Unappealing

I have been planning to finish reading S.J. Day's Eve of Darkness for about a month now. I started it, got about 20-odd pages into it, and just couldn't get a feel for it. However, I was reluctant to put it aside. It has all the right elements (urban fantasy, strong female lead, interesting plot) that normally appeal to me, plus Day has two more novels in the series out already, so potentially there could be several great books just waiting to be read. But I simply could not get into it.

I know from past experience that if I don't finish a book the first time I start it, it's very rare that I'll ever come back to it. Which is why I'm a bit picky when I select a book to read. There have been many times a book has sat on my shelf, not looking the least bit appealing for months, and then when I'm in the right mood, I discover a new favorite novel. The hope was that given time and a change in mood, Day's novel would fall into this category by default, and I'd want to pick up where I'd left off.

The wise words of a friend snapped me out of my holding pattern this weekend: she reminded me that there are simply too many good books to try to slog through those that don't appeal to me. I was trying to force Day's novel to work, to appeal to me, and it wasn't working. I'm ready to throw in the towel and send this novel off to its reincarnation (aka used book store).