The Glass Hotel by Emily St. John Mandel

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I tried with this one, I really did. I started it before the Giller Shortlist was announced and fairly quickly shelved into my DNF pile, praying it wouldn’t be on the Shortlist. It was. My prayers didn’t work so I was faced with having to try again.

I tried different versions of it too, desperate for something to stick. I started out with the book, and when it made the Shortlist, I switched to audio thinking maybe that would help. It did, but only a very tiny bit. So sorry but I just cannot connect to this story in any way, shape, or form.

For me, it’s a book filled with people talking to each other. And that’s boring for me. People fall out, others drop in, then there’s this Ponzi scheme. I have failed to find a connection to it. :-(

My first time abandoning it was because I wasn’t enjoy the style of writing and the story itself was not reaching out to me. I would look at the book with a sigh, resenting it because I felt Ihad to read it. When it was shortlisted, I made a face because now I really felt I had to read it.

I tried, I really did. It’s clear I won’t be stumping for this one to win the Giller so I have to let it go. I need to let it go. Sorry friends.