Tried It and Tossed It

Not every book works for every reader - and I tend to be a particularly impatient reader. Here are a few books I tried that just didn't work for me.

The Last Original Wife by Dorothea Benton Frank
published 6/31/13
368 pages

Synopsis from publisher -

Leslie Anne Greene Carter is The Last Original Wife among her husband Wesley’s wildly successful Atlanta social set. His cronies have all traded in the mothers of their children they promised to love and cherish—’til death did them part—for tanned and toned young Barbie brides.

If losing the social life and close friends she adored wasn’t painful enough, a series of setbacks shake Les’s world and push her to the edge. She’s had enough of playing the good wife to a husband who thinks he’s doing her a favor by keeping her around. She’s not going to waste another minute on people she doesn’t care to know. Now, she’s going to take some time for herself—in the familiar comforts and stunning beauty of Charleston, her beloved hometown. In her brother’s stately historic home, she’s going to reclaim the carefree girl who spent lazy summers sharing steamy kisses with her first love on Sullivans Island. Along Charleston’s live oak- and palmetto-lined cobblestone streets, under the Lowcountry’s dazzling blue sky, Les will indulge herself with icy cocktails, warm laughter, divine temptation and bittersweet memories. Daring to listen to her inner voice, she will realize what she wants . . . and find the life of which she’s always dreamed.

My thoughts -

I know I've read something by this author before and enjoyed it, but this was just unpleasant. The author tells the story alternating between the viewpoints of Les and Wes (and can I pause for a moment and say.....Les and Wes? Seriously?), and it was hard to tell who was the more bitter and spiteful. I just couldn't read any more of how these two people disliked each other. I think I made it to page 40.

Moby-Dick by Herman Melville
first published 1851
752 pages

Synopsis from publisher -

On a previous voyage, Captain Ahab lost his leg to Moby Dick, a monstrous white whale. Now, bent on vengeance against the whale, Ahab leads the crew of the Pequod on a pursuit that features constant adventure and horrendous mishaps. On its surface, Moby-Dick is a vivid documentary of life aboard a nineteenth-century whaler, a virtual encyclopedia of whales and whaling. But as the quest for the whale becomes increasingly perilous, the tale works on allegorical levels, likening the whale to human greed, moral consequence, good, evil, and life itself.

My thoughts -

Okay, I honestly gave this a fair try, but seriously? There was just NOTHING for me to grasp onto. I'm really giving this whole "reading the classics" thing a go, but this novel? Beat me. I'm not ashamed to say it. I have absolutely no desire to find out how this story ends. On to the next, friends. On to the next. Abandoned around page 123-ish.....