tying up loose ends

this past week i finished off three books i've been meaning to finish.  i usually start books, grow tired of them, and put them aside.

so this past week i finally finished off "the birthday party".  very easy read, but i did find the narrator to be a little annoying at times and near the end in part two, a tad wordy and a little annoying with over describing details.  i have a feeling tho that i have a very short attention span and if it's something i cant get hooked on, i lose interest quickly.  so the first part of the book was quite interesting, but when he started talking about the confessions etc, i grew bored.

the second book i finished was "a complicated kindness".  cdn book and kind of confusing to follow at times, only because there really were no quotes when people were speaking and there were a ton of nicknames.  i suppose i can relate to the nicknames thing because i tend to do that in my own life, but it was a matter of understanding WHO this person was referring to and their roles when the nicknames were used.  i did like the book and regret taking so long to finish it.  it's almost worthy of a second read, however i'm dead set to get rid of books and not bother keeping them around collecting dust.

the last one i finished off today was "saving fish from drowning".  a few words on this: i am ordinarily an amy tan fan.  i loved "the joy luck club", "100 secret senses", and "the kitchen god's wife".  i was really hoping this book would run along the same vein.  wrong.  it dragged on, only to become more interesting in the last long winded chapter.  the rest of the book kind of meandered along and was slow to deliver the climax.  maybe it's that my brain is growing softer as i age, or again, a short attention span, but if a book doesnt grab me right away, i have a hard time finishing it.  ideally, i want a book to pull me in during the first few chapters and leave me feeling like i cant possibly put it down or cant wait to have a spare moment to resume reading.  it's been a long time since i've felt that.

i was sincerely hoping to experience that with the latest amy tan book, but i was let down.  i hope that when i pass it on, someone else will appreciate it and embrace it more than i did.

so i have two books in my nightstand with bookmarks in them waiting for me to pick them up and finish them.  one is "late nights on air" and the other is a jean cretien book.  the second one almost makes me wince with anticipated and predictable boredom, but i have hope that jc will use his humour.  i dont recall it in the first few chapters, per se, but i am holding out hope.

the next series i intend to finally finish is "a suitable boy".  i say 'series' because i have it in pocket books and it's three individual books, the first one i've never been able to get through.  i fully intend to do that.  i *hear* it's good, but god only knows.

when i was wandering around coles the other day, i saw so many books i want, but with a 5 tiered shelf full of unread books it becomes absolutely impossible to justify purchasing more books.