blogger – Page 28 – Sincerely Karen Jo

toptentuesday

Hello lovely bookish friends! Time for another fun Top Ten Tuesday post!!!

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and has been moved to That Artsy Reader Girl since January 16, 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.

This week’s topic is Books I Disliked/Hated but Am Really Glad I Read (maybe for bragging rights…) I had a really difficult time with this topic. I had to go through my Goodreads and go over all the books I’ve read and really think about them. Surprisingly, I was able to come up with 6 books. They’re a mix of books from my high school required reading and books I don’t necessarily hate, but I didn’t like them as much as I thought I would.

So, without further ado, here are the Books I Didn’t Really Enjoy, But Am Really Glad I Finished Reading.

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Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad – I didn’t enjoy reading this in high school. It just did not sit well with me and I felt so uneasy throughout the entire time. I just thought that the narrative was a bit disturbing and not my cup of tea. But, it’s a classic and required for class so yay me for actually finishing it and not buying the cliffnotes version.

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Just Another Girl by Elizabeth Eulberg – I actually had this book on another TTT. So, basically I didn’t like this book that much because the characters just really annoyed me. One of the MC’s POV, Hope, was incredibly exhausting that I thought about DNFing the book. I almost did a few times, but the other MC’s POV, Parker, was a little better and had more depth so I liked that. Overall, this book wasn’t amazing, but also not completely horrible… so yeah I guess I’m a bit glad that I finished it. I really don’t like giving up on books.

huckleberryfinn

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain – I don’t really get a long with classsics, but there are several that I enjoyed and loved. This book wasn’t one of those. I don’t know what it is about Huckleberry Finn, but I DID NOT LIKE this at all. I dreaded having to read it and I just could not get into the story. It was just soooo BORING to me. I’ve never read it again and I did not finish any other Mark Twain book. At least I actually made it through this one…even if I disliked every moment.

joyluck

The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan – Here’s another classic that I could not get into. I just didn’t like the story and couldn’t really connect with the characters. I’m still kind of glad I read it since I enjoyed learning a bit about the Chinese culture (I’m 1/4 Chinese).

cruelbeauty

Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge – I love fairytale retellings and I was so excited for this book, but it wasn’t what I expected. Not a bad thing, but also not so great. I was a bit confused on some parts and I didn’t like it as much as I thought I would. Overall, it was okay… I don’t think I dislike this book, but I was frustrated with so many things. And the writing wasn’t that amazing either. That being said, I’m happy I actually finished it cause it was pretty unique and interesting. I 100% would never read this book again and really want to give away my copy to someone who might actually like/love this book, but that darn cover is just too gorgeous.

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Odd and True by Cat Winters – I just did a review for this book HERE, so if you’ve read that, then you know why I didn’t like this book that much. Odd and True was just not for me AT ALL. The premise was interesting and there were a few enjoyable parts, but it just didn’t hold my interest. As I mentioned in my review, I read this probably 3-4 times before I actually finished the entire book. BUT, the good thing here is I didn’t DNF!!! Took me a few times, but I got to the end!

Well that’s the end of my list. What are some books you didn’t really like, but are happy you actually finished reading them? Leave your links in the comments so I can check out your post.

As always, have a wonderful day!

sincerelykarenjoendsign

Hello Bookish Friends!!! Welcome to the Release Day Celebration for

Stanley & Hazel by Jo Schaffer

presented by Month9Books!

Be sure to enter the giveaway found at the end of the post!

aboutthebook2

Stanley and Hazel by Jo Schaffer
Release Date: May 15, 2018
Publisher: Month9Books

A great depression has gripped the city of St. Louis in 1934. Stanley, an orphaned newsy, lives in a poor part of town hit especially hard by the economic downturn. One night, Stanley runs into Hazel, a restless debutante in waiting who has begun to question her posh lifestyle in the midst of the suffering she sees. She’s out and about without an escort and against her father’s wishes.

When they discover the body of a girl with her head bashed in by a baseball bat, the very different and separate realities of the two teens inform their decision. Together they will figure out what happened to her and bring those responsible to justice.

But getting involved with each other and digging into the secrets behind this murder earns them some powerful enemies, including a secret group seeking to rid society of all they deem “undesirable.” They’ve put into motion “The Winnowing,” a plan seeking to take over the city and enforce their will.

As Stanley and Hazel’s forbidden feelings for one another grow, their investigation turns deadly. Now, it is up to Stanley and his gang of street kids to stop Hazel from becoming the next victim.

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authorbio2

Jo Schaffer was born and raised in the California Bay Area in a huge, creative family. She is a YA novelist, speaker, writer at Patheos.com, works in film production and is a Taekwondo black belt.

She’s a founding member of Writers Cubed and co-founder of the Teen Author Boot Camp, one of the largest conferences in the nation for youth ages 13-19. She and a crew of local and international bestselling authors present writing workshops to hundreds of attendees at the Utah-based conference as well as hundreds of others worldwide who view the conference online.

Jo loves being involved in anything that promotes literacy and family. She is passionate about community, travel, books, music, healthy eating, classic films and martial arts. Her brain is always spinning new ideas for books and sometimes she even gets around to blogging.

Jo is a mom of 3 strapping sons living in the beautiful mountains of Utah with a neurotic cat named Hero.

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