You wanted to read the book, you were excited to crack it open, you came into it with good faith and anticipation… but you ended up dnf-ing it. Which book and why?

Mine was The Maid by Nita Prose. It was for my book club and looked like a fun murder mystery. Instead I got instant manic-pixie-dream-neurodivergent-girl vibes, and I noped out before the crime scene was even found.

  • couchjitsu@alien.topB
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    1 year ago

    I can’t remember the exact title, but it was a non-fiction book titled something like “Why America is Mad About the Wrong Things”

    I stopped early in chapter 2 when I realized it was going to essentially be the same chapter over and over.

    • dont_fuckin_die@alien.topB
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      1 year ago

      While I was taking business classes for a short while, I learned that business books are almost all based around a really cool idea that can be explained in one chapter, that is then stretched into 20 so that it can be sold as a whole book.

      • couchjitsu@alien.topB
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        1 year ago

        I finished The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs. The first 1/3rd of the book was good. The rest was just repeating that. It was fine, but clearly had a page count they were trying to hit.

      • rabbitthunder@alien.topB
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        1 year ago

        Yup. The Black Swan could be summed up in a short essay but the book is 95% padding. All idea based nonfiction books make me feel like I sat through a brainwashing session by the end. I suppose it’s probably because most readers are unwilling to pay for an essay so instead we pay for 390 pages of waffle wrapped around 10 pages of the good bit.

      • RogersRules@alien.topB
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        1 year ago

        Just like meetings that manage to squeeze five minutes of information into the hour you sit there.

        Hewlett-Packard Honeywell Fujitsu More

        I know whereof I speak.

      • insegnamante@alien.topB
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        1 year ago

        And most of those ideas just build off of ideas from Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. Not all, but most.