Is it hard for you abandon a book you're not enjoying?

I'm a real maverick when it comes to reviews--I like to come to a book or a film knowing as little as possible, so usually reviews give too much away for me. Of course, that means I get disappointed in a heck of a lot of books! lol

I have no problems putting a book aside if I don't enjoy it. It's very rare when I throw one out, however. I hang on to physical books for our annual book drive at work and ebooks are simply removed from my reader and archived.

If skimming pages doesn't help me get to a better part of the book, (that is, it's horrible and I have the urge to throw it against a wall) I abandon it. I do feel guilty over the money spent but I would feel far worse over the time lost when I could be reading something better.

I have no problems quitting a book. Actually I probably quit more books than I finish... I'm low on reading time and very picky. It's exciting when I like a book enough to want to finish it. I get all my books from the library so I especially don't feel obliged. I really only buy books I've already read and loved, or from very favourite authors.

I used to finish 'em all, but I clawed my eyes out one too many times. Cathartic as writing a bad review may be, I never set out to do it. These days, I only feel obligated to finish if I've posted a book in the Currently Reading sidebar on my book review blog - usually after I've made it through 10 - 20% of the thing. Otherwise, it vanishes without a trace; I don't review anything I cannot finish. E-books get deleted, while physical books usually go to my aunt's Little Free Library. (I used to save them up for Half Price Books, but they pay crud ever since they started bringing in current best-sellers, so I figured it wasn't worth my time. And I keep my physical books in very good condition... unlike some of the junk they've pawned off on me the past couple times I went in.)

I find myself abandoning more and more books after a few chapters, not because books are getting worse but I because I have less patience. It's the same with theatre - twenty years ago I would have stayed to the end in the hope that a bad or simply disappointing show might get better in the second half. Now I just leave at the interval.

Nope. Life's too short and I have plenty of other books to read. (Too many!) I don't actually end up abandoning many, but that's because I'm choosy about what I even start and always read the sample of the book from a new to me author.

Actually, reading a few of the responses here, I've realised I do find it harder to give up on a book proportionate to how much money I wasted on it.

Naw. I don't even finish books I'm ehh about.

I find it terribly difficult to put a book down.

If I'm in it past the first few pages, I'm in it until the end. Not sure why, but I'm just not wired to quit on a book I've started - even if I dislike it.

There have been a few books I've put down and forgotten about, but I can only think of one I've ever set down with the specific intention not to finish.

This idea of finishing a bad book because you've paid for it is a great example of a sunk cost fallacy.

Personally, I don't think I've ever purposefully given up on a book. I usually have two or three books on the go at any one time, and what tends to happen if one of them isn't very good is that my reading time slants more and more heavily in favour of the others. Eventually, weeks or months go by without me having read the lesser book at all, at which point I give it up as a lost cause.

It's getting easier for me.

There are some books (non-fiction books in particular, but some fiction as well) that made me uncomfortable or I that I just couldn't get into, but that I felt were important enough to keep reading, so I've pressed on though I wanted to stop.

With unimportant books, though, I have gotten past my "sunk cost fallacy" of having to finish them because I don't want my previous investment to go to waste.

I've finally come to understand that my current and future time have value, while my past time and money have none. Whether I read the book or not, the time and money I've already put into it are gone, and I can never get them back. I'm not going to chase that bad investment by spending my valuable current time on it. If I can get better utility out of that time by doing anything else, I will.

I used to. Ebooks made my life much easier, though--no book sitting accusingly on the nightstand. I just drift away to look at something else, and it slides down the ranks in the library. If I'm feeling organized, I shuffle it into my "Half Read" folder. And I fail to finish a LOT of books these days.

I used to struggle with this a lot, to the point that I'd have arguments with myself even as I threw a book against the wall. It's easier now that I remind myself how many other books are out there that I want to read, and how not every book is for every reader, and that my reading time is finite. I will get no reward for my suffering. It will not build character or serve me dinner. It will just waste my time.

I should get something for my money. Even if it's only a chance to complain about the book.

I have trouble giving up on a book. I don't know why. I'm pretty sure it doesn't have anything to do with having paid for it (or not). I typically plough through to the bitter end no matter how much I dislike it. I generally choose books from literary prize lists or that have been lauded by critics and readers, so usually my reason for disliking a book isn't because it's badly written (I could quit that) but because I find it boring or long-winded or I'm not otherwise gripped by the story. It takes me twice (or more) as long to finish a book I dislike.

I need to learn to let them go but I'm not there yet.

Yes and no. Like someone else said it depends on how awful I think it is. I tend to keep reading though...even if I read several other books before I finish the one I'm not enjoying. I usually want to know how it ends though and maybe, just maybe, the next chapter will be better.

There was a time when I just wouldn't give up on a book; there was always a chance I'd find something to like even if it was only a certain turn of phrase.

As I've grown older it's gotten easier, though. Too many good books are out there waiting and time grows shorter.

Books are like a box of chocolates. If I bite into one and find its got some horrible tasting center, I toss it aside and bite into another one until I find one I do enjoy.

Besides, I'm a slow reader and if it takes me a week or more to read a book, do I really want to spend that week being miserable, or do I want to pick up another book I might enjoy?

It is terrible difficult for me to just stop a book just because I don't like it. If I am plowing through it making progress, I will keep going. I am more likely to stop reading a book that I want to read, with the knowledge that I will get back to it in time. I've done it many times before, generally when I am getting through it very sluggishly because I'm distracted by other things that I'm reading (generally comics).

I read rather slowly, so unless a book has me by the hair, it'll likely take me two weeks to finish. Add on the fact that I only read at night, unless I'm hooked and will forgo reading if I'm too tired. That said, I am very selective of the books I choose. I don't stray out of the genres I like. And I don't try a book just because I cover is pretty and the jacket piques my interest. I generally research before I start so I don't find too many misses.

AshleyEpidemic said:

I am more likely to stop reading a book that I want to read, with the knowledge that I will get back to it in time.

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I've got one like that sitting on my shelf right now. Just couldn't get into it for some reason and found myself spacing out instead of reading so set it aside. The writing is great, it's an international bestseller but my little brain just isn't interested right now. Figured I'd wait a while and try again when life slows down a bit and I can concentrate better.

This is where the free Kindle samples changed my life. No, I didn't finish the book, but darn it, I finished that sample! My neurosis is satisfied, and I'm not spending hours on a book I don't love.

Oh, I loved Tipping the Velvet! In fact, I enjoyed all her books.

But you are right, I have tried to stick with 'difficult' books in the past. Gulliver's Travels was the worst. I nearly threw that a few times but it became a really satisfying read in the end.