The Ones That Didn't Make It

Ee4686c820183117c616aed4545caf37I was browsing on Pinterest this morning and saw this quilt by Margaret Kessler of Auburn, Indiana. It reminded me of plans my sisters and I made a few years back to make a bookshelf quilt and donate it to our local library. Each one of us was going to make a couple of rows of our own design, and I was going to put it together into a quilt. That never happened, I'm sad to say. Now that Joanne has passed on, I think Ramey and I should still do it and donate it in Joanne's memory. She loved books above all things.

The subject of books came up because this blog post is supposed to be about the books I didn't finish in 2020. But that quilt grabbed my attention and I had to post it.

I have always been averse to quitting on a book before I finish it--no matter how much I'm not enjoying it. I have finished some real doozies that I've had to push my way through, especially since I've been a member of my book club.

Last year, I seem to have developed a new philosophy regarding finishing bad books, or books that just won't claim my attention. That could be because I spent so much time on the millefiori quilt that my reading time was greatly reduced. There were four books that I started in 2020 that I just could not compel myself to finish.

I read 34 books in 2020, which you can see in the sidebar entitled "Books Read in 2020" at left. Here are the books that didn't quite make the list.

The Evening and the Morning by Ken Follett: I love the other books in this series, but the more I read of this one, the more it droned on. There didn't seem to be anything the writer was working toward. It was just a bunch of English people during the Middle Ages quarreling and doing bad things behind each others' backs. One guy wanted to build a boat or something, but he showed few signs of fulfilling that dream. After reading about half of the 926 pages, I gave up.

The Queen's Gambit by Walter Tevis: I have no doubt that this is a good book. I saw the Netflix movie and absolutely loved it. But the book has a lot of technical stuff about the game of chess, which the movie didn't have and which I don't understand and don't want to. So after a few chapters, I decided to let the movie suffice.

From Eternity to Here by Sean Carroll: The subject of time fascinates me. I have read Stephen Hawking's A Brief History of Time several times as well as other books and articles about time and space and their connection. These are subjects that take lots of attention and concentration, which I am more than willing to give if the writing interests me. I'm sorry to say, Mr. Carroll put me to sleep every time I picked up his book. Even so, I made it through almost half the book. But, for the life of me, I could not tell you one thing about its contents. He used words and phrases that made no sense to me and which he made not effort (or maybe he did) to explain what they meant.This one frustrated me for a couple of reasons: I had purchased it on Kindle, and I hated that a book about one of my favorite subjects had stymied me. But it did. And I decided I was just wanting time trying to read it.

Hill Women by Cassie Chambers: Because I had enjoyed Hillbilly Elegy by J.D. Vance (both the book and the Netflix movie) a friend suggested that I should enjoy reading this book. I didn't. It was a library loan, so I didn't waste any money, and not much time. I think I read less than 100 pages.

If you've read and enjoyed any of these books, that's good. Different strokes for different folks, you know.

 

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On 01/16/2021, Barbara Anne said ...

I love , love the Bookcase quilt! Wish the photo would get larger when click on it as I'd love to read the book titles.

It was interesting to read about the books that didn't float your boat. I've not read or started any of these but have read a lot in the last year. Reading and sewing have kept me sane - I think!

Hugs!
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