After I finished Game Change, I spend a few days reading magazines; several had piled up again. When I got back to a book, I wanted something different from my last few selections (The Devil in the White City, Why Baseball Matters, and Game Change.)
I picked up Daphne by Justine Picardie. I re-read the dust jacket and wasn't sure why I had even bought it. But I made my choice: I got into bed and started to read.
I was unhappy from the first three lines. "To begin. Where to begin? To begin at the beginning. wherever that might be."
I kept reading--11 pages or so--but there was too much repetition, too many long sentences. My first thought was that the prose was florid, but I don't think that's quite the right word. It was melodramatic.
I used to feel obligated to finish every book I started. At some point I decided it just isn't worth it. Instead of forcing myself through Daphne, I started The Witches. Now that was a good choice.
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