Abandoned Reads

I'm trying. I'm really, really trying. But nothing on my bookshelf or in my library bag is catching my attention. I'm trying to read the following (all are open to mark my page at various places around the house -- bedside table, coffee table, arm of the couch, shelves in the bathroom, floor by the bed, etc) books, but having no luck with any of them. I wish sometimes you could scan a book with your fingertips and just KNOW you're going to enjoy it. Think of all the money and time going to the library you would save!

"Abandoned Books" photo courtesy of www.rightreading.com

Here's my current abandoned list:

• The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver -- I've tried so hard to like this book. I've checked it out at the library, bought it, sold it back to a used bookstore, and checked it out again. I never get further than the sixth or seventh page. It begins being told in third-person present which, to be honest, is just awful to read. "She sits," "they walk," and "he goes" are just difficult for me to wrap my mind around. Give me some past tense, please!
• Flies on the Butter by Denise Hildreth -- I read her first novel (or tried to read it, I should say) Savannah from Savannah, and it was terrible. I'm not opposed to Christian fiction, but if you're going to write it, please write it well. And you aren't doing yourself any favors by disguising it as a regular novel sans evangalism. Hildreth obviously got a new cover designer prior to this book coming out (I know, I know -- you can't judge a book by its cover. Except that you usually CAN.), because it looks really good from the outside. Inside, same old shallow characters and predictable plot.
• The Idiot Girl and the Flaming Tantrum of Death by Laurie Notaro -- I thought I had found the next Jen Lancaster in my life. I was wrong. Jen, when will your next book come out?!? Notaro is not the funny, crude humorist/memoirist I am used to.
• Stealing Buddha's Dinner by Bich Minh Nguyen -- I think I'm actually going to like and finish reading this one. So far it's fair, but most books are slow in the beginning. Nguyen's story of her family's escape from Vietnam and rough start in America is growing on me. Plus (bonus!), it sounds like it might also be about food... (The first chapter is titled "Pringles".)