I can’t remember the last time I gave up on a book. It must be more than a decade ago. I know this is irrational: there are more good books to read than can ever be read in a lifetime, so persisting with a bad book is a waste of time… although it does make me appreciate the good books all the more.

I was recently unexpectedly detained in town for a couple of hours, so popped to Newcastle City Library. Unusually, I didn’t have access to my list of books that I wanted to read, so plucked Pier Review off the shelf based on the cover alone. I liked the pun, and thought a bit of light history of seaside towns would be entertaining and informative.

It turns out that this book doesn’t fit that premise: this is a crowdfunded book about a blokey road trip written by a couple of bloggers. It is written in alternating short sections by the two authors, alternating between a serif and sans-serif typeface. I’ve no doubt that this book will appeal to plenty of people, but humour is subjective, and this just didn’t tickle me.

After the first couple of chapters, I came to the conclusion that I wasn’t getting anything out of the book, and decided to abandon it. I did flick forward briefly to see what they had said about the piers I’m familiar with, but didn’t find even that text particularly engaging.

This book wasn’t for me and I couldn’t finish it, but I don’t think I was ever really the target audience. You might well love it: don’t let my negativity put you off.