20% Rule: The Family Business by Carl Weber with Eric Pete

Genre: Urban Literature
Series/Standalone:  Series
Version: Hardcover (ISBN: 9781601624673)
Publication Date: February 2012
Publisher: Urban Books, LLC
Source:  Library

Synopsis (GoodReads):

By day, the Duncans are an upstanding family who run a thriving car dealership in Queens. By night, they live a dangerous secret life! Carl Weber and Eric Pete deliver a thrilling underworld drama in The Family Business.L.C. Duncan, patriarch of the family, is at the age when he’s starting to think about retirement in sunny Florida. But the recession is taking a bite out of the business and, worrying more, he has to decide which of his children should take over. When his workaholic son Orlando gets the nod, Orlando’s siblings—including the favorite son Vegas, conniving daughter London, glamorous party girl Paris and flamboyant nightclub owner Rio—are up in arms. But so are the Zunigas, a rival family whose fragile business alliance with the Duncans may explode at any moment.When Vegas suddenly breaks away from the family, London’s lawyer husband, Harris, makes a play for the company and all hell breaks loose. Selling cars, it turns out, is only a small part of the Duncans’ family business. Each member of the family has a secret expertise to reveal. And now, under siege from the Mafia, Mexican drug cartels and the Zunigas, the Duncans will have to stick together—or die separately!

Why I Quit:

The Family Business and I started off on the wrong foot and it just went down hill from there.  The first chapter introduces you to the youngest member of the Duncan Family, Paris.  And she was annoying  as a toddler throwing a fit in the middle of Walmart.  Really, she was just one huge giant ghetto stereotype.  Then Weber and Pete introduces you to the other members of the family and while they are not as bad as her.  They are uninteresting and really hard to connect to.  By the time I got to Chapter 3, which I believe was narrated by London (the oldest sister), I knew that I would not care what happened to anyone in the story.

One of the things that sometimes saves books from bad characters is good writing.  The only word that I can think of to describe the writing style in this book is basic.  The sentence structure had no depth and there was no style.  Nothing to keep me wanting to turn the page.  Combine that with the fact that Pete and Weber decided to write in the first person point of view, and it was a complete fail.

This is not my first time reading Carl Weber (but I stopped a long time ago) and Eric Pete is new to me.  I don't think I will be reading anything but either of them any time soon.

Completed:  21% (79 out of 370)

20% Rule: I'm Only Human After All by Alex Rogers

Genre: Non-Fiction (Inspirational)
Series/Standalone: Series
Version: eBook (epub)
Publication Date: August 2011
Publisher: Alex I. Rogers (self-published)
Source:  Authors Requesting Reviews

Synopsis (GoodReads):

What do you do if you find yourself suddenly, and without provocation, the target of high school aggression, relentless insults, and painful isolation? Such is the dilemma of teenager Alex Rogers, the main character in I’m Only Human After All, the thought-provoking, absorbing novel inspired by the real-life trials of the author by the same name. In this penetrating story, Rogers draws from his personal experiences to offer invaluable insight to students, teachers, and parents everywhere on today’s increasingly common, and highly damaging, instances of bullying and cyber-bullying. The novel’s poignant, reflective first-person narrative details all that bullied young adults confront, casting crucial new light on this timely topic to enable individuals to cope with this pervasive problem. I’m Only Human After All also represents the debut work of fiction in the ongoing "Empowerment" series based on the author’s life that surrounds topics relevant today

Why I Quit:

I'm Only Human After All is one of those books that all I can really say about it is that it was not for me.  When I requested I'm Only Human After All, I was expecting to like it.  And for the most part I did.  I just found it really hard to get into and it took me 3 days just to complete 32% of the book.

The main problem that I had with novella is that as Rogers was telling his story, he would throw in little words of wisdom or what he was thinking at the time.  I had a hard time buying that a middle-school or high-school kid would have such deep thoughts at emotional pivotal points in their lives.  Not that it doesn't happen but it sounded more like the author had time to reflect on the situations.

I do think there are people that will get a lot out of Rogers story. It might be the prefect book for a teenage boy having a problem with bullying and fitting in.  The GoodRead rating is favorable, 4.00.

I think I would have enjoyed finished this if it had been presented in a different "form".  Maybe more linear?

Completed: 32%

FTC Disclosure:  I received a free copy of I'm Only Human After All in exchange for an honest review.

20% Rule: The Fifth Vial by Michael Palmer

Pages: 367
Genre: Thriller
Series/Standalone: Standalone
Version: Hardback
Publication Date: February 2007
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Source: Private Collection

Synopsis (GoodReads):

In Boston, a disgraced medical student is sent to deliver a research paper that could save her career. . . . Four thousand miles away, in a jungle hospital in Cameroon, a brilliant, reclusive scientist, dying from an incurable disease that threatens to make each tortured breath his last, is on the verge of perfecting a serum that could save millions of lives, and bring others inestimable wealth. . . . In Chicago, a disillusioned private detective, on the way to his third career, is hired to determine the identify of a John Doe, killed on a Florida highway, with mysterious marks on his body.

Three seemingly disconnected lives, surging unrelentingly toward one another. Three lives becoming irrevocably intertwined. Three lives in mounting peril, moving ever closer to the ultimate confrontation against a deadly secret society with godlike aspirations and roots in antiquity.

