Given the amount of reading I do, I am extremely thankful that I end up reading mostly really good books. There are always a few that leave me with a bit of a “meh” feeling, but by and large there aren’t too many that have made me regret ever having read them.
Still, there are some that are just so awful that I don’t know quite what to do with them. And after I’m done, I find myself in an even more precarious predicament—I don’t want them on my bookshelf, nor do I want to give them away, lest they wind up on someone else’s. So what, then, shall we say, dear brothers and sisters? What can you and I do when we find ourselves reading really bad books? Obviously, burning them is not an option (unless you’re trapped in the wilderness and you need then for kindling, then it’s cool), but there must be something that can be done with them that doesn’t involve giving them away and risking untold irritation to other readers.
In order to help, I’ve come up with three thing you do when you find yourself reading a really bad book:
1. Mark it like you’re a high school English teacher. Nothing is more fun that whipping out a nice red pen (I like these ones) and crossing out whole sections of a book. Plus, it sometimes it helps to put a big fat “F” on the title page when you’re through. It’s cathartic.
2. Run a play-by-play on Good Reads. Your commentary not only allows you to vent your frustrations, but entertain tens of people (depending on your friend’s list) in the process! For a great example, check out Aaron Gardner’s play-by-play on this book.
3. Build a fort. With all the books about people taking trips to heaven and vampires dating werewolves, I could build the most wicked-awesome “princess castle” ever, as Abigail prefers to call them.
Or, y’know, you could just stop reading it. But where’s the fun in that?
Got another idea to add to the list?
