Well, it's another Tuesday in quarantine.  How are you all holding up?  We're doing fine over here.  Not a lot has changed since last week and the week before that and the week before that, although apparently, things are going to start opening back up here in Arizona this week and next.  My husband and sons are readying our jet skiis to hit the lake as soon as the gates open on Saturday.  I know they're ready to bust out of quarantine for good, but I'm still not sure if a grand reopening of the world is a solid idea.  It makes me nervous, I have to say.

In less controversial news, it's Tuesday again, time for my favorite bookish meme.  If you haven't joined in the fun of Top Ten Tuesday yet, you really should.  It's a great way to get involved in the book blogging community, visit favorite blogs, find new ones, discover fantastic-sounding books, and keep yourself entertained (something we all need right now).  Click on over to That Artsy Reader Girl to get all the details.

Not gonna lie, I'm not totally feeling today's topic of the Last Ten Books I've Abandoned.  I prefer to keep TTT a positive thing.  Also, there's the little problem of my faulty memory—I honestly wouldn't be able to dredge up the names of the last ten books I DNF'd if I tried!  Since I couldn't think of a creative way to spin the topic du jour, I'm just going to chatter generally about the Top Ten Reasons I Might Abandon a Book (in no particular order):

• The story is moving way too slllloooowwwwwlllllly and I'm bored with it.  I've gotta have some action to keep me awake!
• The characters have no personality or they have personalities that grate on my nerves.
• The plot is too gory, violent, graphic, or disturbing.  I DNF'd a book last night and one last week for this reason.
• The writing is unskilled, unpolished, or just downright terrible.
• My own moodiness.  Sometimes books that would otherwise grab me just don't at a certain time, for no particular reason other than my mood.
• Too much cheese!  When it comes to food, there is no such thing.  Books are different, though.  Too much corny, saccharine, or eye roll-worthy prose and/or dialogue and I'm out.
• Serial OCD.  I've abandoned (or, rather, postponed) a number of books I've randomly grabbed at the library because I later discovered they were part of a series.  I refuse to read books in a series out of order, even when other people swear up and down that they don't need to be read in order.  Yes, they do, Karen!  Yes.  They.  Do.
• I just don't care.  Have you ever been in the middle of a book only to realize you really couldn't care less what happens next?  This occurs to me fairly often, usually because the characters are unlikable or just too flat to really make me interested in what happens to them.
• Certain topics.  There are topics I just don't like to read about, either because they make my blood boil or my stomach turn or my head/heart hurt.  If I encounter these subjects in a novel, I almost always jump ship.
• Variety.  I like to read several different genres, shuffling between them to keep my reading life interesting.  If I start with a book and realize it's too similar to something else I've read lately, I'll usually abandon it, even if just for the time being.

In a world afflicted with war, toxicity, and hunger, does what we do in our private lives really matter? Fifty years after the creation of the atomic bomb at Los Alamos, newlyweds Pauline and Clifford visit that once-secret city on their honeymoon, compelled by Pauline's fascination with Oppenheimer, the soulful scientist. The two stories emerging from this visit reverberate back and forth between the loneliness of a new mother at home in Boston and the isolation of an entire community dedicated to the development of the bomb. While Pauline struggles with unforeseen challenges of family life, Oppenheimer and his crew reckon with forces beyond all imagining. Finally the years of frantic research on the bomb culminate in a stunning test explosion that echoes a rupture in the couple's marriage. Against the backdrop of a civilization that's out of control, Pauline begins to understand the complex, potentially explosive physics of personal relationships. At once funny and dead serious, My God, What Have We Done? sifts through the ruins left by the bomb in search of a more worthy human achievement.

The book starts off serious, wordy, and kind of cold, narrated by a heroine who grated on my nerves almost from the moment I "met" her. Weiss writes well enough that I stuck with the story for 30 pages, hoping it would get better. Nope. Even though I found the subject of the atomic bomb interesting, nothing else about the book really grabbed my interest. So, I'm sticking it on the DNF pile and moving on.

