84. Harris, Charlaine. Dead Over Heels. 272 pages. 7.3.09.


85. Harris, Charlaine. A Fool and His Honey. 272 pages. 7.3.09.

Incomplete Reads of 50 pages or more:

1. Urrea, Luis Alberto. The Hummingbird's Daughter. 10 chapters (approx. 118 pages). 7.3.09.

I am sorry to say that after ten chapters I am putting down Luis Alberto Urrea's The Hummingbird's Daughter. The novel itself is beautifully written and promises to be incredibly powerful and meaningful for those who are able to make it to the end. I picked up the novel at the suggestion of several LibraryThing members, and I do not deny that their praise is well-deserved.

So why am I abandoning the book before I finish it? Personal difficulty - I find myself less and less able to focus on the narrative itself as I trip over foreign dialog, words I don't understand, and names I'm afraid I'm mispronouncing. While I am confident that Urrea's use of native dialog is quite appealing to many readers, I personally find it to be a stumbling block that has grown harder to ignore as I continue the book. However, because I recognize that as a flaw in myself, as opposed to a flaw on the part of the author, I still feel confident giving (what I read of) The Hummingbird's Daughter four stars.