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Anymore, I won't start a book that is over 400 pages. Been disappointed too many times. and paid too many hours for the privilege. I also don't like short stories. I like a book I can get into and flow with it, but not forever.
And I'd be afraid I've missed a great story. Some of my favorite books have been way over your 400 page limit. Stephen King's 'The Stand' - originally over 800 pages; republished with nearly 1,200 and both very good reads. The Harry Potter series totals approximately 3,500 pages, spread over 7 volumes - first just over 300, final nearly 800. there are a lot of criteria that determine whether or not I find a book enjoyable, but number of pages is not one of them.
Anymore, I won't start a book that is over 400 pages. Been disappointed too many times. and paid too many hours for the privilege. I also don't like short stories. I like a book I can get into and flow with it, but not forever.
I prefer long books. The longer, the better. Though, like you, I don't care for short stories at all, except for Andre Dubus.
Dating myself, but the first book I can remember reading that I thought was a dog that seemingly everyone else raved about--Jonathan Livingstone Seagull. I thought it was horrible.
The Bridges of Madison County
The Lord of the Rings books.
Senior moment here--the guy who wrote those books that got the Catholic church fired up...the mysteries...well, for me mystery, singular, as I only read the first one and didn't care for it. (...and no, I'm not Catholic.)
As someone said earlier, after 50 years of reading it is essentially subjective. I've read many books that I recognized were complete garbage, the talent thin, but the book was thoroughly enjoyable. (Books I call "my guilty pleasures".) On the other hand, I've read books that were obviously brilliant, deep, etc., but that bored me to death. Much of it also depends upon the mood I'm in at the time.
Dating myself, but the first book I can remember reading that I thought was a dog that seemingly everyone else raved about--Jonathan Livingstone Seagull. I thought it was horrible.
The Bridges of Madison County
The Lord of the Rings books.
Senior moment here--the guy who wrote those books that got the Catholic church fired up...the mysteries...well, for me mystery, singular, as I only read the first one and didn't care for it. (...and no, I'm not Catholic.)
As someone said earlier, after 50 years of reading it is essentially subjective. I've read many books that I recognized were complete garbage, the talent thin, but the book was thoroughly enjoyable. (Books I call "my guilty pleasures".) On the other hand, I've read books that were obviously brilliant, deep, etc., but that bored me to death. Much of it also depends upon the mood I'm in at the time.
Jonathan Livingstone Seagull and Bridges of Madison County I agree with you - I just could not force myself to read beyond the first few pages. Lord of the Rings, on the other hand, I absolutely love and reread at least once or twice a year since I 'discovered' it after the movies were made.
The guy who wrote the Catholic mysteries? Are you thinking of William X. Kienzle? I've read several of his and found them engaging for a few reasons - I'm not Catholic, though, so I don't know how close he came to real life with the Catholic issues. But, since they were all set in and around the Detroit area and I was living in that area when I read them, I know how accurate he was in describing various parts of the Metro Area. Need to find a used book store and try to complete my Kienzle collection.
Jonathan Livingstone Seagull and Bridges of Madison County I agree with you - I just could not force myself to read beyond the first few pages. Lord of the Rings, on the other hand, I absolutely love and reread at least once or twice a year since I 'discovered' it after the movies were made.
The guy who wrote the Catholic mysteries? Are you thinking of William X. Kienzle? I've read several of his and found them engaging for a few reasons - I'm not Catholic, though, so I don't know how close he came to real life with the Catholic issues. But, since they were all set in and around the Detroit area and I was living in that area when I read them, I know how accurate he was in describing various parts of the Metro Area. Need to find a used book store and try to complete my Kienzle collection.
Don't think it was Kienzle...they are relatively new---movies were made from the books starring Tom Hanks...
Maybe I'll try Lord of the Rings again...for the third time...I've noticed as I age that some books I once thought were good I now think are bad, and vice-versa.
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