One of the enormous perks of having a Kindle is that you can download a free sample of any e-book you want to try, and read it in your own sweet time (rather than standing on your feet in a bookstore). This was immensely satisfying on my long bus trip to and from Boston for the New Year; I picked up and tried out a number of books before downloading two.
I don’t always want to talk about the books I like. Reading can be both business and pleasure for me, and sometimes I prefer to keep my pleasures private. If a book fails to be entirely engrossing, though? I will happily judge and lampoon all day long. I want to gossip about it like an acquaintance who has made poor choices publicly. Unfortunately, Goodreads categorizes each book you enter as “read,” “currently reading,” or “to read.” There is no option for “read the first bit, was too unimpressed/dubious/appalled to read on.”
That’s what blogs are for.
The Angel Makers, by Jessica Gregson
I was intrigued by the book’s promise of women banding together and being awesome, although making some perhaps regrettable decisions. But the storytelling was sort of bland, and all of the characters you’d expect from a period tale about a poor European village showed up: the crone, the wise father, the outsider girl versus the gossipy women, the young man experiencing sexual desire in all its novelty, blah blah blah.
Why We Broke Up, by Daniel Handler and Maira Kalman
Co-written by the man otherwise known as Lemony Snicket. I have enjoyed the website for this book, especially his snarky comments on some of the submissions. The man’s trademark arch, Goreyesque preciousness is there – I like it, but it is precious! – as well as some intentional awkwardness of syntax appropriate to the context (after all, the narrator(s) are the jilted young, not a quasi-omniscient storyteller). But I just couldn’t roll with a whole chapter of preciousness and awkwardness. I was a teenager once already, thanks. Though I wish I’d thought of having a “Bitter Sixteen” at that age, when we were having anti-Valentine’s Day and basically moping around in black.
It’s possible that I missed some wonderful books by judging the free sample. It’s definite that there are a few books I sampled, and regret downloading.
The Marriage Plot, by Jeffrey Eugenides
Look, Eugenides is a fine writer. You could say he brings poetry to the banal. But, undressed, it’s still banal… and vaguely irritating. I appreciated this post by Anna Breslaw at The Hairpin, which gives the book the good spanking it deserves.
Practical Jean, by Trevor Cole
At first, I thought this book would be a light, easy read. The premise is dark comedy material, but the idiosyncrasies of the little town and its characters are given with gentle humor at first. But after the first blush, the humor falls flat, the prose is uninspired, and the telling manages to be both bleak and shallow. I’m not sure I’m going to be able to stomach the rest.
This is what I’m saying: if there were some way for me to track which samples I’d downloaded and then rejected, I’d have more than just two examples up there. I couldn’t remember the others.
Very weird: I know Jessica Gregson! Through the internet! Submitted without additional comment, as I haven’t read her book yet. It’s interesting — she wrote it ages ago, it feels like, but it’s been released in the US this year as a “new release.”
Also thank you for not liking Marriage Plot (which I rather loathed, in a genial sort of way, from the sample I read standing up in the bookstore), and for linking to the Hairpin article. I needed to read a version of why I don’t like it.
ALSO ALSO ALSO I have started keeping an abbreviated list of books I have sampled on my phone, because I kept downloading the same samples. One particular book I realized I had downloaded at least thrice, and rejected each time. (Romance novel, hence the forgettability of the title/cover. Whoops!)
That is very weird! Don’t tell her I decided not to download the rest of her book. I am sure it is a very nice book, but not what I wanted.
In other people-known-from-the-internet news: I also downloaded a free sample of a book called The Night Circus (not to be confused with Nights At The Circus, which Ecentipede loves); the next day, one of the Philly-based blogs I read did a post about being friends with the author. I am not sure if I am going to download the rest of that book, either, but it has nothing to do with this blog endorsement!
The Marriage Plot was loathe-worthy. I too was relieved when I read that article, but also it made me laugh out loud. Dreamwife Sparkleheartstar! True story: I misremembered that I’d read that review on Feministing or someplace, and couldn’t find it, so I Googled “marriage plot eugenides sparklefeather” and it came right up.
Finally: LOL your compulsive sample downloading habits, so like mine!
See? See! This is why I keep insisting all of my family and friends suggest books to me. Because I really did like Nights At The Circus, and you gave it to me to read. And it’s so *comfortable* to keep reading books by authors I know I like. And who cares if reading an entire series of books in a row gets a little bit boring.
and and and. I guess I’ll have to start sampling a bit, but can I whine about it some more when I read something terrible cover to cover by accident? I have trouble untangling myself from books I’m not enjoying.
I do highly recommend sampling, although of course one gets to complain when the first chapter or so alludes to a far better book than is actually contained within the rest of the pages. And, you know, you’re a busy lady, so you may find it less hard than you think to say “I refuse to forgo sleep to finish this god-awful book Practical Jean.” Amazon has a Kindlebook return policy if you decide you hate the book within seven days of downloading it.
I think maybe your sister gave you Nights at the Circus – because I actually haven’t read it! You’ve recommended it often, and I have no reason not to pick it up except that I am the opposite of you as far as taking recommendations goes, as years of grad school have made me petulantly resistant to reading suggestions.
However, as far as The Night Circus goes… I would recommend it when you’re in the mood for something whimsical and pretty. I went ahead and downloaded the rest of it and really just drank it all up on my first day off in nine days. So, there’s that. Download samples freely!