get go - the blurb didn't appeal to me and neither did the first chapter and I almost DNF'd it right there but I'd been sent a Netgalley widget from the publisher so I forced myself to give it a chance (I did not request this book, someone from the publisher sent me the widget because I've read/reviewed other books published by them). 

I may be completely oblivious but until I read other reviews I didn't really get that one of the themes in this book was supposed to be racial issues. I mean I see a colored girl on the cover,  so I assumed Jasminda was supposed to colored but hey - the last time I heard that name was in Bend It Like Beckham and she was of Indian descent! When the author went into the hatred between Elsira and Lagramiri people I thought it was a distinction of magic-people and non-magic-people, but okay - I guess it was supposed to be a black-vs-white thing. And Jack is apparently white so it's an interracial couple so again, I guess great for diversity, but I don't really care about that stuff. In my opinion if two people love each other then who cares what their skin colors are. It's 2018 people, we shouldn't have to have books saying its okay to have interracial relationships, it should just be accepted at this point, but I digress. My point all along was saying that I didn't know Jasminda was supposed to be black and Jack was supposed to be white because I thought they were kind of one-dimentionally described. Even now I have no idea what Jack was supposed to look like, I can't picture him at all and all I got out of Jasminda was she had dark hair, dark eyes, and was darker than her mother and brothers. Darker could have meant tanned for all the reader knows. 

As for the world-building and plot, I was able to get into the first 11-12 chapters before the story lost me again. Girl helps guy who thinks he's still in a different country, guy is recaptured by enemy forces, girl somehow races back to her cabin to beat the enemy forces there, reluctantly lets them stay there so she can help the guy who she's finding herself attracted to... some other stuff happens and then when they got to the cornerstone or counterpoint or whatever the story lost me again. I didn't understand what Earthsong was because it really wasn't well described (like most things in this book it's kind of vague). I assume it was magic, but what kind of magic? Jasminda healed Jack so was it a healing magic or did she have like a fix all, do all kind of magic? Either way, from what I read she wasn't very powerful but she kept having "bad feelings" when she came in contact with other magic. 

Then there's the "True King" and the "Queen who Sleeps" which was almost laughable to me. Since I didn't finish this book I can only assume they were some sort of magical beings and not truly rulers or Elsira and Lagramiri. Just the names were enough to get me. 

Overall throughout what I read (and I even skimmed to the end, which was what pushed me to finally DNF) it seemed like the author was trying to create a unique world, characters, story idea - the whole bit, but it was just your typical fantasy novel and not a very interesting one at that. Everything was just a little... underdeveloped for my taste. You have a female character who is your special snowflake - she has "powers", she's in debt, she's trying to save her home and then she meets the guy. The male character is protective of the heroine whom he barely knows but he's immediately attracted to her and together they go on a journey to save their world. Yawn. I feel like I've read this all before and I just could not positively connect with this story. 

My Rating:

DNF

Top Ten Tuesday: Ten Books I'm No Longer Interested In Reading

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl.

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Books I'm No Longer Interested In Reading

This week's TTT is all about books I've purchased with the full intent to read but when the time came to actually read them I'm no longer interested in reading them - or I'm on the fence on whether I actually want to read them or not.

1. Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard

2. Glass Sword by Victoria Aveyard

I have a friend who has bashed the Red Queen series so much and so frequently that I no longer wish to read the books. It's sad because at one point I was really looking forward to them.

3. An Ember In The Ashes by Sabaa Tahir

This was a pressure buy. Everyone else was reading it, so what was wrong with me that I had no interest in reading it?? I don't know.. I still have no desire to read it.

4. The Affiliate by K.A. Linda

I read the first page of this and it didn't appeal to me. I know other people love it, I just couldn't get past that first page.

5. Given to the Sea by Mindy McGinnis

I was excited to read this one when it first came out but I've tried reading a couple other books by this author and hated them, so I'm not sure I'll actually enjoy this one or whether I should pass on it.

