ARC-DNFs and a couple of *giveaways*

I'm feeling wholly unmotivated so I'm going to try to do a little catch-up on some recent DNFs, none of which there's anything wrong with.

The Tudor Rose by Margaret Campbell Barnes was one of those books that I looked at and thought, "Must read before the end of the month," which is a terrible reason to start reading a book, although I've been rather scheduled in the past year and it often works fine. At the time I opened it, I was decidedly not in the mood for historical fiction, but the work needed to be done and I gave it a shot. Once past about page 10, the pages actually flew, for a time. But, then I got tired of the manipulative queen and annoyed with my own ignorance about the Plantagenets and Tudors. It was a bit of a relief to set the book aside.

I've read quite a few reviews and the consensus seems to be that it's a good book and worth reading, but not Margaret Campbell Barnes' best. In my case, it was simply a mix of bad timing and my sad, sad case of History Stupidity. I've got a whopper of a fine British History book that Kiddo bought to help him through a project about Alfred the Great, so I believe I'll read my factual history before returning to the Tudors and/or Plantagenets. My thanks to Danielle at Sourcebooks for the ARC!

Since I fell so short on knowledge, I've decided to give this ARC away, if anyone's interested. Update: I just used Random.org to draw a number and the winner is #4, Sarah. I'll be in touch, soon.

The Interrogative Mood by Padgett Powell blew my mind. At first, I thought it was the craziest thing I'd ever seen -- a book composed entirely of questions. Then, I started to really like it because it can be quite humorous and thought-provoking:

Do you wonder, when you wonder things like who first got the gumption to eat an oyster, who first got the idea to weave--was not a moment like that really cutting edge, as opposed to all the foofoo nano-refinements of today, which amount to the playing of checkers with a microchip?

Kiddo and I had fun reading questions aloud to each other, now and then; the reading of The Interrogative Mood can easily be turned into a game, although there are some awkward/rude sexual questions so it's quite adult. We only ran into a couple, though, while son and I were reading to each other. I got more than halfway through the book. But, then the relentless questions and the lack of a storyline began to annoy me. I'll still finish this book; it's obviously unique and certainly entertaining -- but I'll do the reading in little bits and probably over quite a stretch of time. Thanks to Greg Mortimer of HarperCollins for the ARC!

The Pirate Hunter by Tom Morrisey is a rather strange DNF. I picked it up thinking, "Oh, boy! Pirates!" and read exactly one paragraph. That's it! I don't recall whether I was overtired and unable to focus or just in one of those fickle moods (sometimes I go from book to book to book and it takes a good dozen before I finally settle on something) or what . . . but the first paragraph didn't grab me and then I set it aside and completely forgot I needed to read the book. It's still on my stacks as it obviously didn't get a fair shake and I will eventually give The Pirate Hunter a second go.

This particular book was sent to me by Jim at Bethany House -- thank you, Jim! -- and since I didn't finish the last two books he sent me, I haven't requested any more. But, I'm at the point that I'm hardly requesting any books at all, (some, yes -- I confess, I'm weak), although I'm a huge fan of Bethany House.

Mama's Got a Fake I.D. : How to Reveal the Real You Behind all That Mom by Caryn Dahlstrand Rivadeniera is, I think, simply not a good match for me. I've decided to set it aside for two reasons:

1. I have not yet forged an identity beyond the homefront, even though next year I'm about to become an empty-nester. So, I found it a little discouraging reading about a mother who quickly found an outside job that made her feel like she was human, while she still had little ones. It's a bit late for the mother/find yourself combo, in my case. Next year, I plan to shake things up a bit, when the kiddo is at college. For now . . . he wants me home and I'm fine marking time for a few more months.

2. I've been reading too much nonfiction. I love nonfiction, but occasionally I go overboard and end up with 4 NF books and 1 fiction going. The end result is that I typically abandon a few or sometimes I realize I need to stop everything and start all over with a fresh batch of books. This appears to be one of those times.

So, the reasons I abandoned this one are absolutely terrible. So terrible, in fact, that I think I'll go ahead and offer it up to someone who can really use it. If you're interested and you're a blogger, let me know. For Caryn's sake, I want this to go to someone who can review it. I'll make this a quickie and send to the first person who asks. Update: This book has been claimed! Thanks to Caryn for the book and sorry it wasn't a good fit!! The author is really, really nice -- I so wanted to love this book.

Next up . . . seems likely I'll read or cave in. Of the 4 of us, the cat is the most energetic. Freaky. I have observed kind of a general apathy in the blog world, this week -- maybe a lingering, mutual post-readathon hangover? Hang in there. I'm sure you'll be all nice and rested, soon, especially if you live in Colorado and have nowhere to go.

One wahoo before I go:

Yeah! Go, God! Nobody does clouds better.

Happy Wahoo Wednesday!

Bookfool, nearing the end of her identity crisis (we hope)