As I was looking through my library of books, I realize I failed to finish some books despite my effort and so today I list three books I shamefully tried to enjoy. Luckily, this is a personal blog where I am not trying to sell anyone anything but my honest opinion. It drives me nuts when I fall into the marketing trap of purchasing books with Bestseller on the front cover! When it comes to a matter of taste, I believe that we should disagree to agree. It makes the world more colorful and interesting. But we all know that? Most of us here are grown adults, I assume. Then why do some of us grownups get upset when someone disagrees with our taste?

If you have a book sitting next to your toilet for over a year and you still haven’t finished it, you know it is on the crappy side. Well then again, when reading books whether you enjoy it or not it is due to preference or the current mindset you are in. Well, I have been debating about this statement for some time now and I realized my mindset is not going to change any time soon because I had these books for years. The following books are just unbearable:

#1 The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

Beautiful words become unbearable when it gets nowhere. Is it supposed to be suspenseful or it’s just for show? The author is more focused on making sentences look pretty rather than giving them a worthwhile plot for readers to follow. I read more than halfway and decided to stop. It’s getting nowhere and I could care less what happens to the superficial characters. They really are just for the show just like the purpose of any circus. It would have been more interesting if the Night Circus was on crack. But then it will no longer be a pretty book! Now, I really feel bad when people came up to me and asked if the book was any good during my lunch break. I told them I liked it. I like the pretty sentences but that’s just about it.

Inside the tent is dark, the ceiling covered with open black umbrellas, the curving handles hanging down like icicles.

From The Night Circus, p.376

#2 Ready Player One by Earnest Cline

Heard the film was good? This book was given to me as a gift because I was open about my gaming “addiction” at work. The problem with being labeled as a gamer means you are automatically assumed to be the stereotypical gamer: male, single, peter-pan syndrome. You name it. Mind you, I am just a millennial. I simply like games for entertainment purposes. It’s easy to reach over the control than do other extracurricular activities that appear more productive and noble such as tutoring English to refugee kids from broken families so you’d look good on your resume; selling freshly handpicked blackberries found on the side road to some old poor lady who is desperate to make some blackberry jam, and joining the circus because sane people spend a fortune to watch crazy people do flashy things and then applaud them with gifts and recognition. You see, a video game can have a noble cause like in this book. The protagonist is on the hunt for the ultimate prize so that he could have the power to change reality for himself and everyone else. In this book, the world has become an ugly place. Ironically, you might think I’d enjoy this book but like The Night Circus, I read more than halfway and quit because I got tired of reading about an exceptionally skilled gamer who is going to save the world by racing to be #1 on the leaderboard. It’s just unbearably cliché.

#3 Main Street by Sinclair Lewis

Okay, I confess, I typically finish books and I couldn’t find a third one to complete my 3-list post. This book was part of the history class reading materials that were supposed to help students get a glimpse of how America was and still is resistant to progressive social changes by focusing on an imaginary small town in Minnesota called Gopher Prairie. I did finish the book, but I would have appreciated it more if I did not try to find hidden meanings or messages in the book. Perhaps, I should reread it now that I can put things into context now that I’m wiser in age and living in the Midwest. It was just an unbearable read back then because it’s part of U.S History and history lessons can be dry sometimes. Nonetheless, quite educational.

If you happen to enjoy this post, you have my sincere thanks. I might have woken up on the wrong side of the bed to make this list. Today, I just want to be human and say I just don’t like these books and that’s all there is to it.