Sep 20, 2011

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.

14 comments:

  1. I read Going Bovine too. It did get weird, but I did keep reading. I'm sure I'd always keep reading this kind of book.

    Most books I do finish. Often when I don't, I find it's because I'm tired and it's harder to stick with it if I'm not in love with it. Sometimes I'll go back later ad give it a try.

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  2. Dang. I haven't read any of these, so I can't argue OR agree with you. But your reasonings sound good to me.

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  3. I haven't read any of these books, but I've heard good things about Going Bovine.

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  4. I haven't read any of those, either. Three for me:

    1. Bumped by Megan McCafferty
    2. The Atomic Weight of Secrets by Eden Unger
    3. Pearl Vs. The World by Sally Murphy

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  5. I need to read all three of these! Jon, I have not been here in a while! Love your blog's funky new look! :)

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  6. AHHH!!!! I KNEW I loved you! We have a similar love of Going Bovine! It was on my list too.

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  7. I really liked the Dust of 100 Dogs myself. Good choices!

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  8. Natalie - I have retired books too, but they usually fall apart for me.

    Matt - Your list should be interesting...lol.

    Sandra - GB is great!

    Shannon - Your third is on my list already, but I'll look up the other two!

    Hilary - Welcome back!

    Christine - I didn't realize I never added the link to your blog. I remedied that just now!

    Sarah - A.S. King quickly became my inspiration.

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  9. Ooo Going Bovine has been in my TBR pile forever. I really need to read that one. And I felt the same about The Host (it's on my post also lol) Once Wanda started hearing Mel's voice (is that her name? It's been awhile lol) I was hooked, but it took a few chapters.

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  10. The Host took me a while to get into too, but it did suck me in eventually. Great picks! :)

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  11. The Host had me from hello. It was slow, but in a creepy, what's-going-on kind of way. Totally different from Twilight because the discovery is from an alien perspective. That by itself makes this book a gem for me. I must read Going Bovine. It sounds like something I'd love.

    Thank you for the reviews and recommendations!

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  12. Three new books to consider. Thanks for the list.

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  13. I've been wanting to read The Host. Thanks for the reminder! I really enjoyed Dust of 100 Dogs as well.

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  14. Great picks! I actually liked the beginning of Going Bovine...it's the middle that dragged some for me. But I'm with you on Dust of 100 Dogs. I actually never finished it, despite Please Ignore Vera Deitz being one of my favorite books of this year. Now I'm going to have to go back and try again.

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:D