Blog Chain: Three Books That Took Faith

Shaun started the newest chain, then Sarah posted and now it's my turn to partake in this thought-provoking chain! Shaun says, "What are three books you would tell people that they need to keep reading even if they aren't immediately sucked in by the first page?"

I tend to abandon books, even good ones, because I get distracted, stressed for time, and sucked into my own writing. I try to give books fifty pages before I'll abandon them all together. The following three books are ones that may not have had me at page 1, 20, or 40, but I stayed with them and by page 50 I was hooked.

1. The Dust of 100 Dogs, A.S. King. It's not that King's debut novel starts off slow...it just starts off odd. It's the early nineties and right away the reader is expected to believe the main character is a reincarnation of a seventeenth century pirate, who dies in the first chapter. It's a convoluted mess, but King starts to lay out pieces that push the reader to begin piecing the puzzle together. The real thing that kept me reading was King's amazing narrative through several characters over many, many years. By the end, I was proclaiming to the world how much I loved this book!

2. Going Bovine, by Libba Bray. As with all Bray books, it starts off normal and then things get weird, and fast. My immediate issue with the novel was not the plot, but the main character, who hardly cared about his own life - I could not understand why I should care. Bray introduces characters who are gems and this pushes the story into high gear. The characters mixed with the bizarre places they go makes for one of the most hilarious books I have ever read. Going Bovine really has it all.

3. The Host, by Stephenie Meyer. Despite the feelings you may have on the Twilight realm, The Host is something completely different. Meyer utilizes the first few hundred pages to lay the groundwork for what becomes and amazing story. If you enjoy ready descriptions, then this will be no issue for you, but for me it dragged on and on. And yet, I was totally invested. It was a bizarre experience reading this novel. I had no expectations. I didn't really know who Stephenie Meyer was at the time. She drew me into the story with vivid details and an extremely large cast of characters.

So there you have them, three books that I had through till the end, but boy was I glad I did! Tomorrow, we need to check Christine's blog to see what three books she lists.