King of the Boundless Sea

Last time I mentioned books, I was buying a lot of them based on some some stellar recommendations from you peoples. In the first week, I polished off White Oleander, as it came with the most lovin'. I was skeptical as I read the first paragraph, but by the end I was weeping because it was finished. I wanted to live in that story for months, not days.

Then I moved on to A Million Little Pieces. The writing style threw me off at first, and it took me a full week to convince myself that "abnormal" does not equal "stupid." And so I dove in and devoured every crazy word as fast as my eyes could stomach them. (Hey, I aced biology, thank you.) I was sad at the end of that book, too, but I was beginning to remember how fun it could be to hop from one imaginary world to the next.

Enter Moby Dick, stage left.

Holy (sea) cow, I have been stuck on page eighty-four (which is really page three, but what's an obnoxiously long book without obnoxiously long introductions?) for ten years now. I know, I know. That doesn't really fit the timeline of the story, but I'm pretty sure there was a black hole involved. And that black hole looks suspiciously like the ghost of Herman Melville.

The quitter in me wants to find another book and come back to Moby Dick later, but too many people have seen me lugging it around. Soon, they'll want to know what I thought of the book, and I do not have the energy to tell them that I would rather sell my soul to the devil than read another quote about whales.

UGH. All this to say, please help me find a less tedious book to read next. If it's one you've already suggested here, please let me know (so I don't go out and buy a second copy or something stupid). New recommendations are welcome, as well. Just nothing involving whales or 300-page introductions. Please and thank you.