Play Book Tag discussion

What makes a book a slog for you? What kinds of books do you struggle through?

What books are fast reading to you? What books do you race through?

I was just moaning about one of my hated slog bringers-when an author gets carried away with what I call descriptive annoyances. So many fantasy authors are guilty of this I have started believing they do it just to top the book out over 500 pages.

Fast reads for me a thrillers by authors like Vince Flynn and also humor by authors like Janet Evanovich

The pace has to match the book, and if the pace is slow, the writing had better be stellar and suit the story.

I dislike books with far too much description--I skipped a lot of one of the Clan of the Cave Bear book (the one where they travel to Jondular's people) because the description of the landscape went on and on and on and on. I also skipped most of John Galt's speech in Atlas Shrugged, and that's the first time I ever skipped part of a book like that.

There are other things, but it would make a far longer post than I want to make this.

Books with world building can fall prey to being too heavy on description.

What makes a book fast reading varies.

The types of books that are fast reading for me are those that spark my interest. I tend to race through non-fiction on subjects I want to learn more about.

I know I am not a typical reader, but I enjoy slow-paced novels. I like descriptive passages that give me a sense of time and place. I like character-driven books.

I can really get into a tome and I am not in a hurry to finish what I read. For me, the pleasure comes from the process and the immersive feeling.

I tend to struggle with fantasy. I rarely get into a rhythm with it. I still have not pinpointed the reason. I am not sure it has to do with pace, but it might have something to do with world-building.

I do not like fast paced thrillers or suspense, and very seldom enjoy "page turners." I know most people do, but I am somehow missing that "gene."

Books that are a slog for me are ones that have no lift or life to the writing. They can be 200 pages and just take forever. They read like someone's senior thesis, term paper, or dissertation - dry as a bone. An example: New York Exposed: The Police Scandal That Shocked the Nation and Launched the Progressive Era. I dragged through 35 pages, bored out of my mind, looked to see if it improved - it didn't. And tossed it. How could something involving a scandal be a bore?

I find some long descriptive passages tedious and a slog - those British Victorians like Thomas Hardy - but I read and loved Proust after all and no one, not even A.S. Byatt in Possession, writes longer more descriptive passages on scenery or anything else - pages and pages describing lilacs or hawthorne or church steeples anyone?! I also glaze over and slog through heavy technical and scientific passages - info dumps as they are often called in SciFi. But I am sure that long legal procedural or case sections in books are boring slogs for science nerds, yet I whizz through those!

I also find theoretical, preachy, and philosophical passages and books a slog. I don't always avoid them or pitch them, unless there is no relief.

What does happen is I adjust my reading manner and expectations to the pace required by the book. I don't fight it. It may mean it takes me a while to read compared to faster reads, but I am ok with that.

When I want or need faster reads, they are easy to identify: filled with dialogue, action, or adventure, or short crisp descriptions, lively tone. I can read one of those in no time. Love the excitement of a read like that in any genre.

I generally race through books that have a good story with strong, well defined characters and are well written. Slow reads have little dialogue and too much description.

Pace, for me, is entirely dependent on my own mood and attention span. I can demolish a slow-burn literary tome in a few hours, completely engrossed and insulated from the rest of the world (my husband can wave and call from the couch, with increasing hilarity, and get no response). Or I can take a month to read something that is supposedly light and frothy but that is not clicking with me in that moment.

By preference I read fast, and go for immersion rather than episodes, because losing myself in a book is so much what reading is about for me. And I am greedy and want it all at once, like fine cheese and oat crackers. Plus if I put something down I am more likely to get distracted and not to feel the same when I get back to the book. But life requires compromises.

Theresa wrote: "Books that are a slog for me are ones that have no lift or life to the writing. They can be 200 pages and just take forever. They read like someone's senior thesis, term paper, or dissertation - dr..."

I went to school for English literature/creative writing, learned how to write so that I can keep readers' interest, and then later on, went back to study international relations. It was the wildest time of my life when professors told me I needed to make my writing more boring to be taken "seriously" in academia. I was like, "But no one will want to read it if I write it like this" and they were basically like, "Exactly :D" It baffles me to this day. I think knowledge should be accessible for all, not just the select few scholars who can decipher all the ridiculous jargon. :( There are some authors who can bridge the gap, but not as many as I'd like!

For me, I agree with the above – I'll read about literally anything if I'm made to care about why it matters. Lore for lore's sake – no thanks (many fantasy novels do this). Dry academic subject matter? Ick. My favorite history books are the ones where the author clearly has a sense of humor – back when I read Michael Beschloss's Presidents of War: The Epic Story, from 1807 to Modern Times, it was a challenging read, but he included so many funny anecdotes he came across in his research, both his personality and the personalities of those he was writing about really shined through.

I usually race through thrillers or mysteries – where the suspense is always building and I really need to know what happens next, but this is not exclusive to that genre. Anything composed in a way that is meant to hold my interest and keep me eager for the next twist is something I'll find hard to put down (I felt that way about Sea of Tranquility and I wouldn't really call that a thriller).

Booknblues wrote: "What makes a book a slog for you? What kinds of books do you struggle through?

What books are fast reading to you? What books do you race through?"

-I think the books I struggle with are Historical Fiction, Science Fiction, and shorts stories. The books are fast reading to me is my current read Shouting at the rain or the books has few chapters like Graphic Novels. The books I race through are the Great Gatsby and The Sun Down Motel. The Sun Down Motel was supposed to finish last month but due to the busy days, I don't have time to finish reading it.

It really depends. Some writers, like Dickens, write descriptions that fit with the book. Others are extraneous. I dislike info dumps in historical fiction, sc-fi, or fantasy.

Some mysteries and romances are repetitive, having characters relay info we already know, or repeatedly telling us the same thing, like having to mention something about a character every time they appear.

As someone with a graduate degree in French literature, and a reader of lots of classics, I am embarrassed to admit that when I see a whole page of print with no paragraph breaks or quotes, I kind of sigh inwardly. Theresa, Proust is the worst!

Robin P wrote: " As someone with a graduate degree in French literature, and a reader of lots of classics, I am embarrassed to admit that when I see a whole page of print with no paragraph breaks or quotes, I kind of sigh inwardly. Theresa, Proust is the worst"...

No argument on that! Although you do reach a point by the end of Swan's Way that you just go with it, reading a certain number of pages at a time or for a fixed time, then just stop.

Once upon a time I felt much tbe same. Then things changed: I went to law school and became a lawyer. You should try following page after page without break legal arguments in litigation papers and case law. Or even lease or contract provisions.

Literature like Proust stopped being intimidating. And actually enjoyable!

I guess you could say it is what you accustom yourself to.