Book Geek Wednesday: Third Time’s the Charm?

So this blog post is more of a follow up than a book review, but I thought it was important to give you all the skinny on what’s been happening in my book life.

I’ve been very frank on this blog about the epicfail that has been my attempt to read Graceling. I won’t lie. I was disappointed because I had really high hopes for that book, what with all the buzz that’s been going on about it. I picked it up and put it down more times than I care to admit. In fact, according to GoodReads, I started the book June 11 2009. *_* Wow.

Now, I know my post a few weeks ago said that it would probably end up in the DNF pile (did not finish) but I’m glad to report that as of a week ago, I picked it up for what would have been the last time, and around page 147 I found a spark of something magical. The story suddenly took flight. It was interesting, dynamic, adventurous and captivating. I read and flipped through pages with lightening speed wanting to know more about where the characters were headed and the mystery behind King Leck.

I’m now about halfway through and believe I will have a review ready for you all next week.

So I guess the moral of the story is, sometimes, you just can’t give up.Some stories start like a gunshot, fast and intense. But some are more like a boiling pot and you gotta just watch and wait until the water bubbles.

Book Geek Wednesday: The Dreaded DNF

So, I’ve had high hopes to post a review of Kristin Cashore’s Graceling by now, for the past few months even, and every time I go to try and finish it, I get stuck. I’m not sure what it is about the book that isn’t really clicking for me. The characters are interesting enough. The storyline is original. The world is well thought out and feels three dimensional. So what is it that keeps me so distracted? Is it that New Year’s Ennui Lisa was talking about? Maybe. But I keep getting the feeling that it’s much more in the pacing. I’m bored. Everything is in place for a great story and yet it feels like the ingredients are mixing in my mind.

So I’m going to just leave it alone for a bit and come back to it for one more attempt. Because I just hate giving up on books. I really do. The guilt is crushing. And although this is only like the second or third time this has happened to me, I’ve decided I’ll have to add DNF to my rating system.

Did Not Finish. For those books that for whatever reason just did not make it to the finish line.