The February Rejects

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I've been reading - and discarding - a bunch of books lately. I try to give each book at least 50 pages, but with so many great books out there (and two book clubs a month), I want to spend my time reading books I actually enjoy. I'd rather not spend time writing full reviews on books I Did Not Finish. This list includes the books I picked up and rejected in February:

The Pumpkin Muffin Murder: A Fresh-Baked Mystery: by Livia J. Washburn
Summary: Retired school teacher Phyllis Newsom solves another murder, this time based around her pumpkin muffins.
I just couldn't connect with the characters, and the squabbling and rivalry between Phyllis and her boarder Carolyn comes off as tiresome. The recipes - with the exception of Mocha Pecan Pie - didn't seem special either.

Chocolate, Please: My Adventures in Food, Fat, and Freaks by Lisa Lampanelli
Summary: A comic shares her memoirs and jokes.
It started out as a funny comic memoir, but was too crude and insulting for me. She calls herself the "Queen of Mean" and it's true, amongst all the vulgarity. Not an enjoyable read.

Chocolate Secrets by Zelda Benjamin
Summary: A romance between a nurse and a fire fighter is guided by their horoscopes.
Bored me to tears. Immature writing and characters who seemed caricatures. But I'm sure you noticed the chocolate theme here. Too bad they were both disappointing.

The False Friend by Myla Goldberg
Summary: A married woman tracks down the girls she bullied as a pre-teen.
I've read books with unsympathetic lead characters, but this one was the worst! Celia came off as a sociopath, in that she seemed to have no emotional connection to people around her. And then to have a missing girl be part of the plot? I just got disgusted. Girls do go missing, but not frequently enough to base a book around it.

The Darling Dahlias and the Cucumber Tree by Susan Wittig Albert
Summary: Who cares?
The writing style seems old-fashioned and affected. Couldn't get into the Miss Havisham-type characters and fussy writing. Really don't understand why this is a series.