Have you read My God, What Have We Done? Does it sound like something you'd be interested in? Did I abandon the book too soon? Any thoughts?

At thirteen years old Lynda's life comes to a disastrous halt when her mother and two younger sisters are killed in a plane crash. Her father, overcome by despair, simply continues to exist in a state devoid of hope. After burying a wife and two young children at the age of 44, the overwhelming responsibility of raising a daughter alone completely immobilizes him.

Teetering on that tender brink between childhood and adolescence, Lynda faces the responsibility of a father in a complete state of shock, a house to take care of and hundreds of decisions about how to proceed with their shattered lives.

In Repairing Rainbows, she candidly describes the agonizing memories, deafening silence and endless hardships that ar the fallout of incredible loss. As we follow her through marriage, motherhood and her own spiritual journey. Lynda reveals her complex feelings of hope, anger, pity and determination. Most importantly, she learns the crucial difference between truly living and the existence that is so often mistaken for being alive.

A true story, written by a woman whose normal and abundant life hides a terrible past, Repairing Rainbows is loaded with lessons that will undoubtedly touch the hearts of its readers.

- Back cover blurb

Normally I like memoirs, especially those featuring people who have overcome great obstacles to become happy, successful human beings. So, Repairing Rainbows by Lynda Fishman should have been right up my alley. Unfortunately, after 50 pages, I just didn't feel a compelling need to read any further. To me, the book lacked focus, meandering along with too much detail and not enough structure.

Just because Repairing Rainbows didn't appeal to me doesn't mean it won't be the perfect read for you. It gets rave reviews on Amazon and Goodreads. Book bloggers also seem to be enjoying it (you can check out their reviews on the author's website). More opinions about the book will be forthcoming as Fishman's virtual tour with Tribute Books continues. Considering all these glowing reviews, it's possible my impatience with the book is just a me thing. That happens. A lot.

Oh well.

So, I tried, I really tried to enjoy A Fierce Radiance by Lauren Belfer. Its topic (the development of penicilin during WWII) is fascinating and if the book had been non-fiction, I think I would have connected more with it. As it was, I found the omniscient viewpoint distancing, the characters off-putting, and the whole thing just too long and dull for me. I gave up around Page 150.

I seem to be in the minority, however, as most reviewers liked the book. You can see readers' comments on Amazon here and Barnes & Noble here. Also, please click here to see all the blogs that have reviewed/will be reviewing the book on its tour with TLC Book Tours.

If you've read the book, what do you think? Should I have been more patient? Given the plot more time to develop? What are your thoughts?

Oh, and here's the book's synopsis. I copied and pasted it from Goodreads:

From the New York Times bestselling author of City of Light comes a compelling, richly detailed tale of passion and intrigue set in New York City during the tumultuous early days of World War II.

Claire Shipley is a single mother haunted by the death of her young daughter and by her divorce years ago. She is also an ambitious photojournalist, and in the anxious days after Pearl Harbor, the talented Life magazine reporter finds herself on top of one of the nation's most important stories. In the bustling labs of New York City's renowned Rockefeller Institute, some of the country's brightest doctors and researchers are racing to find a cure that will save the lives of thousands of wounded American soldiers and countless others—a miraculous new drug they call penicillin. Little does Claire suspect how much the story will change her own life when the work leads to an intriguing romance.

Though Claire has always managed to keep herself separate from the subjects she covers, this story touches her deeply, stirring memories of her daughter's sudden illness and death—a loss that might have been prevented by this new "miracle drug." And there is James Stanton, the shy and brilliant physician who coordinates the institute's top secret research for the military. Drawn to this dedicated, attractive man and his work, Claire unexpectedly finds herself falling in love. But Claire isn't the only one interested in the secret development of this medicine. Her long-estranged father, Edward Rutherford, a self-made millionaire, understands just how profitable a new drug like penicillin could be. When a researcher at the institute dies under suspicious circumstances, the stakes become starkly clear: a murder has been committed to obtain these lucrative new drugs. With lives and a new love hanging in the balance, Claire will put herself at the center of danger to find a killer—no matter what price she may have to pay.

