Just something I noticed on our coffee table the other day.
It’s sunny today! Cold and windy, but sunny. I’ll take it.
Well, I got to page 68 in Lock Every Door by Riley Sager and I chucked it. It’s clunkily written, predictable, improbable, and uses a plot device right out of the pages of Rosemary’s Baby, which was a better book on every level. It’s a young person’s book, I think, and I don’t mean to disparage young people. Rather, it’s geared to the mass market, Gone Girl kind of audience. That’s fine, but it’s not my cup of tea. As I said on IG, when I’m rolling my eyes at least once on every page, it’s time to admit defeat. Also: if I read a book and think that I could have done better (and I have no illusions about being good enough to write a novel) it’s time to move on. Anyway, it’s going back to the library today and I’ll start Hi Five by Joe Ide, a highly skilled writer. That makes 3 out of the 4 library books ready to return, with only one to go. Two read, one started but not finished. By the way, I very much enjoyed Blue Moon by Lee Child. Finished it in bed last night.
We watched An Inspector Calls last night on Amazon Prime. It’s a BBC version of the play by J. B. Priestly, a play I’ve seemingly always known about but have never seen. Excellent. Don and I are still talking about it this morning.
Other than that, life is fairly routine lately. Except for this morning when I was briefly locked in the bedroom, Don spilled a container of baking soda all over the floor, and knocked over my egg cups on top of the cubby. One fell to the floor, but nothing was broken. I told him that we need a reset!
Deep breath. And let’s start over.
Happy Wednesday.
Beautiful foto…and a reminder (for me)!
Thank you, Helga!
Whew! Close call with those egg cups. Glad nothing was broken!
Business as usual around here—reading, rugging, cooking, eating—schvitzing currently at a minimum, but it’s early yet.
Please define Schvitzing!
Sweating in the FL heat!
Ah! Love that word!
Late to the 12th anniversary celebrations Claudia, which I hope you enjoyed! Like so many others, I adore your blog: it has been a balm to my soul on many difficult days.
This is an amazing achievement- congratulations 🥳
Siobhan
Thank you so much, Siobhan!
Oh, how sad I feel when I give up on a book. But it does happen. I used to try and plow through it, but now I have come to believe that either the book is not well written, it can’t capture and keep my attention, or, I recognize that it is a perfectly fine book, but not one for me at this particular time. I guess that puts me more at ease when I cry “uncle” and put it down. I am much more at ease with the decision now. So many books to read, it seems silly to force myself to merely read through one when I could be truly enjoying another. Getting wiser as I age, I guess!
Hope hitting reset helps today. It would really be nice if we just had that button to push, wouldn’t it? (I’m anxious to hear Shanna’s definition of Schvitzing, too!!)
Just sweating. Sometimes I see it spelled without the ‘c’. Don’t know which is correct, though. It probably just is a phonetic spelling for the Yiddish word.
I used to feel guilty but I don’t any longer. It’s okay to not like a book. It took me a while to get there, too! I used to worry when I was young that I would never be able to read all the books I wanted to read. I still feel that way, so abandoning one and finding a better book is okay by me. Thanks, Chris.
You do need a reset But I’m glad that none of the egg cups broke — that would have been devastating (for a box of baking soda!)
I have pegged the murderer in the book I’m reading now within 20 pages. I could be wrong — it’s not badly written and reads fast. But if I’m right, I wonder if I’ll read the next two I have by the same author…
Box of baking soda and the egg cups falling were two separate incidents, Jeanie. And I forgot that last night we spend a lot of time looking for Don’s watch. We couldn’t find it anywhere. Finally did. Is it a full moon??
I enjoyed Lock Every Door, maybe because I read it cover to cover while sitting in the lobby of the convention center while my oldest son attended an event. For a day full of distractions where I needed some entertainment to fill my time, it was perfect.
Now you’ve got me wondering if I would have liked it as much if I’d been reading at home without having to pay attention to my surroundings.
It’s all personal and subjective and it might have been perfect for you – just not for me. Although I can see it working in that kind of situation because it has an interesting premise and moves quickly. I’m glad you liked it, Michelle.
I feel the same way. If I am not enjoying a book, I will not finish it.
Marilyn
Thank you, Marilyn!
Claudia, First, thank you for faithfully writing and illustrating your blog every day. It’s a friendly chat that I enjoy. And, I think you may have a book in you. My opinion.
Second, re: Books I don’t connect with or that I find distressing: I buy many books used, and if they disturb me, I have, on occasion, actually taken them directly to the trashcan. I surprised myself the first time I did this, but I was really upset. One book that met this fate was by Graham Greene. I had heard his name referred to reverently so many times, and it was a sweet old hardcover, but the characters were so superficial and trite, the whole story was so unlike able that I felt I was doing future readers a favor. Another was “Running with Scissors”, especially upsetting because it was recommended by a former student as a favorite of his. Yikes!!
Listen, when I finished Gone Girl, I actually threw it across the room!
You know I love books and I treat them well, so for me to actually throw it tells you how much I disliked it! Thanks, Leslie!
So sorry you didn’t like Lock Every Door. As I said, there was something about it…the ladies at library liked it…as did my other fellow bloggers and friends. Just didn’t resonate with you. Sorry.
I didn’t think it was well written, Brenda. It never rang true for me. But that’s, of course, just my opinion! Thank you!
P. S. I liked Gone Girl…Woman in the Window…etc…but I also majored in Psychology and like the psychological thrillers…one has to concentrate and really think about what one is reading though…not always the best written-I taught writing in secondary and university level…but still that mystery…hope you enjoy your next book
I like psychological thrillers, and I’ve read quite a few, but they have to be written well. I don’t think Sager is a very good writer. What he does know how to do is write a mass market book. I saw an interview with him where he said what he really wanted to do was write a best seller. And he has. I don’t know exactly how to put it, but it felt false from the start. All of the plot devices were so obvious that I wasn’t surprised by anything. So I never sank into the story because I could see his plot outline on every page.