6. Graceling by Kristin Cashore

Read this book they said. It's better than TOG they said. I'm not sure about that. I've heard rave reviews, I'm just not sure I feel like reading it.

7. The Wish Granter by C.J. Redwine

I bought this one because I loved the cover but then I tried reading and disliked The Shadow Queen which makes me skeptical of this one. Was it just that particular book? Is it the author's writing? I'm not sure. I'll maybe give it a try when I whittle my TBR shelf down and have nothing else to read. (Like that will happen).

8. The Heir by Kiera Cass

Part of me wants to read this book because it's the next generation of The Selection series, but the other part of me still doesn't like Maxon from the original trilogy and might be irrationally taking it out on his daughter. Bring on The Bachelorette!

9. And I Darken by Kiersten White

I just bought this book and Now I Rise because my friend who hates Red Queen was raving about it. I have no idea why I bought these books. I held out for so long thinking I wouldn't like them. But I bought them anyway. I need a bookstagram break.

10. Midnight Crossroad by Charlaine Harris

I lost interest in this book after it was turned into a tv show. Why bother reading the book when the show will be probably way different? Plus I wasn't that fond of the Sookie Stackhouse series after book 4.

What are some books that you were excited about when you bought them but then negative reviews or just lack of interest changed your mind about reading it?

Let me know in the comments or drop me a link to your own TTT post!

Happy Reluctant Reading Bookdragons!

- 💀 Taylor

Book Review: The Cruel Prince by Holly Black

The Cruel Prince by Holly Black

Blurb:

Of course I want to be like them. They're beautiful as blades forged in some divine fire. They will live forever.

And Cardan is even more beautiful than the rest. I hate him more than all the others. I hate him so much that sometimes when I look at him, I can hardly breathe.

Jude was seven years old when her parents were murdered and she and her two sisters were stolen away to live in the treacherous High Court of Faerie. Ten years later, Jude wants nothing more than to belong there, despite her mortality. But many of the fey despise humans. Especially Prince Cardan, the youngest and wickedest son of the High King.

To win a place at the Court, she must defy him--and face the consequences.

In doing so, she becomes embroiled in palace intrigues and deceptions, discovering her own capacity for bloodshed. But as civil war threatens to drown the Courts of Faerie in violence, Jude will need to risk her life in a dangerous alliance to save her sisters, and Faerie itself.

My Review:

I wanted to love this book. I really did. The blurb sounded amazing, the cover is gorgeous, the genre is right on... so what's the problem?

The book started out well enough, although I'm used to fantasy novels set entirely in fantasy worlds, not set in the "normal" world them brought into the fantasy world. I really don't want to read about microwaves and tv shows and Target when I'm reading a fantasy novel, but I pushed past that. 

I got about sixty pages in and while the writing wasn't bad and the world building was decent, I just absolutely hated the characters and there is the problem. The story can be expertly crafted but if I hate the characters reading a book becomes torture. 

Jude whines, Taryn is weak, Vivi is an obnoxious, spoiled brat type trying to get back at her dad, and Cardan is the textbook example of romanticizing relationship abuse. 

I tried skimming ahead but this book dragged and reading was a chore so I dropped it. I'm sure some people will love this book but it's not for me. I prefer my fantasy to be pure fantasy unless it's urban fantasy which is not what this book was promoted to be. 

My Rating:

🌟🌟🌟

3 of 5 Stars

(And that's mainly because I like the cover)

Book Review: The Hazel Wood by Melissa Albert

The Hazel Wood by Melissa Albert

Blurb:

Seventeen-year-old Alice and her mother have spent most of Alice’s life on the road, always a step ahead of the uncanny bad luck biting at their heels. But when Alice’s grandmother, the reclusive author of a cult-classic book of pitch-dark fairy tales, dies alone on her estate, the Hazel Wood, Alice learns how bad her luck can really get: Her mother is stolen away―by a figure who claims to come from the Hinterland, the cruel supernatural world where her grandmother's stories are set. Alice's only lead is the message her mother left behind: “Stay away from the Hazel Wood.”

