This week I read three books and had a reading revelation. If you see me reading yet another book with a dual timeline, and/or one that involves the pandemic, rip that book right out of my hands. I’m sick and tired of both those things! Just give me a straightforward story where no on is wearing masks. Here’s the book that put me over the edge:
This books has- yes!- a dual timeline, and the main part of the story takes place in 2020. I got lured into reading it because it’s a mystery that takes place in Palm Beach, FL, near where I live. The story is interesting- what is going on with “the wife?” What is her connection to “the writer?” And whose hand washed up on the beach???
It was pretty good, but not great for me. As I said, I’m tired of jumping back and forth in time, trying to figure out what’s going on. And, no more masks! It’s stressing me out.
I needed something completely different for my next book:
Lisa mentioned this one, and I knew I wanted to read it. Gymnastics is a fascinating sport, and I love any behind-the-scenes info. We get to hear lots of details about the Tokyo and Paris Olympics (well, yes- there was some pandemic in there, but it was unavoidable in this case).
Jordan talks a lot about the racism in gymnastics. You would think, in a sport where Simone Biles is considered the GOAT, racism wouldn’t be an issue- but you’d be WRONG. This book reminded me, for those of us with white skin, what an easy path we’ve been given in life.
And then, I read…
This was good! A story about a hiker who goes missing on the Appalachian Trail. It’s fiction, but I liked all the details of how a search for a missing hiker is organized. There are multiple points of view and it was interesting to see how they all came together in the end.
I’ve been binge listening to the Currently Reading podcast– I even became a “bookish friend” so I can get the bonus All Things Murderful and Indie Press List episodes. It’s so good! One of the hosts, Meredith, always likes to say, “Reader, Know Thyself.”
Are there any types of books you know don’t work for you? What are they?
Top photo by Christin Hume on Unsplash
27 Responses
I’m with you on the dual timelines – they make me feel like I’m watching TV with someone constantly switching channels.
I’d probably also steer clear of “magical realism” books, like “Like Water for Chocolate”, where emotions get into the food and cause magical effects on the people who eat it.
Just give me a good, straightforward story any day! I’m 31% into “Gone with the Wind”, and it’s fabulous.
I usually steer clear of magical realism as well, although there have been a couple exceptions over the years. And, that’s a great description- I don’t want to feel like I’m constantly switching channels while reading a book.
You hit on my #1 pet peeve. The dual timeline has been done to death. Multiple POVs is also high on my “oh c’mon now” list. Since Heartwood has both of these things, it really shouldn’t have worked at all for me. The reason why it did is simply that it’s a good book.
So far I’ve liked the pandemic books that I’ve read, but I can see it getting annoying if it’s not done right. I think there needs to be a “why” for a pandemic setting. It can’t just be a fallback to write about masks for a few chapters while the author tries to figure out their story.
Yes, that’s why I didn’t mind reading the pandemic chapters of Jordan’s book- she was just explaining what was happening at the time. And Heartwood did go back and forth in time, but not in a way that bothered me- it all made sense.
I am reading Heartwood right now and LOVING IT. Agree as well on multiple time lines, especially when the book would just be kind of “meh” in a linear narrative.
Yes, I feel like a lot of authors use it as a “trick” to make their books more interesting.
The book I’m reading right now has a dual timeline AND the pandemic, so I am thinking it would not work for you. But whoa, is it ever working for me (Dream Count). It is GORGEOUS, and deals with four African women whose lives are intertwined, and then something awful happens to one of the women, and Jenny, I was sweating while reading it. My husband asked me a question while I was reading and I was absolutely so into the book that it took me a solid minute to come back. He’s like “are you okay” because I was almost gasping. Anyway, I kind of love multiple timelines and POVs.
I liked Heartwood although I didn’t love it like it seems everyone else did!
Books that don’t work for me: anything with time travel. I don’t love magic, or fantasy, or mysteries. I keep trying mysteries and they just don’t work for me. And horror! No horror for me.
I was just talking to Lisa yesterday about books that are Not Safe For Nicole – my big triggers are addiction and domestic abuse/ child neglect. It’s why when anyone mentions the books Educated or The Glass Castle I flip out. NO NO NO NO NO.
Yes- I CANNOT read books that involve cruelty to children or animals.
I’ll agree with you that if a book is really, really good, I can forgive the dual timeline. And- to be clear I also didn’t feel like I loved HEartwood as much as a lot of people- but I did like it.
I’m adding I’m That Girl to my list — I really love memoirs and gymnastics is probably my favorite Olympic sport to watch, so this sounds like a good one!
For genres, I really prefer realistic fiction, I’m not a huge fan of fantasy or magic.
You will like Jordan’s book!
I used to avoid fantasy and sci fi, but over the past few years I’ve gotten more and more into it. But mystery is my all time favorite genre.
Does anyone else find their likes and dislikes change over time? I don’t just mean, like, that I used to read mysteries years ago and now rarely do (though that is true), but like, for a few months ALL I read was fantasy and then like a switch flipped, and I only read contemporaries for months. I’m not sure why I get into grooves like that, but it seems I do these days. I also will run across an author I like and absolutely binge on their books, the more the better.
