Tuesday, May 13, 2014

Top Ten Tuesday: Ten Books I Almost Put Down But Didn't


Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish. Each week they will post a new Top Ten list that one of the bloggers at The Broke and the Bookish will answer. Everyone is welcome to join. All they ask is that you link back to The Broke and the Bookish on your own Top Ten Tuesday post AND add your name to the Linky widget so that everyone can check out other bloggers lists! If you don't have a blog, just post your answers as a comment. Have fun with it! It's a fun way to get to know your fellow bloggers.

Ten Books I Almost Put Down But Didn't



While this is a well-written book, it was totally disturbing. It is about a toxic friendship between two young women who are searching for who murdered a friend. In my review I described it as Dawson's Creek meets Silence of the Lambs. 


*



I had a tough time with this one, even though I ended up enjoying it. Set during WWII, it captures the delicate and sometimes sinister intricacies of little town USA. I really struggled with this one because I couldn't find a single character I liked.

*


This is the story of long-lost lovers reuniting and how they are impacted by one man's quest for revenge. I had no idea what the point of the story was for the first 200 pages, and many times the same information was repeated by different characters, which added to the length of the book. Once the villain jacked up the stakes it became more interesting.

*


While overall this is an enjoyable book, the storytelling mechanics left something to be desired.

*


Though the main character is a P.I. searching for a missing college student, he spends more time discovering Mexico than pursuing leads. I would also have liked a deeper point of view.

*


Though this one starts off strong, it quickly becomes a story plagued by too many extraneous details, quickly--and easily--resolved conflicts, and characters that remain undeveloped.

*


This was a book I received unsolicited while on vacation one year. Though the author's blog that this book was based upon in 2009 was very popular at the time, the swearing and vulgarity did nothing for me.

*


I had some big issues with this book. It's tough to swallow the author's idea that the majority of us feel obligated to purchase a home because we have been brainwashed by the real estate industry, lenders, the government, and the media into purchasing a home at any and all cost. The flow of money example is also based on an exaggeration depicting a greedy lender and equally greedy real estate agent conning a fictitious family into buying a home they can't afford.

*



The author's message on self-esteem was lost in this story of an alien girl who borrows her father’s spaceship to come to earth for the Miss Universe Pageant.

*



I honestly couldn't tell by the end of the story what the point was. The main character and her family endure unspeakable tragedies, but I never really knew why. The pacing was also off, which didn't help.



4 comments:

Katherine P said...

Dawson's Creek meets Silence of the Lambs may be the funniest yet most vivid description ever. I think I'll give this book a miss. Actually from the sounds of it I think I'll give most of the books on your list a miss! The Last Full Measure sounds like the kind of book I have to read in book form to avoid damaging my Kindle when I throw it at the wall. As for the Renters Win book - I think I'd have a really hard with that overall concept as well.

Cheryl said...

I truly struggled to come up with a book comparison, but I ended up with a TV one.

Unknown said...

Renter's Win...seems interesting. was the publication date during the bubble bust a few years ago? I can see where the book is coming from but I'm not sure it's accurate. It seems like it also assumes everyone takes major loans for houses when many people are now building as they have the money or saving for a few years and if not buying the house outright then putting down massive down payments. My husband would love this idea though because he never wants to own - his goal is to never have to fix anything or mow grass again. He also loves that if some major breaks it's not really our problem.

Cheryl said...

Jen, it came out in 2009, so definitely a tense market. I can't say I enjoy fixing stuff--we've gone through some serious cash on repairs lately--but with rates the way they are, on a monthly basis it's cheaper to own.