Slow Reader

I finally labored my way through Wicked.  According to when I added it to my GoodReads list, it has taken me almost 4 months to complete it.  Why?  I couldn’t stand the way it was written.  The concept was great, the plot ok, the writing was derelict.  Please keep in mind that I criticize because I have a keyboard and a forum in which to do it, I am not a great, or good, or even mediocre, writer.  I have read a large number of books and this is one that I regret having spent the time on.  It read like an outline for a novel that someone didn’t take the time to fill in the details or spent too much time detailing the parts that didn’t matter.
Why did I continue reading it?  There are two answers.  The first is that I refuse to stop reading a book once I start.  I will only stop if someone takes the book away.  Call it OCD or whatever you want, but I can’t do it.  There is only one book that I have ever stopped reading, The Difference Engine by William Gibson and Bruce Sterling.  No matter how hard I tried I could not get through it.  The second answer and the one that pertains to this particular instance, is that I kept hoping it would get better. 
I will not bore you with spoilers or any book club bullshit analysis.  I will end in saying that I didn’t like it and in the hands of different author, I think it could have been amazing.
The next book on my list is Black House by Stephen King and Peter Straub.  This book has been collecting dust on my shelf for a while and now that I am rid of that other burden, maybe I will get back to enjoying reading.