Otherwise, I think I would call myself an “up to a point” reader. I can enjoy a book with many surprising twists up to a point, then it’s too much. I can read about characters who have gone through past abuse or otherwise have a hard backstory up to a point, and then nope, too much to think about.
Well, I’ve definitely come around to enjoying fantasy and sci fi, and I used to avoid those genres. I used to be more of a “binge one author” type of reader, but now I like a variety. That will probably change again at some point too though!
“Reader know thyself” is a solid rec.
This makes me sound so curmudgeonly, but romances are sometimes cringe-y!
I don’t like romances either!
I’m a bookish friend, too! I don’t listen to the murderful episodes but I love the indie press list and like supporting their work. I’m also a Patreon member for Sarah’s bookshelves live which is my fave book podcast!
I am glad the Chiles memoir worked for you. I thought it was so interesting. Did you see the pic of her when she was like 8 and had MAJOR muscle definition? It was wild!!
My tastes have changed as I have gotten older. I am more into literary fiction and I read romance to give myself a break between heavier reads. Thrillers have sort of stopped working for me so I will rarely read those. And my trigger is infidelity if they are blase about the infidelity and don’t address how catastrophic it typically is.
Yes, I know exactly the photo you’re talking about!!!
While I love mysteries, I don’t love thrillers. i don’t like books where I’m anxious the whole time I’m reading them.
Oh, I have so many pet peeves. Multiple POVs, particularly when they go back in time and give you the SAME SCENE in a different POV. I never feel like I learn enough new things to justify that. Books about the plague. Books where the male gaze is so intense I feel dirty. Books where the dog dies. Romance novels where the “happy ending” is a pregnancy or baby. People cheating on their partners and acting all self-righteous about it. I mean, if I’m reading for entertainment, I want it to be fun to read.
Yes! I also don’t like books where an animal dies, or where there’s cruelty to animals. I agree- I don’t want my books to upset me. There’s enough to upset me in the real world.
There are SO MANY BOOKS with alternate timelines and different POVs. I feel like it’s almost every single book I read lately and it’s starting to feel very tiresome. Plus, it’s downright hard to keep track of everything.
I have Heartwood on my TBR, but I’m waaayyyyy down the holds list 🙁
Yes, the multiple timeline/POV thing is way overused. Hopefully we’ll get out of this phase soon and go back to normal storytelling.
One thing I struggle with- not sure it really qualifies as a “pet peeve”, because it’s not exactly a BAD thing- is when books have SOOO many different characters and names that I continually am mixing everyone up. Ha. I remembered that happening when I read We Were the Lucky Ones, which I actually loved, but it’s a huge family and they all have partners and then there are of course other families too… I kept being like, wait, which one is this?! Fortunately I think they anticipated that issue because the book included a character list in the inside cover. I am with on not wanting the pandemic in my books! I read one pretty soon after the pandemic had really died down, and I was like nooooo!! We literally just went through all of this for real and I don’t want it following me into my leisure reading!!! haha. I think I’d like the Jordan Chiles book! I love following the Olympic gymnasts’ stories and I bet Jordan’s is fascinating.
Her story is good! And, i know what you mean about confusing character names. Just make the character name’s different! I just read a book where two brother were named Richard and Robert, then obviously both had the sam surname and were both doctors. I had to keep double checking to make sure I knew which brother was which- can’t you just name one of them “Ben” or something???
I hate a bad ending. I really liked ‘These Silent Woods’, but I would have liked it more if it hadn’t ended the way it did. The worst ending ever for me was ‘My Sister’s Keeper’. I mean, WHAT THE EVEN HELL ABOUT IT????
Yes, I agree! And I just read your review of that book. It sounds good, but I’m not sure if I’m up for a “bad ending” book.
I loved Jordan’s book! It was so interesting and the racism she experienced was so disheartening. I hope things are changing thanks to people like her and Simone speaking up.
Dual timeline books can grow very tiresome, especially for historical fiction. It feels like EVERY author uses that literary device now, and I am so over it!
My biggest trigger is books about prison. I am TERRIFIED of prison and just reading about it is enough to give me anxiety. So I don’t love reading books about it!
I can’t be doing with animal cruelty and animals put into books just to die, and anything too gory or grisly. I am not keen on time travel or sci fi though I will read the odd sci fi book, and don’t like magic realism, either. I don’t mind dual timelines but don’t like too many books with them in a row! The pandemic is creeping into a lot of nonfiction I’m reading at the moment, as I’ve got to stuff published in 2023/24 on my shelf!
I am good with multiple points of view and timelines – I love a book where you get something from everyone’s viewpoint and then it all comes together in an interesting way – we just saw Weapons, which was like this and it was awesome.
The pandemic’s not a dealbreaker for me but I do find it annoying at this point too, not for any good reason. It’s interesting how fast all of that has faded from my mind, some parts seem unreal now.
I don’t usually read romance, but I’m okay with it coming up in other books, except I am very weary of the trope where the two characters are constantly fighting while also clearly finding each other irresistible.
I just assume there’s racism in everything at this point. It’s mind-boggling. It’s such a stupid thing, and it is literally baked into the very foundation of our countries.