This week's prompt-- books I'm no longer interested in reading-- didn't really strike a chord with me. When I put books on my TBR list they tend to stay there indefinitely, or until I actually read them but who are we kidding there are books that have been there for years. I don't remove them, even if I doubt I'll ever read them because I love having a list of books to reference. Maybe one day I'll just be craving a classic murder mystery and I'll finally pick up The Mysterious Affair at Styles, one of my oldest on my list.
So this week I'm taking a little different spin on the prompt and telling you about exciting books that were on my TBR list that when I actually read them...were a bit of a let down.
The Beautiful Ones by Silvia Moreno-Garcia : Atmospheric, La Belle Epoch, and magic? Sounds amazing! In reality, while the writing was at times beautiful, the plot dragged on, and the magic was horribly underutilized.
This Side of Murder by Anna Lee Huber: WWI-era murder mystery by the author of one of my favorite murder mystery series? Sign me up! ...that is, until I read a story with slightly flat characters and one-too-many plot twists that left me mostly confused and let down.
The Vigil by Angela Slatter: What I was hoping for-- innovative urban fantasy a la American Gods. What I got: traditional fantasy with a little flair and a book that was like 100 pages too long.A Curious Beginning by Deanna Raybourn: A murder mystery novel featuring a spunky female scientist by the author of one of my favorite murder mystery series? Sounds great, right? The novel was alright but featured an almost silly cloak-and-dagger plot.
Eligible by Curtis Sittenfeld: Ahh now we have the lowest rating I've ever given on Goodreads. What I wanted out of this book: an intelligent, fun adaptation of a literary great. What I got: characters that made NO SENSE, an inconsistent ability to translate the story into modern times, and problematic passages regarding transgender characters (but they lied to me because the gender they were performing was different than a sexual category they were assigned at birth!). One of the biggest disappointments I've had regarding books in a long time.
Annnd on that cheery note I have reached the end of my list! Let me know: have you read any of these books? Were you let-down or did you love them? What is your biggest reading let down?
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