I tried, really I did

I should so be sleeping. Dealing with 3rd graders on a daily basis is wearing and right now it's way later than I should be sitting at the computer. Okay, maybe they're not tiring. Maybe I'm just old. That aside, here's what happened with my reading challenge this week:

It was a sad state of affairs. I raided my TBR (to be read) stack -- and it is worthy of raiding, folks -- for a contemporary. For over one hundred pages I tried to like this book. After chapter . . . I don't even know, I gave up counting them, I chucked the book. Not a normal response for me. I'll push through to the end most of the time -- even though my reading hours are precious -- because I figure that the author went to a serious amount of work. And I'm not saying this multi-published author didn't go to a lot of work, however, I never cared what happened to these characters. In one hundred pages, I didn't care -- not even a little bit. Alrighty then, if the writing can't snag me in that count then it's truly not worth finishing.

So back to the TBR stack; this time for a historical. Maybe in was bad karma, or I'd pissed off the reading gods or something because this one was worse. Now since I can't write historicals, trust me I've tried and it was anything but pretty, I have loads of patience for the slower, more methodical pacing in historicals, BUT, the language didn't fit the period, the US state the characters were living in during this historical setting wasn't even a state at that point, the characters had conversations -- in mixed company -- about things folks would never have talked about back then. AND then, and then, and then, did you get that, and then the author kills off an injured wolf and her pups, ALL without remorse. Okay, I was done. Second book chucked.

Now, maybe because I've read so many fabulous books since the first of the year, I'm a little picky at this point; I will concede that possibility. But I didn't get my read in for the first time since the beginning of the year and that disappoints me.

I'm already a hundred pages into another historical -- this heroine has overcome huge obstacles and is one sassy creature for the effort. I love her. The hero is bold, brass, and lurking under all those rough edges is the man every woman would want. I'll be posting about this book by week's end.

What did you read this week?

Feel free to share.
~Happy writing and reading
Sandra