Lauren Belfer dazzled readers with her debut novel, City of Light, a New York Times notable book of the year. In this highly anticipated follow-up, she deftly captures the uncertainty and spirit, the dreams and hopes, of a nation at war. A sweeping tale of love and betrayal, intrigue and idealism, A Fierce Radiance is an ambitious and deeply engaging novel from an author of immense talent.

I think this was a question on a recent meme, but you know that feeling you get when you're reading a book and the plot and characters seem eerily familiar? This deja vu-ey feeling kept floating around me as I read E.L. Doctorow's The March. I finally concluded that I have read it, or at least started it. Since I can't remember the ending, it's probably the latter. Anyway, I learned a long time ago that I have too many books on my TBR list to stick with one I've aready read or didn't like all that much in the first place. So, I'm abandoning The March. I may come back to it at some point, but not right now. It's not a bad book, I just can't stand that feeling of knowing what's going to happen before it does - it's like trying to remember a dream all day, and snagging only little snippets.

The March was actually my last selection for the Unread Authors Challenge, but since I read one of my alternates, I'm going to consider this challenge completed. I'll write a wrap-up post later.

Usually, I have an idea of what book I'm going to read next, but I had a hard time selecting one this time. I kept vacillating between Neil Gaiman's Coraline and The Yearbook, an LDS novel by Allyson B. Condie. Since Coraline is a library book and I already have a $30 fine (long story - the library is still looking for Inkspell, which I'm almost positive I turned in) there, I figured I better get to it first. I've read a few chapters and it's interesting - kind of like reading the script of a Tim Burton movie. I'll get back to you when I finish it.

One last thing - don't forget to enter to win The Bookseller of Kabul. I'll be drawing a name on February 25, so sign up here if you haven't already.

So, my second pick for the R.I.P. challenge was Gordon Dahlquist's The Glass Books of the Dream Eaters. I checked it out at the library today, without even reading the book jacket or the reviews. If I had noticed how many times reviewers used the words "sex" and "erotic," I probably would have stuck it right back on the shelf. I didn't notice, so I started reading...and gave up about 56 pages in. It's just not my cup of tea. Since there are so many great books out there, it's my policy not to read any that I don't like. Therefore, I'm officially abandoning this one. Instead, I'm going to read J.R.R. Tolkien's classic Lord of the Rings for the Peril the Second part of the R.I.P. challenge. It's weighty enough to take the place of The Glass Books of the Dream Eaters, and I'm sure I'll enjoy it more.

I made it almost halfway through this one before I had to quit. Don't get me wrong, The True Story of Hansel and Gretel by Louise Murphy is well-written and undeniably compelling, but I just couldn't stomach the violent imagery.

The novel begins with a Jewish couple speeding across the Polish countryside trying desperately to outrun the Nazis on their tail. At a hidden bend, they slow their motorcycle only long enough to rush their two children off into the forest. The father urges the kids to head for a nearby village and find a farmer willing to feed them. The children - now dubbed Hansel and Gretel - discover a cottage in the woods, where Magda, the town witch, takes them in. In order to get extra food rations for the children, Magda concocts a story to explain their presence to the Nazis, who control the town. While on this errand, pretty Gretel captures one of the officer's attention, which I assume leads to trouble later on.

The book follows the children's story as well as that of their father and stepmother, who also manage to evade their Nazi pursuers. The couple flees into the woods as well. There, they encounter a ragtag group of men eager to exact revenge on the Nazis and all Poles who aid them. It was when this group hangs a woman out of her bedroom window that I closed the book.

As I said before, the book is well-written and spellbinding. I cared about some of the characters, especially the kids, but not enough to stick with a story that made me sick to my stomach. I have too many books in my TBR pile to force myself to finish this one. If anyone else has read it, let me know what happens to the kids...