Monday Coffee Klatch: Denied!

I can't believe my favorite coffee shop is closed for two weeks! 😭

It says 8 days, but the math doesn't add up.

Because even though this sign says they will reopen on 16/08, in Vietnam many small businesses use the lunar calendar. Lunar 16/08 is September 26 according to the Gregorian calendar used internationally. 

Lunar 16/08 also happens to be the day after Mid-Autumn Festival. Since this is a family-run establishment, I assume that if the family is taking a vacation at the tail end of summer, the whole coffee shop naturally has to close down with them.

Mid-Autumn Festival is tied to the full moon around this time of year. It's very big in China as well as here in Vietnam. In China, it's one of the big holidays, right up there with the lunar New Year. 

I digress. Denied my favorite coffee shop makes me a bit grumpy about the holiday. Apparently. It makes it very easy to just stay in bed late of a morning. I'm so sad and dependent! 

Lack of the delights of my preferred morning beverage made me think of books that denied me my typical joy in reading them. I have only in recent years embraced the idea of simply setting aside books after starting them. Caution: One vague spoiler ahead.

One stand-out "Did Not Finish" book was from my former book club: Notes of a Dirty Old Man by Charles Bukowski. I read very little before I decided I didn't want to pollute my brain with this garbage. If I didn't already have issues with the person who had recommended it, his recommendation would have solidified my estimation of his character. 😩

Two books that I actually finished that DENIED me the pleasure of reading are in fact widely recommended on "Must Read" book lists. So. Many. Book lists. And I have read both of these and just... ugh. 

1. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini - How did I feel denied by this one? SPOILER! (avert your eyes)

Nothing good happens in it! There. Now you know. Don't waste your time unless you want to absolutely despair of positive things happening. There are, apparently, people for whom NOTHING good happens. It could be you! Do you want to feel terrible? Read it. Not me. I'm still pissed about the hours wasted reading it. I can't say it was poorly written. If it's on all those lists, it must have literary merit, but for me? Barf.

2. One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez - This was a different denial. Too confusing. This was so absolutely bizarre - and I like bizarre! - that I have no idea what happened or who was related to whom or what the actual story there was. Why is this highly recommended? Maybe if I read it again in 30 years I'll have a different viewpoint. I don't know.

Have you read either of these? What did you think? What is a book that you would not recommend to another reader?