Read It or Unhaul It 2

 I have done this before, and here I am doing it again. I will randomly pick three books from my unread books list to review. If I like it, it stays, but if I don't, it leaves to go elsewhere. Ready?

I explained it before. I'll quickly fill you in for those who have yet to see the first Read It or Unhaul It challenge. 

1. I pick three books (from an Excel sheet list of unread books) using a random number generator.

2. I read those books and review them in this blog post.

3. I decide whether they leave or stay in my library. 

For those concerned about where the books go, you need not worry. They get donated to used bookstores and donation places. I don't throw away books; they just don't stay in my personal library. If I am reading an ebook it simply gets deleted if I don't want it. 

 Knights and Rogues - a medieval romance sampler by Claire Delacroix

Courtesy of the-bookreview.com

This book is a romance sampler written to show off the first books of the author's romance series. According to the "Dear Reader" letter, this will let you know what series you'll like best between five different romance series. It is not all the first book, just a few chapters. 

The first one follows a widowed noblewoman from France to Scotland. It is an enemies-to-lovers romance. I would honestly say it is probably dirty romance. I expected nothing less of this book if I'm entirely honest with you. It was kind of good, up until the moment the main man showed up in the first chapter and the female lead started losing her strong resolve. Strong female character energy abruptly became our main lady thinking about our main guy's hands. All of a sudden chapter one decides that the presence of one Scottish man means she feels desire. I can tell by chapter one I'm not into this first series. The writing isn't bad - it's better than some other romances I've encountered - but I'm not into it. The first chapter turned me off to it. I skimmed the second and third chapters to find it wasn't bad, but I was still turned off by the first chapter. 

Before I decided to DNF (do not finish) the book I tried one more sample. This is multiple series in one, and the point of it is to find what you like, so why not? Sample two is a series following warriors in Scotland (a theme I found) who have mysteries attached to them. Again, the writing isn't bad. My complaint is that a strong woman lead will see the man lead and then suddenly go weak in the knees. I wasn't shocked about it this time. This time I was indifferent. It is also a dirty romance. While I have no qualms with some dirty romance (depends highly on the storyline itself and whether the sex is the whole book or only a few scenes), I need a strong storyline and characters with it. 

All things considered, both have a main character that has strength and kept me reading up until the main romantic lead showed up. Then our main woman suddenly went weak in the knees and it killed my interest. Strong woman energy should go all the way through, not disappear whenever our male lead shows up. Sample two at least had some history between the characters that made this make sense, but sample one did not. I have DNFed this sampler. 

The Gray and Guilty Sea by Scott William Carter  

Courtesy of Bookbub.com

I gave this ebook five chapters to impress me. It both did and didn't. It is about a rather cynical, retired private investigator. His wife died during one of his cases and he moved into a coastal town. The whole thing has a darker tone to it. He finds a dead girl washed up on his property. He's not a ray of sunshine. I was a bit bored. The story is slow-moving. I've read worse, though, so keep in mind that five chapters in the writing wasn't bad, just too slow-paced for my taste. I stopped reading after the fifth chapter.

It wouldn't be fair to give this a star rating because I never finished it. It was too molasses slow getting started to truly keep me interested. I'm not saying this is a horrible book. I'm saying it needs a faster tone to keep my attention. The whole point of this challenge is to determine whether the books I picked up at random are staying in the library. This one is not. I DNFed it. 

    

Courtesy of Biblio.com

 The Winning of Barbara Worth by Harold Bell Wright   

This book is a western focused on reclaiming a dessert and a young woman who was found in that dessert as a child. It has some romance in it, but I wouldn't say that was the focus of the book. The dessert and Barbara Worth's influence are the focus. The book was written in 1911 and reprinted. It is a 4 out of 5 stars for me. I was never bored, nor was I ever considering putting it down. This author has never let me down. This novel became a movie, just like his novel Shepherd of the Hills. Let it be known that a novel from 1911 can still be an excellent read. 

I'd also read Shepherd of the Hills if you are curious about it. It is a very odd read, but an excellent choice. The book and movie differ in plot in that case. I don't know about Barbara Worth's movie, but I have a feeling it might, too. Read the book. You'll thank yourself. 

Do you want to read it? Great news! It is in the public domain and read out loud online for free. I will link the three parts of the Librivox recording to this video below. No need to buy this one if you aren't sure. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gGA1ZTd0dl8&t=14709s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z0jBCpoIaKw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jx3Bx7kPef8

Conclusion

Today's read-it-or-unhaul-it challenge has one winner and two unhauls. I DNFed both unhauls. One DNF was a romance sampler that didn't come through on the strong woman front it presented. The other was just moving too slow, way too slow. I lost interest. If it had moved faster I'd have kept going. The winner of this challenge is clearly the book from 1911, The Winning of Barbara Worth. It was a thick book, but it was worth it. Harold Bell Wright has never let me down. 

I do this challenge because I am a book dragon who needs to read what I have on my shelf. I also need to make room for more books on my shelf, books I know I like. This challenge makes me pick up those romances I got for free and those books I picked up on a whim. If you are like me, you should try this challenge. At the very least, you start to think before you take a book from a donation pile. 

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I wrote a book! I am delighted to say that I have four five-star reviews up on Amazon now, which is amazing. I hope you like it, too. If you're interested in buying a paperback or ebook version go to my website link in this blog or click here to go straight to my Amazon page. 

Jack Thomas is running from a past case. He's hiding in Wrenville. Is his past case catching up with him? 

Find out in my first book, Wrenville, a stand-alone suspense novel.