A lot of blogs have What I'm Reading Now sections. I sometimes post about books I Did Not Finish. You see, my To Be Read Pile stares menacingly at me from the long table behind my computer. It stares at me and I begin to feel guilt. Recently I realized that my TBR pile and my I Want to Read pile often don't match up.
Is it fair to keep those books waiting to be read or can I put me out of my misery?
At BEA I picked up books from everyone. It was my first BEA and it was so exciting. Many were books I wanted to read and review. However, there were also those pressed upon me, or those I wasn't mindful enough to see they weren't my thing.
They may be good. They may be the next big thing. Or not. But, there is every likelihood I won't be reading them.
The first is from a handsome and charismatic young man who urged me to take a signed copy of his book. It is published by the Strategic Book Marketing group. After looking at their site I noted some complaints posted about them online. Go to
http://www.sfwa.org/for-authors/writer-beware/alerts/ to see more.
This young man, Igor Ferluga states that his "passion is and always has been to write long, complicated, convaluted novels that no one would want to publish."(sic.,
http://igorferluga.webs.com/)
The problem with novels that no one would want to publish is that often they are novels no one wants to read. And, needing to read as much as I do, if a novel will be long and convoluted it better grab me right off the bat.
The book he gave me is Shadows of the Nephilim and starts off with the death of two wolves given special power by a Prince. The Prince assigned them a task of killing a particular person. They are killed by their mark who shoots lightning bolts at them.
The next chapter starts off telling me that we are all children of God.
When Igor was asking me to take the book I asked if it had a religious theme. He told me there was mention of religion but that the theme was not religious. Sorry, that whole section about God and being his children? That strikes me as religious, and is enough to put me off most books. Randomly moving into the story, I found a heavy hand on telling me what characters did and not enough showing and dialogue.
But the two big reasons I am not reading it is a sneaking suspicion that religion is more involved thatn I was told, and the confessed convoluted nature of the book at 469 pages. I don't feel I could do this gentleman's work justice with my potential bias and it may be perfectly fine.
If anyone would like to read it it will be in a future contest. It may be a fine work that I just do not have time nor patience for.
Another book I will not get to is Hades by Alexandra Adornetto (Publisher: Feiwel & Friends-August 30, 2011). This sequel to Adornetto's Halo, is a YA book with a striking cover. Adornetto's succes is remarkable in that she she is only 17.
It is an overtly religioun-themed story. I just don't do stories with religious themes, which I do state in my policy.
Although it is religious, from the bit I read, it seems to be well written. I will also be passing the story on to another. Here are some quotes:
Over the past year, the influence of my family had spread and transformed Venus Cove into a model town. The church congregation had tripled in numbers, charity missions had more volunteers then they could handle,... (p.2, Hades, Alexandra Adornetto)
Another person who'd witnessed as much as Xavier might have lost all faith in Our Father, but Xavier has strength of mind and spirit. (pp. 3-4,Hades, Alexandra Adornetto)
I do read books , like Laurell K. Hamilton's Anita Blake series, where the character is religious, but while Anita is religious, her faith is a foil against which she is always testing herself. I don't find the series proselytizing. And I am inconsistent in application of my policy. Once in a while a book with religion gets in. Usually, though it has enough sex to balance out the churchy goodness.
Obviously, if I am going to read in the paranormal, religion will rear its head in many of the books I read. When it is generalized, for example the fight between good and evil being characterized in demon(s)/god(s) I don't mind it.
I was brought up in a religious family and was forced to listen to church music and other religious stuff, prayed over by an ecumenical prayer group my parents had, force to attend two churches and more. Been there, done that, got the tee-shirt.
Do to my upbringing and continuing family tension, I have an antipathy towards religion when pushed, even subtly. I am unable to be at all objective in the arena so I usually opt to recuse myself from reviewing these books.
For people with faith, wonderful; these two books may be just what the pastor ordered.
The good thing about books is that one may not be my cuppa, but someone else will find it suits them to a T.
Hades Trailer
