The quick and the abandoned

The Alchemyst
(The secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel, #1)
by Michael Scott

Doesn’t stand on its own, or even attempt to. Makes me greatly miss the early Potter books—each had a beginning and an end.  Even though they built on top of each other, you didn’t have to read all seven to have a happy time. I knew this was a series before I started it, but I was expecting some small bit of closure.

Other than that picky problem, it was fine.  Good magic; good characters.  I didn’t quite get what made the evil villain tick, but maybe that will come in time.

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Life after life
by Kate Atkinson

I had to give up on this.  I feel a little ashamed of myself for admitting it.  On Goodreads.com there are rave reviews with five-star delight, including those of a couple of people whose tastes I admire.  Everyone agrees that her writing is lyrical and delightful, and I agree.   If I could speed read to the end, I might become one of those adoring fans.

But, there are also reviews like this:
    The premise of the book makes it sound really good but let’s face it; it is just Groundhog Day in disguise.

And this:
    The length, the repetitive scenes, the incredible number of times Ursula dies and is reborn, are all tedious and terrible torment to get through. 2/3rds in, I found myself offended for having my time wasted.

Which is what I expect I would be saying if I forced myself to continue.   Plus, having this on the top of my pile is actually making me not want to read.  I read a cookbook just to prevent having to pick it up again.

Abandoned.