Books We Didn't Finish September Edition

Courageous (Harlequin, June 2012)... what can I say?  I usually read about 50 pages or at least 2 CDs before I give up on a book.  I lasted only half of the first disc. First, Peg, the 19-YO, naive heroine states that she is different from her friends because she doesn't believe in sex before marriage. Then she proceeds to say really suggestive things to the Winslow (the hero). Things like: "I hear they have birth control now that is 100% effective." and "It's not the size that matters; it's what you do with it that counts." Really? A few pages later, he tells her she should be in college and could major in Home Ec.  Um...do they even offer that in college anymore?  He is also scandalized that they allow coed dorms now.  Anyway, I could see this book was going the way of Merciless (which I disliked) so I decided to stop.  The book seems incredibly out-dated for having been written in 2012.When the setting is 2012, I want the characters to act like they are in 2012.

I really tried to get into The Vanishers (Doubleday, March 2012).  I started the audiobook 3 times.  On the last try, I finished the first CD and I realized I had no idea what was going on or what the author was talking about.  I was never able to orient myself to the world the author was trying to create.  I may at some point try to finish the book, but with so many books on my TBR Pile, it won't be anytime soon. It is too bad, because the synopsis seemed so interesting.  Maybe if the book had more of a background set up in the beginning, I would have been able to get into it more. 

I picked Bone Machines by John Dodds as an audiobook selection from the library.  It seemed like my kind of book.  It's about a serial killer in Glasgow.  The killer is an artist not only in his killing, but also in what he does with the bodies after death.  Sounds like a twistedly good book right?  I think my biggest problem with this audiobook was that it was narrated by Robin Sachs and he does all the Jo Nesbo books.  The two are linked in my head.  So his voice attached to something else wasn't really working for me.  I keep getting confused with the characters and who was who and who was the bad guy.  It just wasn't working for me so I moved on to something else.