It was inevitable. I had the same algebra teacher for three versions of the subject in as many years of high school. An uninformed student asked the question every year. The rest of us just shook our heads and waited for the answer.
Naive student: “Mrs. Poplin, I don’t know why we have to learn this anyway. We’re never going to use it.”
Mrs. Poplin: “Because if you don’t pass, you won’t graduate. If you don’t graduate, you’ll spend the rest of your life slinging tacos at Taco Tico.”
I had never eaten at Taco Tico, but I knew for damn sure I didn’t want to work there. The knowledge got this word nerd through algebras one, two and three. It also taught me a lesson—sometimes you’ve just got to get through it.
A bad book is an exception to this lesson.
You should quit reading bad books. It doesn’t matter if your friends think the book is great or the general public accepts that it’s a classic. If you hate it, drop it. If it’s required reading, say for a college course, power skim and move on.
Life is too short to read bad books.
A friend and fellow book club member, Kelly, can’t leave a book unfinished. It breaks my heart to see her waste her time. So much so that when our book club decided to read The Casual Vacancy, a poorly written epic waste of time, I texted her and told her not to pick it up.
Yes, I understand The Casual Vacancy is in the Top 10 on most best seller lists, but I couldn’t even get through the free sample.
If reading doesn’t enlighten you and/or entertain you, it’s not worth the time.
Bad books waste your time, bore and frustrate you, make reading a chore instead of a pleasure, and suck up the time you could spend reading things you enjoy.
There are simply too many options to devote your time to something that doesn’t fulfill you.
Just say no to bad books!
Love it & I agree totally!!! No bad book reading here!!! Preach on Prof!!!!
Now if we can just convince Kelly!
DanaCollie Now we just have to convince Kelly!
OMG! You are so right. This is a life lesson that took me decades to learn. I thought that, once you started, you HAD to finish a book, no matter how bad. Until I realized that too many other books – always potentially good – were being published every year and that I was wasting my time reading stuff I hated.
It was tough but ultimately liberating. I agree, Kenna, that life’s too short.
I’ve been reading a lot more lately, but 100 books in a year would take the fun out of it! I agree that life is too short to read bad books. That is why I give them 50 pages to capture my attention or down it goes… or sooner if 50 pages feel like torture.
Some of my enjoyable reads lately have been:
Jailbird by Kurt Vonnegut
Citizen Vince by Jess Walter
and Best Laid Plans by Terry Fallis
Thank you so much, Tammy, for your recommendations!
TammyL Thank you for your recommendations, Tammy. I’m not sure how 100 books will go. I just wanted a goal worth reaching. So far I’m really enjoying it, but I’m still on winter break. Things may change once I get back to a more regular schedule. I hope it doesn’t start to seem stressful. I’d love to know more about what you’re reading, even if you don’t want to read 100 books.
Kenna
I still get most of my books from the Library. I cruise around with both the Amazon and GoodReads apps up-n-running. I scan the books to see what other readers thought before I check them out.
I’m not good at putting down a bad book. I will trudge through it. These apps mitigate my risk of wasting time on bad books!
dbvickery Recommendations usually do help in avoiding bad books. However, I still find that I don’t like some books that everyone else raves about. It’s just a difference in taste, I guess.
I don’t really read from the library. I tend to mark all over my books. Libraries don’t like that.
Kenna
profkrg Been loving the Kindle App for my iPad for “marking up” my business books.
dbvickery It’s just not the same for me. I guess it’s one of those old lady things. I really have to highlight to learn. The process makes me think more about what I’m reading.
I do love the highlight feature on iBooks. It has different colors and styles. I’m all about visual appeal.
I hated The Casual Vacancy! I could not get into it no matter how much I tried to force myself to enjoy it.
KoriCasey I don’t like her other books (I understand this is a controversial statement.), so I didn’t have high expectations for it. I didn’t give it a ton of time, but I think I gave it enough.
What have you read lately that you liked?
Kenna
What read do you recommend on spirituality?
thanks
Akos
Akos_Fintor I haven’t read a lot in this area. I did read Confessions of a Pastor by Craig Groeschel. I loved it. I also read The Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren. On the other side of that, I read Losing My Religion by William Lobdell. It was amazing!
I hope these recommendations help. Nothing else is coming to mind.
Happy Reading!
Kenna
profkrg Agreed!