Alice has long steered clear of her grandmother’s cultish fans. But now she has no choice but to ally with classmate Ellery Finch, a Hinterland superfan who may have his own reasons for wanting to help her. To retrieve her mother, Alice must venture first to the Hazel Wood, then into the world where her grandmother's tales began―and where she might find out how her own story went so wrong.

My Review:

Let me start by saying I won a copy of The Hazel Wood by Melissa Albert through Goodreads and I had entered to win it because the blurb reminded me a little bit of Wintersong crossed with Blood and Salt. 

Then let me say, as far as I read into it (which was only about 80 pages) it is not like either book. I saw all the advance reviews from popular authors on the ARC describing it as "creepy and captivating" and other rave reviews but to me this book was weird and bizarre - and not in a good way. 

My main issue with the book is that I couldn't connect with the main character, Alice. Her anger seemed to come out of nowhere and wasn't really explained as to why she was getting angry. There was the thing at the coffeehouse/cafe where she worked that some guy just wanted to make conversation and gosh you would have thought that was the rudest thing in the world. And her anger toward her stepfather felt misplaced. What was her issue with him exactly? I also couldn't tell if she was being friendly toward her stepsister or not. 

As for the other characters, I really didn't like any of them enough to connect with the story. You know how when you meet someone for the first time and you know you don't like them but you can't pinpoint exactly why you don't like them? That's how I felt about the characters in this story. 

I never got to the part where Alice (maybe? hopefully?) finds her grandmother's estate or her book or whatever so I can't honestly tell you how that played into the book. If I had to guess I'd tell you Alice is probably a character out of her grandmother's book and she somehow managed to pull off a "Between the Lines by Jodi Picolt" thing where somehow she came out of the book into the real world. But that's just a guess. I don't know if that's what happens or not. 

Overall, I could tell you a couple books I could compare The Hazel Wood to that it didn't live up to, but I can't tell you much about the book itself other than I didn't like it. It comes down to would I buy a FC for myself or a friend? No. 

My Rating:

No Rating (DNF)

Bookworm Problems: Book Slumps

So far my July reading looks like this...

"#bookwormproblems: when you've read a book so amazing you get into a book slump when you try to read something else. #amreading"

— Taylor Fenner (@TaylorFenner) July 3, 2017

Basically, I'll find one book that I breeze through and really like then when I finish it and want to move on to the next book on my TBR shelf I encounter a problem. 

Either: 

a)  I can't get into the book at all, not even past the first page.

or

b) I get maybe 40-50 pages in and the book isn't as good as it was expecting it to be so I don't see myself enjoying it enough to finish so I DNF it.

Skimming through the book doesn't help, reading ahead doesn't help, damn - reading the ending doesn't even help. I've finished one book of the four I've started reading this month (but I plan to finish the one I'm reading now so the ratio is about even). So short of going crazy, how do I get past a book slump?

Confession: I really don't have a method to my madness. 

I finished up June reading:

Hunting Prince Dracula by Kerri Maniscalco. I had won this ARC, but before I ever even entered for it I read an excerpt of the first chapter on, I believe, Entertainment Weekly's website and was immediately grabbed by the story. 

Then I started reading:

Which I ended up setting aside because I didn't like it as much as the first book. Thinking I would love this book as much as I did the first book, I didn't read an excerpt before requesting. My mistake. I might pick it back up, the book doesn't come out until December so I definitely have time, or I might read 50 or so pages a month until I finish. I got to about page 70 before I got stuck.

After setting that aside I grabbed:

Which I couldn't put down. I admit, the writing and story were a little strange but it kept my interest until the very end. I hadn't read an excerpt of this book, but I had liked another book by this writing duo and thankfully it paid off.

