I've noticed as I grow older (how old, you ask? a lady never tells, says I.) that my patience in reading only extends so far. I recently picked up a book I was interested in reading and before I left the first chapter I had stopped respecting the heroine. It wasn't that she did any one specific huge thing wrong--she didn't kill a bunny or anything like that--but I just stopped liking her. I'm still plowing through the book, because I told myself I needed to branch out a bit and try new things.

So I'm moving along, going from page to page, trying desperately to understand her character flaws and how she's closed herself off because of hurt in her past, etc etc etc...

But there is this nagging little voice in the back of my head that is saying, yeah, great, but she's a bitch and the hero ought to dump her ass pronto. Usually I feel more sympathy for the girl than the guy, but not this time. This time I admire the hero, flaws and all, and think he deserves better.

Does this mean I'm getting old? That I'm just being too picky? Or does everyone have these moments where they stop reading and think, 'Why would anyone like him/her?'

Will I finish the book? Yes, praying the whole time that she wises up and becomes nicer. Would I suffer through another book like this one?

I don't know.