Hi, all! I’m happy to be back and want to thank Delilah for letting me come play in her space again. It’s always fun when I visit here.
I’ve been a romance reader since I was in my early teens, thanks to my mom’s stash, and a reader since I was little. My mom would cart us to the public library once a week, and I would spend ages hunting for just the right book to check out—we were only allowed one a week, and a week is a long time to only have one book to read, isn’t it? In elementary school, I read everything the librarian had deemed appropriate for our class, and my mother told her to let me read whatever I wanted, no matter what grade. When I hit junior high, I started working in the school library one period a week, and I would go home on Fridays with a humongous stack of books—most of which would go back to the library by Monday, as I would have devoured them over the weekend.
I didn’t stick just to romance, but read anything and everything. When the librarian ordered new books for the library, I got first dibs. The weekend I took Gone With the Wind home, I read it twice. I fed my reading habit later with a spot reviewing romance novels for years, and I worked at Waldenbooks and Borders for seven years. Good-bye, paychecks! Hello, overflowing bookshelves! I’m sure a lot of you have similar stories.
It’s harder finding as much reading time as I would like some weeks, and I wish I could take a vacation to read. I have more than enough books to fill a week’s reading time. When my husband pokes his head into my book room and asks if I have enough yet, I tell him I’m saving for retirement; he knows I’m not joking. By the time this post is live, I will have added more to my cache from my trip to Maryland with friends to the Nora Roberts booksigning with a few other authors whose books I enjoy. And on Valentine’s Day weekend, I’m taking part in a multi-author signing, so I’m sure I’ll be taking some books home from that as well.
Now to make the time to read all these gorgeous new books…
Sometimes when I do have the time to read, I find it hard to turn off the writer in my brain and enjoy the story. I have read Linda Howard’s Death Angel more times than I can remember at this point. At least seven, maybe more. The first time I read it, I loved it so much, I went right back and read it again. Anyone who knows me knows I never reread. I can’t even keep up with my new books, so going back is not a thing for me. So to reread right away? That was a Really Big Deal. And I read it again. Then a few more times when the paperback was released.
I read it again last year, but this time, Writer Brain wouldn’t shut off and let Reader Brain enjoy the story. No, WB was too busy studying and analyzing. I hardly ever have that problem, and never with a book I love as much as this one. Has this ever happened to you? Not necessarily having a noisy Writer Brain, but just having trouble getting into a story you love, or by an author you love?
What do you do when you can’t get into a book? Do you give up altogether? Put it aside for another day? Keep going anyway? I’d love to know. Everyone who chimes in on this within 48 hours of the post going live gets entered into a drawing (via RandomResult.com) for a free ebook copy of Hunting Medusa.
About the Author
Almost as long as she’s been enjoying great books, Elizabeth Andrews has been attempting to write her own. She found her mother’s romance stash as a teenager and was hooked. She loves a variety of genres, mostly hot. You can find out more about her at www.ElizabethAndrewsWrites.com
Hunting Medusa
One murderous mission. One killer case of PMS. Who said “the curse” was a myth?
The Medusa Trilogy, Book 1
Ever since the original Medusa ticked off Athena by bragging about her beauty, her cursed daughters have been paying for that mistake. To this day, successive Medusas play cat and mouse with the descendants of Perseus, known as the Harvesters.
When Kallan Tassos tracks down the current Medusa, he expects to find a monster. Instead he finds a wary, beautiful woman, shielded by a complicated web of spells that foils his plans for a quick kill and retrieval of her protective amulet.
Andrea Rosakis expects the handsome Harvester to go for the kill. Instead, his attempt to take the amulet imprinted on her skin without harming her takes her completely by surprise. And ends with the two of them in a magical bind—together.
Though their attraction is combustible, her impending PMS (Pre Magical-Curse Syndrome) puts a real damper on any chance of a relationship. But Kallan isn’t the only Harvester tracking Andi, and they must cooperate to stay at least one step ahead of a ruthless killer before they can have any future, together or apart.