Medical student. Scientist. Private eye. Three people who will learn the deeper meanings of brilliance and madness, truth and deception, trust and betrayal.

Three lives linked forever by a single vial of blood--the fifth vial.

Why I Quit:

I didn't even make it to 20% of The Fifth Vial before I decided to throw in the towel.  For a thriller it starts out incredibly slow.  Maybe, I have been spoiled by the few thrillers that I have read because they all just jumped right into the action.

Palmer spends the first 50 pages (probably more but I didn't wait to find out) developing the characters and I did not care for the ones that I had met.  They had interesting backstories and I thought that he did a nice job of create a history for them.

Overall, the writing was just not engaging enough of me to continue.  It was too easy for me to put this one down and forget about it.

Page Completed: 52

20% Rule: The Gathering by Anne Enright

Pages: 260

Genre: Fiction

Publication Date: 2007

Synopsis (from Google):

The nine surviving children of the Hegarty clan are gathering in Dublin
for the wake of their wayward brother, Liam, drowned in the sea. His sister, Veronica, collects the body and keeps the dead man company, guarding the secret she shares with him--something that happened in their grandmother's house in the winter of 1968. As Enright traces the line of betrayal and redemption through three generations, she shows how memories warp and secrets fester. The Gathering is a family epic, clarified through Anne Enright's unblinking eye. This is a novel about love and disappointment, about how fate is written in the body, not in the stars. The Gathering sends fresh blood through the Irish literary tradition, combining the lyricism of the old with the shock of the new. As in all of Anne Enright's work, this is a book of draing, wit, and insight, her
distinctive intelligence twisting the world a fraction and giving it back to us
in a new and unforgettable light.

Why I Quit:

By page 30 something I was bored. Nothing really happened. Let me rephrase that. Stuff happened but the writing was so bland that it all seemed rather uneventful. I expect to feel some emotion when reading a story were a mother learns that her son is dead. I felt nothing.

I also got tried of the jumping back and forth. The story is written in first person. The narrator jumps back and forth between present day and a imagined encounter between her grandmother, grandfather, and grandfather's best friend. Now I am sure this has something to do with the story. But I will never find out. Because I Quit.

Now, I have to look for another book that takes place in Ireland. Because this book was for a challenge. I am not having much luck with award winning books lately. This book won The Booker Prize in 2007.

Pages Completed: 41

Frankenstein by Mary Shelly

Pages: 211
Genre: Fiction (Classic)
Publication Date: 1818

Why I Quit:

Basically, it is so wordy and I did not have a dictionary handy. Shelley uses a lot of words to describe the simplest concept and it just got on my nerves. Every three pages or so, I just had to sit the book aside and breath. It was a lot to take in and I just wanted her to get to the point. This was not required reading in high school and for that I am extremely happy.

Pages Completed: 44

SideNote: This book qualified for two challenges (1% Well Read and TBR). I will choose two books to replace it, one from each challenge.

If you have a review of this book or any other book reviewed on my site. Post a link to that review in the comment section so, I can link back to you.

Joplin's Ghost by Tananarive Due

Title: Joplin's Ghost
Author: Tananarive Due
Pages: 477
Rating: 20% Rule
Spoilers: Yes, but not a lot

Synopsis (Part of Inside Cover):

When Phoenix Smalls was ten, she nearly died at her parent's jazz club when she was crushed by a turn-of-the-century piano. Now twenty-four, Phoenix is launching a career as and r&B singer. She's living the life young artist envy and seems destined for fame and fortune. But a chance visit to a historical site in St. Louis ignites a series of bizarre, erotic encounters with a spirit who may be the King of Ragtime, Scott Joplin

Review:

I formulated the 20% rule while trying to decided if I wanted to try and continue on reading this book. I think that Tananarive Due is a talent writer, but there is something about the way this story is written that just bugs me. It seems (a least to me) that Due has a problem with transitioning from one writing style to another. When the story opens up Scott Joplin is in a mental institution, at this point in the story the writing is sort of engaging and is very fluid. But after the background of the story is over things fall apart. Due has a problem with integrating urban culture and terms with her own writing style. It seems forced and unnecessary. I think that she could have over come this issue if she had separated the characters (mainly Phoenix) thoughts from the third person narrators. Sometimes the two seemed to overlap. I don't if I am making any sense. It is kind of hard to explain.

The other problem that I had was that in the 91 pages that I read I couldn't formulate a relationship with any of the characters. The only story that seemed interesting was Joplin's but by page 91 it was apparent the cause of his death, and therefore the downfall of his career. In 91 pages Due was not able to make me care what relationship Phoenix and Joplin would have and what mayhem the haunting could cause.

Overall, I found what portions I did read of the story rather dull.

If you want to read other reviews (more positive ones) I have a link to the amazon.com reviews here: Joplin's Ghost

20% Rule

While trying to complete the 50 book challenge and expand my reading taste, I have ran into books that I just could not get into. Books that halfway through I could not force myself to go any further.

In order to save myself trouble but still give each book I pick up a chance, I have implemented the 20% rule.

The 20% rule is really simple. Basically, I have to read 20% of a book before I throw in the towel and call it a lose.

20% does not sound like a lot but for a 400 page book that is 80 pages. 20% should be enough time to catch my attention. If an author can't catch my attention in that amount of time, than why should I continue?

I think by reading 20% of a book, I am giving the book a fair chance.

Any thoughts?