I Read

I finished Five Quarters of the Orange by Joanne Harris yesterday. It has been a welcome break from struggling through Human Traces by Sebastian Faulks. I'm not enjoying it at all, although I remember getting a comment a few months ago by someone saying they loved it. For me, so far, the characters aren't engaging and I don't particularly find their studies of asylums and methods of treatment very interesting. So I'm not a fan.

I've been reading it anyway though, mainly because I didn't have another new book to read. I'm quite happy to go back to old favourites, but it's never quite the same once you know the ending, is it? That said, I re-read Little Women recently and adored it. I'd forgotten how much I loved it. Afterwards I went straight on to Good Wives, the sequel and liked that a lot too. I think I'll have to hunt out a copys of Little Men and Jo's Boys.


As we visited my parents this weekend I have a new borrowed book to get stuck into - A Parrot in the Pepper Tree by Chris Stewart. I've read his previous book, Driving Over Lemons and enjoyed it - it's quirky and amusing, so I have high hopes for this one.

I'm not sure I'll go back to Human Traces. Unlike Chris Stewart's books, there isn't much humour in it. I like to giggle, or at least smile while I'm reading. It's not vital, but it definitely helps. I have no compunctions about giving up on a book. I'll try most things but if I'm not enjoying it, I don't feel I have to finish. Zadie Smith's White Teeth was another one I started but didn't get on with.

What about you? If you've started a book but aren't enjoying it, do you need to finish it? Or are you happy to give up half way through like me? What would you recommend if I was to go book shopping, what should I look out for?