Saying Goodbye to The Pickwick Papers

So, those of you that (for some reason) keep coming back to Booking in Heels, will know that a group of us have been read-a-longing The Pickwick Papers since November this year. I've written three update posts so far, none of which have been exactly complimentary.

Thus the time has come to announce my retirement from the read-a-long... although perhaps it didn't deserve such a dramatic statement. In my defence, I'm still hugely grateful to Bex for arranging the whole thing as at least I now know that I hate this book.

Which is pretty much what happened. I hate it, I really do. I can see how it was entertaining as weekly segments in a newspaper but it just does not work in book form. Nothing happens, the characters are irritating and it's profoundly repetitive.

The thing is, it's put me off reading anything because I felt guilty for picking up another book when I should have been reading this monstrosity. I've been doing everything but read, which is highly unlike me. It was a chore and I resented it for being such.

I actually feel a huge sense of relief just from finally making this decision, which states just how much this book has been weighing on me. Thank you to Bex for her tacit permission and Charlotte for being the first!