Should I Abandon This Book? and Books Read 3/12/19

The book I'm currently reading on my phone makes pretty much no sense to me at all.  I feel like I'd understand just as much if it were written in French.  I can't even put my finger on what it is, it's just that I feel like I'm reading words strung together as opposed to a story.
I considered abandoning it, but I try not to do that PLUS it's a quick read, at least.  It looks like I'm about 40% through the words.  It's a book of short stories, and I'm pretty sure the last story was about someone's daughter who seemed nice.  Seriously, that's all I got.
At any rate, I know most readers are much more likely to throw in the towel if a book isn't doing it for them.  Do you have any special rule of thumb?  I think I read somewhere recently that page number 26 is the magic number - if the book still sucks on page 26, give it up.  

However, I have finished a few books that luckily were more than just words strung together...

You Think It, I'll Say It by Curtis Sittenfeld
Yuck, what the hell was this?  Read this book if you like reading about people on high horses who do immoral things.  A total dud, although a good reminder to people who need it (not me) that just because someone interacts with you does not mean that they want to sleep with you.   Too bad, because the writing style was lovely.  

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Bachelor Nation by Amy Kaufman
​I’ve never seen The Bachelor and probably never will.  TV isn’t really my thing.  Sometimes Jeff and I will turn on HGTV and make fun of people talking about “space” and “entertaining” for a half hour or so and that’s about all I do anymore.  Plus, I’m too cynical to buy in to reality TV and have been known to tick off those around me by announcing, “The producer TOLD them to say that!” after pretty much every line.  I’m no fun!
The author is both snarky and fun, but wow – she really did her homework.  She provides all sorts of insights including the (interesting) history of tv dating shows, the psychology of why people buy into this particular show, and of course all of the fascinating details about what it is like to be a part of the Bachelor – from the online application to putting life back together after it’s all over.  She’s never personally been a contestant, as she doesn’t fit the mold, but she makes up for it with gobs of research and interviews. 
I really enjoyed this, and would recommend it to fans of the show or to those horrified by the reality that such shows exist.  The ending could’ve used some pizzazz, but definitely no reason not to give this book a rose (ugh, that hurts to type, but there it is).

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The Last Romantics by Tara Conklin
I love family sagas and deep dives into relationships among siblings. While I loved those aspects of this novel, I really felt like it could’ve been so much more for me personally if I liked the characters.  All of the siblings were pretty frustrating and so much was covered that nothing was truly explored.  Plus, random stuff would happen for no reason.  One of the siblings just decides that it’s too hard to keep loving her husband so she leaves him and that was NBD.  Then the ending shared that the moral of the story is that romantic love doesn’t really exist.  Or something.  I don’t know, but my love for this book didn’t exist.  Such a shame, because it really could have.  I want to re-write it – the Kimberly Scheirer version.

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Next up:  I've started the latest book club book.  So far it's pretty good, but it requires extra focus, so it might take a while.  Also, 60% more to go on my word stories nonsense, unless you all convince me to abandon ship.  I'm also soon to be reading a graphic novel about.....pregnancy!  
​Have a great week in reading!