My problem with Gone Girl was that it was so blatantly manipulative. I didn’t think there was an honest moment in the story.
Thanks, Brenda!
I have given up on a lot of books, too…juvenile writing, no plot, underdeveloped characters, or just plain lacking in holding my interest. Life is too short to spend plowing through a book that you don’t truly enjoy!
Sometimes, a routine life is a good life. I have to remind myself of that. I had a treadmill stress test this morning which went fine, but I had terrible anxiety beforehand and now I’ve had a headache all day. Tomorrow our son flies in from LA for a short visit and wouldn’t you know it, he just sprained his ankle. AGAIN! He has Chronic Ankle Instability. I have no idea how he’s going to get through two airports and sit on a plane for five hours without being able to elevate his foot. I need some unassuming, simple days right now…
xoxo
to melanie …
hope (praying) your headache and anxiety are gone and the stress test results are good, that your son’s travels are comfortable (sounds like easy isn’t likely right now) and his ankle gets better. hope time moves slow when you’re together and you all have lots of fun … and you get lots of “unassuming, simple days” soon!
kathy in iowa
One of the commenters on my post on IG said she was sick of shallow best-sellers. I thought that was a perfect description.
I’m so sorry about your headache and your worries about your son. I wonder if he’s arrived by now (Thursday)? Take a deep breath, Melanie. xo
Thank you, Kathy and Claudia. Things actually got worse…my son lost his wallet on top of spraining his ankle!! He made it to the DMV at 7 am this morning and got a temporary copy and was able to get to LAX in time and pass through extra security etc and is now flying the friendly skies on his way to Chicago! I will be seeing him later tonight. :-)
Oh no, That poor guy! I hope you had a great reunion, Melanie!
The beauty of library books, if you don’t like the book, you just return it! I stopped forcing myself to finish a book years ago when I realized there are so many books and never enough time so why bother reading something that doesn’t satisfy me.
Rereading Sinclair Lewis’ “It can’t happen here”. It’s scarily on point especially and written in 1935.
One of my all-time favourite reads!
Yes, that book has been mentioned a lot since Trump won the election. I have yet to read it and I need to do that soon. Thanks, Betsy.
I urged my husband to read it as things went from bad to worse after the election – despite a concentration on American Lit, and using other Lewis’ works in his classes, he’d never read it. When I reread it, I had to stop halfway through as it was so prescient.
My father tried to teach me that it was all right to abandon a book, but that was when I was too young to absorb the lesson. Now I have no qualms about stopping. Bad writing will do it every time.
I’m rather nervous to read it now because it might make me even more agitated than I already am. But it’s definitely on my list, Margaret.
Yep. If it’s bad or even so-so writing, I’m gone!
It will.
xo
I had to stop midway to recover as well. Only 3/4 of the way through and keeping my fingers crossed. A very different read compared to when I was 18 in 1976!
whew! glad no egg cups were broken!
two-and-a-bit books out of four sounds good. more than i’ve read in a long time. hope you enjoy the next book!
i give a book ten pages and if it doesn’t have my interest by then, i stop reading it. i know that’s not giving much of a chance to character and story development, but that’s where my brain, patience and schedule are at right now … ten pages (to decide to continue reading something or not).
i like your idea of a re-set. hope you got it and your day has ended better than it started!
over the past year or so, i’ve been working on a re-set. a big one … big enough that it’s less a re-set and more a clearing. it’s meant saying “no” to things that i still want(ed) in order to have room for things i want/need more, checking my priorities and doing a better job of guarding my time, health and all that. not often fun, but worth it.
gotta go. have a good night. hope you are sleeping better. are you?
kathy in iowa
I can’t make a decision that early. I would have lost out on the pleasure of so many wonderful books if that was my cut-off!
Your big reset sounds intriguing, Kathy! Good for you. Yes, I’m sleeping better on the whole, with the occasional bad night. Thank you!
glad that you are overall sleeping better. very important!
i am sure i’ve missed out on some great books with my “ten-pages-love-it-or-move-on” rule (which is, of course, completely optional), but that’s just where my attention span and schedule are at right now. :l
thankfully i am more patient with people. :)
my “clearing” isn’t really intriguing … it’s just what i now find necessary after experiencing too many days for which i’ve wished for a “re-set” … like the day when i realized that next month i turn the earliest possible age of retirement (62) and am emotionally but not financially ready for that and the clock in my head ticks so loudly i can’t think of other things, but need to think of other things, too. like days when contradictions (such as being a very introverted social worker for 35 years, 20-plus at the same job) pull at each other and at me. and other days when other stressors make life hard. so … no different than anyone else … i am just trying to simplify my life and live closer to my values and my needs/wants. that’s what i mean by “a clearing”. again, not fun, but worth it. :)
kathy in iowa
Absolutely worth it, Kathy. xo
There is a 1982 version of An Inspector Calls on YouTube that I thought was quite good. It led to further reading (always good), but I got the impression Priestley wasn’t very nice (disappointing).
Well, he was a Socialist and he was much more than a writer. He did a lot of good and fought for what he believed in, which I’m sure ruffled many feathers. I find him fascinating! But, admittedly, I just read the Wikipedia entry. Thanks, Barbara.
I will add an inspector calls to my watch list. So glad nothing got broke, Good idea to rest and reset. xo Laura
It helped, Laura. Some days just call for a reset.