Books I’ve Paused on Lately: They Weren’t For Me, But They Could Be For You
I did one of these posts back in the summer, and believe me, I’ve paused on a bunch of books since then. I didn’t write all of them down, but I’m sharing a few of the most recent ones.
I’ve noticed that I’m way more likely to abandon an audiobook than a print book. I wonder if that’s because I often choose an audiobook at whim, based on what’s available, while I wait for holds, whereas the print books I read are usually highly curated. It’s quite easy to pick up and put down an audiobook on an app these days.
What books have you paused on lately?
Books I’ve Paused On Lately Because The Audiobook Was Not For Me
Bel Canto by Ann Patchett
This is one of my favorite books ever. I was in the mood to re-read it a few months ago and I wanted to listen to it. I put the audiobook on hold. It finally became available right after Christmas. I got a couple of hours into it but paused it because it was feeling a little like a slog. While I could do an Ann Patchett novel on audio when Tom Hanks and Meryl Streep are reading it, I could not do this one. This wasn’t for me on audio, but I love it in print at Bookshop.org, and it might work for you on audio at LibroFM.
Faking Christmas by Kerry Winfrey
I love a holiday season read, and heard good buzz about this one. A rom-com at a farm with a switching places plot device? Let’s go! It’s the type of book that I usually like to listen to, and so I put it on hold at the library and settled in for a long wait. It was delivered right before Christmas and I started it while cleaning out the garage. I didn’t find the narrator or the main character engaging and I abandoned it pretty quickly. This wasn’t for me, but it might be for you, and you can get it at Bookshop.org or LibroFM.
Books I’ve Paused On Lately Because The Characters Were Not For Me
Play for Me by Libby Hubscher
The main character here is Sophie, an athletic trainer for the Red Sox who makes a call regarding a player that gets her fired. She takes a job at a boarding school in New Hampshire, where she immediately meets a grumpy, but cute, music teacher. I stuck with this audiobook for about a quarter of the way through, but none of the characters were popping for me. It felt a bit like Linda Holmes’s Evie Drake Starts Over, which I actually did like a lot. This wasn’t for me, but it might be for you, and you can get it at Bookshop.org or LibroFM.
Books I Paused On Because Another Book Became Available
Vigil Harbor by Julia Glass
Julia Glass has been a go-to author for me over the years. I picked up this audiobook on a whim. I thought it was a unique story about a community ten years from now in the midst of a series of climate change – and other – crises. I paused it because Iron Flame was delivered and I now regret that. This is one I will definitely go back to. This wasn’t for me in the moment, but it might be for you, and you can get it at Bookshop.org or LibroFM.
Books I’ve Paused On Because My Brain Wasn’t In The Right Space
Black Chameleon: Memory, Womanhood, and Myth by Deborah D.E.E.P Mouton
This is a memoir written by a local Houston author and I’ve had it on my shelf since I saw Mouton speak on a panel a few months ago. I picked it up right before Christmas and got about two chapters in before putting it down. It is full of magical realism and allegory and my brain didn’t have enough energy or space to fully take it in at the end of the year. This was definitely an “it’s not you, it’s me” situation and I look forward to picking this up again.
This wasn’t for me, but it might be for you, and you can get it at Bookshop.org or LibroFM.
Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links, meaning I get a small commission if you decide to make a purchase through my links, at no cost to you. Even if you don’t use the links, I highly recommend checking out Bookshop.org and Libro.fm for access to tons of titles while still supporting an indie bookstore.
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