Unfinished books

Fat Land: How Americans Became the Fattest People in the World by Greg Critser

The idea of the book was great; explore all of the myriad reasons why Americans have become morbidly obese as a whole and possibly what could be done to prevent this from further damaging future generations. By the time that I got about 100 pages into it the only aspects of the issue that the book had covered were advertising, advertising in schools and school funding. I kept picking the book up and then putting it back down after about five pages when I finally decided to give it up and mail it to the person I promised it to months ago.

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The Mobile Library: The Case of the Missing Books by Ian Sansom

Another book that I forced myself to read 100 pages and then could not stomach it after that. I have a hard time putting up with blundering idiots in real life so it's little wonder why I can't tolerate them in my books. The main character of this novel is whiny and kind of mean and the author blames it on the fact that he is a book person and therefore sensitive and shy. In other words his love of books has led him to have no fortitude. That was the first big tip off that I was probably not going to enjoy this book very much. Every problem he encountered was somehow brushed off and chalked up to the fact that he was a book person. My other big complaint with what I read was that all of the dialogue was flat and most of the main character's responses were "aaach!" I honestly has no idea what was going on with the book.

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Sail by James Patterson

Sad to say, but I only made it about 45 pages into this book before I decided to move it along unread. The story sounded like it might be on shaky ground to begin with but I had heard such great things about the author that I was determined to give it a fair shot.

The story goes that a family that has recently fallen apart since the death of the father that acted as the linchpin takes a vacation on the very boat that was the scene of the father's death. Mom, who is a workaholic heart surgeon, is determined that the forced family vacation is the only way that she can hold her family together. This is the shaky ground that I mentioned earlier. Now that the mother is the figurehead of the family she decides it is time to spend some time with her children, all of whom are falling apart in one way or another. Within the first forty-five pages the oldest child attempts to commit suicide, the oldest boy gets high, we learn the brother-in-law is in love with the mother and always has been, the boat begins to sink and there is a hired killer after them the minute they leave the dock. I just did not buy it and I could not get into it. On top of all of this, the novel switches from a third person omniscient narrator to a first person account by the mother and although it was not confusing it grated on my nerves. I decided the best course of action was to just pass it along to the BCer I promised it to in a trade rather than spend weeks dreading it.

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