Ho-Hum

Candy at Smart Bitches wrote a blog called Introducing: The Dump.

She talks about how since starting their site, Candy has been doing her best to finish every book she has picked up. Apparently enough is enough and she will no longer finish books that bore her.

A couple of years back, I would have been surprised by people who felt they had to finish a book no matter what. The minute I saw on a message board with the word 'Wallbanger' I knew I was amongst friends. I remember heaving books across my bedroom in frustration back in the late 80s. I was young then and obviously full of vigor and drama. Drama I still have in spades but, I am not going to waste it by heaving a book dramatically across a room unless I have an enraptured audience. (Yeah, right)

It must be going on close to 4 years since I discovered the reading slump to end all slumps. I was sure there had to be something wrong with me. People were raving about books that I would inevitably drop 1/4 of the way through. This went on for a while until the day I picked up a book, read a paragraph and decided the book wasn't for me. WTF?

I realized at that point I was in serious trouble and I was not going to mention it to anybody because A) my friends are not readers and would have no clue what I was talking about and B) Bob would have kittens over the number of unread books in my spiffy library that he built me. Damn, I was having kittens over the books I was now afraid to touch!

So began the longest dry spell in probably any readers history. (Do share!) I mean, I was a staunch supporter of romance books and I could spend hours reading. Hours. Suddenly, I couldn't even get up the energy to read more than a page! I stopped reading. It probably lasted between a year and a half and two years. I should admit that even now, I have not been able to read as many books as I once did in a week. I'm thinking back then my average was probably 3 books a week.

What happened? I decided to start a reading journal and I had to promise myself that no matter what I was thinking of the book I had to finish it. I have slogged my way through many books but suddenly I was out of the slump. Okay, I wasn't exactly out of the slump but I was creeping my way back - I'll explain.

In the first year I kept track of reading I read *trumpets blare* 17 books. Yep, somehow I had managed to read 5 more books than there are months in a year. Hmm, this is the first time I have ever admitted this and it's not so bad. (be gentle) Believe it or not, I even voted in AAR's Reader's Favourite poll. Keep in mind that there are more categories to vote in than books I read! Didn't care. I had accomplished a year of reading and I was going to participate in the vote. Still though, I didn't tell anyone about the number of books I had read.

2004 I got out of the gate with a bang and tried to cram as much reading as I could in the cold months. I had read 8 books of which 2 were painful. Pain-a-ain-ful! Then I picked up my ninth book and finally gave myself permission to no longer read books to the end.

The book? Club Dead by Charlaine Harris. I wrote 'too sweet at the moment. Can try again later'. Uh, yeah, I haven't bothered trying again but I should admit the book is still in the house, just in case.

In turns out that I did force myself to finish other books. I notice The Surgeon by Kate Bridges and Beauty Queen by Julia London are in the journal and I remember wanting to beat the crap out of the characters. ::shrug::

End of the year 42 books read!! At least, the ones I noted down. I discovered that my record keeping is not nearly as perfect as I thought it was. I was forgetting to put books in. Also, I didn't count re-reads.

This year, I am up to 40 books read. 3 books I did not finish but there are a few I wish I hadn't finished! Oh, and I learned the power of skimming. Never done it before but with Catherine Mulvany's Run No More I discovered why it is so useful. I didn't really care about the characters and I kinda skimmed it because it was getting buzz and I was sure I was missing something. Uh, no.

Man I am long winded!! To sum up (I know), even though I tell myself I don't have to finish a book because I am better after my slump, I am still afraid it could rear it's ugly head like a disease. I finish some of my books out of fear that I will end up back where I started and I don't want to be there again! Skimming books should become a solid tool I can use to finish books that do not intrigue me but I sometimes feel like I am ruining my chance to come at the book another day with a different mood to discover it's perfection. Finally, if I am in real pain (c'mon, you've been there) I give myself the out.

Unless it is a challenge. Hence my determination to finish the Shopaholic book even if blood vessels pop in my brain.