Can't Win Them All

I try to keep a record of all the books I read, as long as I make it through at least half the book. (Maybe I should keep a record of all the books I start and toss within the first couple of chapters, but it's just too depressing.) It's a joy to write about a book that I loved - and it's even fun to write about a book that had noteable flaws. But when a book is just blah... what can you say?

Undiscovered Hero by Stephanie Doyle (SIM 792)
(1997, Contemporary Series) 8/9/07
Grade: 3

Trying to save a student from a gang initiation, teacher Delany Sheridan ends up in the hospital, unsure if she’ll ever walk again. The only bright spot in her life is Zach Montgomery, the man who saved her - or did he? Zach is actually an undercover DEA agent, but he’s not sure he can live with his guilt over Delany’s injuries, and build a life with her.

Surprisingly boring. This book has all the elements that I like - a tortured hero, tortured heroine, recovery from an illness, etc. - but I just couldn’t get into it for some reason. I could barely force myself to finish (and I did a lot of skimming toward the end.) I never really understood why these two characters fell in love in the first place, other than proximity. It’s always difficult to explain why some books fall flat despite having all the right “pieces”, but this one definitely fell into that category. Nothing terribly bad about it, it was just dull.

Blah books are one reason I don't write official "book reviews" any more. I used to write reviews for the now-defunct Bookbug site, and it was so difficult to try and explain why I found a book boring. I spent more time trying to write about the blah books than I did writing about the good ones, and it was just too frustrating.