Warning: A hunter who’s fallen for the woman he’s bound to kill, a Medusa who must trust him with her life, and a magical curse only love can break.
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Sometimes I will put it down and start something else an come back to it. That way if it just my mood, I will like it later.
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If I can’t get into a book and it’s really bad I will move on to another book. Life is too short to waist it on a bad book. 🙂
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Sometimes when I start a story and I can’t get into it for some reason, I will put it aside until the time I think I might be able to. But I will always finish it, just not always when I first start it.
Sometime it could be “Trigger” for me or maybe the writing, (editing, errors, etc most of the time)! A couple of books that was full of “triggers” for me was Acheron & Styxx by Sherrilyn Kenyon! Sherrilyn is one of my TOP 5 authors of all times but both of them books it took me awhile to read them the first time they came out. Sorry about the long post! 😉
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If I can not really get into a book… if it is short I will finish it… if it is longer, I will put it aside and try to read it again at another time. Once a book took me two years to finish it was so boring…
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I keep on reading for a bit and hope for the best. Sometimes I find it isn’t the author’s fault. It could be that my own everyday problems are uppermost in my brain so I like to give the author a fair chance.
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Hi Elizabeth! When I’m reading a book that I can’t get into I usually finish it and less it’s just so awful that I have to put it down.
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I have only stopped reading 2 books in all the years I’ve been reading. One book I just couldn’t stand, at all, in any way, it was painful. The other book is a straight up history book and there was a part of the book that was so graphic that I just had to put it down. I plan to revisit the book this year and finish. I can’t stand starting a book and not finishing it!
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Wow! I’m impressed that so many of you will finish a book, no matter what. 😯
Like DebraG, Linda, Colleen, and Jen B, I used to keep reading, or go back to books I had trouble getting into. I felt guilty if I didn’t finish reading a book I’d started.
But there are sooooo many books to read, so many books in my book room waiting for me and calling my name… If I force myself to finish one I am not enjoying, then it’s even longer until I get to read one from the giant TBR pile that I know I will love. lol
I have put a book down and not finished it if it crosses one of my ‘lines’–I’m a firm believer in ‘no means no’, not ‘I don’t want you to do that, but…well, I’ve loved you all my life, and even though I don’t want to…” I have a few firm lines, and if a story crosses one, I’m done, no matter what I thought of the book up to that point.
I do have one book (not a romance) I go back to periodically, though I haven’t finished, that has a story that scares the bejeebers out of me, not just because it’s horror, but because it’s horror that could actually happen. One of these tries, I’m going to finish it. And then I’ll really be scared. 😉
I love talking books, so it’s interesting hearing about what other readers do. 🙂
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When I’m having trouble getting into a book, I put it aside for a day or so. If that doesn’t work, then I read a different genre before coming back to it. Most of the time, that is an easy way to clear the mind and dive back in.
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Your story is a bit like mine. I have been devouring books since I was 13 and will read just about anything in my path. Very few genres are off my list (instructions for anything I buy and crap in Latin…LOL). Buy I have been keeping a list of every book I’ve read since the day I turned 13 and to date have read over 147,091 books and the total climbs everyday! I can read any wheres from 2-5 books a day on most days. It depends on whether I deem it good enough to write a review.
I am now a retired Editor / Reviewer and have so much more time to dedicate to my obsession. And spend my spare time trolling for new authors to read. Delilah Devlin just came to my attention and I picked up one of her books (Her Only Desire) from a friend to try, and now I can read something from Elizabeth Andrews! Its a two for day for me! I look forward to reviewing your work soon!
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I think time is nearly up, but I’ll wait till I get home from work this evening to do the drawing. 🙂
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And drumroll…….
The winner, thanks to randomresult.com, is Alicia Cline! Woohoo!
Alicia, please email me at elizabethandrewswrites@gmail.com and let me know your preferred ebook format so I can get that to you. 😀
And thank you, ladies for sharing. I love talking books. 🙂