Feeling optimistic I grabbed:

For some reason, this book didn't even appeal to me. I couldn't even get past the second page. I'd bought it months ago at HPB and since I was rushed by my shopping companions I didn't get much of a chance to flip through it before I bought it. Mistake #2.

One of my bookstagram friends raves about this book, so I gave it a try...

I read maybe two-three chapters but I absolutely *hated* the writing. The story itself didn't make a lot of sense, so frustrated that I'd bought another book without reading an excerpt on Amazon's "look inside" feature I dropped it in the DNF pile.

Finally, feeling like I'd never find a book I liked again, I grabbed this book:

and broke my book slump (for now). I'm a little over 100 pages in and I'm loving the story so I think I'll stick with it. I'd read an excerpt of this book on Amazon before I ordered a signed copy from Book People (an Indie Bookstore in Texas which I highly recommend!) so I knew that I liked the beginning at least.

***

The moral of this confusing trip through my recent reading endeavors? If you're on the fence about buying and/or reading a book because you're not sure if you're going to like it and you want to avoid a book slump you should do one of the following:

- Read an excerpt of the book. Amazon has the "look inside" feature for books that are already on sale. Even if you don't buy from them you can still usually read the first chapter. You may also be able to find an excerpt on blogs, entertainment websites like Entertainment Weekly or Publisher's Weekly, or even on the author's website (or maybe on Wattpad). This will give you a feel for how you'll like the book.

- If you still are on the fence (you like the excerpt but are still unsure if you'll like the whole book) see if your local library has a copy. That way you can still read the book and if you don't like it you won't feel bad about spending your hard-earned cash on a book you turn out to hate. 

- Read reviews about the book. This doesn't always work for me because I tend to love books other people hate and hate books everyone raves about (see: The Raven Boys). If I decide to get a feel for the book by reading reviews about what people did or didn't like about a book, I usually go with the opposite of the consensus of people's opinions. If the majority of people loved it, I'll probably hate it so I don't waste my time. If the majority of people hated it, then I should probably grab a copy. (Like I said, this doesn't always work, but sometimes it helps when making a decision.)

***

So you've already bought a bunch of books and you're working your way through your TBR pile but nothing is appealing to you. How do you break out of your book slump?

- Switch up genres (Been reading a lot of one genre? Switch things up and read a book with a completely different genre. Example: getting sick of fantasy books letting you down? Switch to Sci-Fi or Contemporary.)

- Talk to a friend or loved one about what's not working for you with the book. They may be able to give you some insight into what might help you decide to keep reading or DNF the book. Just talking about it, in general, might help.

- Post about it on social media. Maybe send out a tweet that says: #bookwormproblems: is anyone else not feeling the relationship between x & y in "this book"? (or whatever is holding you back) - see what other people say. Maybe they picked up on the same things you did. Or maybe they can tell you that your slow read picks up and gets better.

- Take a break from reading. Maybe you've just been reading too much. (I know, I know - there is no such thing!) But maybe, in this case, there is. Set the book down and hang out with friends or watch a movie, maybe listen to some music. Then when you feel like reading again give the book another go.

***

Sometimes I feel the pressure to read at least one book a week to keep up with my "What I'm Reading" Wednesday blogs and I feel like I'm not reading fast enough if it's Tuesday night and I'm still reading the same book I was reading the previous Wednesday so I force myself to keep on with a book I'm not loving. This has caused more problems for me this year because a lot of my TBR books were purchased because someone recommended them to me. I've learned recently that I have very eclectic taste in books and I need to stop buying a book because a bookstagrammer in Omaha (or wherever) says "oooh, you have to read this book because you're going to love it!" - That approach doesn't always work out for me. 

It's time to get back to buying books that look good to me, not someone else. 

***

Do you encounter any of these problems? How do you get through a book slump?