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That 200 page book our club picked nearly made me quit reading entirely

We chose a dense historical novel about 18th century trade routes for our July meeting and I could barely get past page 50 after two weeks of trying. The descriptions went on for pages about nothing, and the whole thing felt like homework instead of a story. Does anyone else think we should pick shorter, more direct books instead of these award winners that just drag on?

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noahhall3mo ago

Figure out what exactly made it feel like homework to you. Was it the slow pacing or the lack of character drama that mattered more? I find that knowing the specific problem helps me avoid books that waste my time.

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the_jason2mo ago

The "knowing the specific problem" part is spot on. That's exactly how I finally figured out I just can't do books that linger on atmosphere over people. Somebody could hand me a gorgeous, slow burn literary thing and I'll be out by page fifty, but give me two characters with a messy argument and I'm locked in. It's almost annoying how simple that filter is once you name it. Really saves a lot of wasted evenings.

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