unputdownable
[uhn-poo t-dou-nuh-buh l]
1. (especially of a book or periodical) so interesting or suspenseful as to compel reading.
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Ken trudged into the apartment. Work had been rough, and he was ready to do a
whole lot of nothing. He kicked off his
shoes and dumped his work things unceremoniously on the floor before heading
over to the couch.
His aim
was to flop down and not move until dinner, but to his surprise, his roommate,
Vick, was already occupying it. Vick
being on the couch was nothing new, rather it was his position and activity
that were.
“I didn’t
know you read.” Ken said. Vick looked up from the book he was reading
while sprawled on the couch. He
apparently was so engrossed in the pages he didn’t even notice Ken’s arrival. It took him a moment before he said anything.
“What’re
you talking about? I read all the time.”
Vick said once his awareness kicked in.
“Not
books, you don’t. What’s changed?”
“I just
thought I’d give it a try is all.”
“Yeah,
sure you did. It was a girl, wasn’t it?”
“Maybe
it was, maybe it wasn’t.”
“So, was
she hot?”
Vick
just smiled in response. It was all the
answer Ken needed. Not that he needed even
that much. It was just about the only
thing that could get a technophile like Vick to read something without a
screen.
“So, is
the book any good at least?” Ken asked,
no needing any more enlightenment on the reasons for the sudden shift. Now he just needed to know why Vick kept at
it for more than a few minutes. It didn’t
seem like he was very far into the book, but the fact that he made it passed
the first page was a wonder.
“Oh
yeah, really good.” He replied. “I can’t put it down. It’s just that amazing.”
“Really
now? What’s it about?”
“I’m
not too far into it, so I haven’t gotten to the really good stuff yet, but so
far it’s a sci-fi story that focuses on the crew of a mining ship, and it looks
like weird stuff is starting to happen.”
“Huh. Sounds…interesting.” Ken didn’t think it sounded all that
engrossing, but if Vick was still reading it, it meant he found some merit in
it. If he didn’t, he’d just look up a
summary online in case the lady who recommended it asked.
“Yeah, it’s
great. I can’t wait till I get to the
really good parts. That’s gonna be
awesome.”
“I bet.”
Out of
curiosity, Ken glanced at the title. He
sat down in one of the room’s thin chairs and used his phone to look up the
book. Reviews were mixed, at best. Some liked it, others didn’t. But none said it was an amazing page turner
like Vick seemed to think. All in all,
the collective minds of the internet gave it a resounding “It’s okay.”
Ken
looked over at his roommate as he turned another page. From the way the guy’s eyes moved over the
page, it seemed like he was reading the greatest book in the world. Ken just wondered if that was due to the fact
that Vick probably hadn’t read a real book since high school, or if he really
thought the book was just that good.
“You
know, the internet seems to disagree.” Ken said.
“The
internet doesn’t know what it’s talking about.”
Vick said, finally tearing his eyes off the page long enough to shoot
Ken a nasty glair. “This book is a
gripping, engaging masterpiece.”
“That
everyone else seems to think is just alright.”
“Oh
they do, do they? We’ll see about
that. I’ll make sure that this one get’s
it’s proper respect. Right after I
finish this chapter.”
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Remember everyone, just because a review says something is or is not good, that doesn't mean you shouldn't give it a try. Critics and reviewers are just people, after all. They have opinions and tastes that could very well differ from yours. So just because someone tells you something is bad, or even just kind of okay, give it a shot. You might like it a lot more than that other person.
So true
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