The Saddest Month

No, that's not the title of any book; rather, September has been a terribly unproductive reading month for me. I never like to abandon a book, yet this month I've managed to do that not once, not twice, but three times. Undoubtedly these books will haunt me and I will attempt to read them again, although I really shouldn't. In no particularly order, I present my failed readings:

Emma by Jane Austen
One of my least favorite books of all time is Pride and Prejudice. I can't fathom why I thought Emma would be any better, but I did, or at least thought I should confirm that it wasn't. I confirmed this pretty quickly, then continued reading out of stubbornness.Finally I could take no more.

A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court by Mark Twain
A not-terribly-creative, yet moralizing story that involves time travel. Obviously I didn't do my homework before embarking on this one. At least I like Mark Twain. Did I mention that the free B&N Nook version included a completed garbled line of text every 4-5 pages? Given that one of my only failed books last year was Mark Twain's autobiography, I think there might be a lesson somewhere. He's either not as funny as I remember or I've read everything of his worth reading.

Losing It: In which an aging professor laments his shrinking brain...by William Ian Miller
The UM alumni magazine does not usually lead me astray. This time it failed me. In fairness, the book is exactly as the title suggests - the (whiny) lament of a professor unimpressed with the aging process. Given the title of the book, its subject matter, and the fact that Miller is a long-serving law professor who has taught Icelandic sagas (yes, really), I expected it to be verbose. Even so, nothing could have prepared me for Miller's ramblings. I paid good money for this book so I was determined to see it through...until I remembered the old "time is money" bit and decided my time was worth more than I had paid for the book. Mom, if you still want to read it after this ringing endorsement, I'll hook you up with my copy.

Fortunately, I'm deep into a James Bradley book I've had on my list for months and I'm soon to fly across the country, so there's hope yet I can salvage something this month!