Books:
Flowers for Algernon … I tried reading it twice, and both times I couldn’t persuade myself to finish. I think it’s Charlie’s changing personality. I just lose interest in the book at the same point. I’m not sure if I’m going to give it a third try or not.
The Forgotten Garden … just could not get into it. Slow-going on the front end.
A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius … I was super into this one at the very beginning; in fact, I was full of writer’s envy, even though Eggers is maybe a tad pretentious. But in the end, I just let this one fade for me, didn’t find time to finish it. It has been on my nightstand for about 2-3 years now. Should I start over?
Series:
Hush, Hush series … just didn’t seem grounded enough, didn’t know the characters well enough.
The Hunger Games … the author didn’t use “who” and “whom” properly, which drove me crazy, and I just wasn’t interested in the premise of the stories.
Shiver series … I actually kind of liked the first book of this series, but I didn’t feel like I got to know the characters well enough, and the holes in the premise of the heat/cold changing the werewolves were too gaping.
What do you think? Am I missing out? Are there books to which you think I need to give a second (or third) chance?
JACKIE LEA SOMMERS 
You gave up on a series written in first-person from a teenage girl’s perspective due to grammar? Did you give up on “Their Eyes Were Watching God”? Or me, cuz that should have been underlined?
I’m teasing. I found the writing to be distracting, too, but I powered through and am glad I finished.
There is another author I LOVE who doesn’t use who/whom correctly, and I give her grace. I guess I just couldn’t get excited about the idea of this survival game amongst teens. 🙂 Perhaps I’m not adventurous enough!
I finished AHWOSG but don’t remember all that much about it. Bits and pieces. Interesting writing, but all in all, a little forgettable, in my opinion.
Good to know! Someday when I catch up on the STACK of books I want to read, maybe I’ll revisit it!
The secret Garden….you actually have to struggle through the first part, I did, because I paid 10 bucks for it, now I can hardly put it down, When I’m finished I’ll let you know if it was worth the struggle 🙂
Sounds good!!
Have you tried reading the short story version of “Flowers for Algernon,” which was published first? I have read it but not the novel.
I have it in the collection The Science Fiction Hall of Fame, which also contains “The Quest of Saint Aquin,” which you might find interesting.
I never finished The Color Purple because I couldn’t handle the dialect or the graphic nature.
Shiver was bad. I mean, it was okay, but not incredibly worthwhile and then the ending after all the books (3 or 4) was still a definite cliff hanger.
The Uglies is a better series if you like teenaged futuristic/dystopic writing. It’s better written than the HG, too.
Hmm. Give the Hunger Games another try. I read it for the characters and the ideas, not the plot or the somewhat mediocre writing.(;
I just don’t think I’m going to read them anytime soon … unless I get assigned them for grad school!! Too many other books in my DYING TO READ pile!!
I agree with Jackie about The Forgotten garden. I stuck through it because someone had strongly recommended it, and the ending was worth it. The same goes for The Thirteenth Tale, if you ever come across it. It starts slow with lots of in-depth character development that doesn’t seem relevant until you’re deeper into the story. I literally gasped loudly and grabbed my husband’s arm (he happened to be sitting next to me) when I read the ending! It’s one of my favorites. 🙂
One book I had trouble getting through was Daughter of Fortune. SUPER slow, and it divides the entire story into different sections so you’re reading each character’s history until they all meet at the same point of the story… I can see how it makes sense, but it took WAY too long for me. There were too many characters to do that, I think.
I was surprised you read flowers for algernon! In high school my freshman english teacher had us read the book. I personally loved it !