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

Putputt said:

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

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You know, I've gotten to this point, myself. It's almost as if I want to keep trading up in books, putting down a decent one to read a good one, then putting it down to read a better one.

I think I can do this because I tend to know a lot of the authors (i.e. have read their works) before I pick up a book. I'm reading something quite good now, but I know I'll put it down because I just bought Tana French's new novel (signed copy, baby!). I probably won't put that down, though. Not unless I can get my hands on a copy of the new Jamie Mason...

Nah, not hard at all.

I've gotten really good at vetting my purchases rather heavily before I put out cash on a book so I rarely get stinkers now. My putting books aside because they reek has gone down dramatically.

Although every so often I do get one. It's rare and I have no guilt at putting it in the recycle/give away pile.

Nope. Life is short, and there are waaaaay too many books to waste much time on one that doesn't give me reader reward.

caw

I know within a few pages if a book is worth reading. I choose books by browsing the shelves - library or bookstore. I'm very conservative in the bookstore - I have to be absolutely sure it's readable before I put down the cash - so I may even visit the store 2-3 times to be sure. At the library I am more likely to be impulsive and I've ended up taking home some books that turned out to be unreadable. That's how I ended up with the one book that I quit in the middle. The story was ok but the writing was so bad! OMG - the kind of writing that tries real hard to be Writing... Don't remember the title, don't remember the author - the setting was nice & weird. Other than that, I read for fun. Life's too short to force myself to read.

I have a hard time purchasing a book that I might not like. I wish I could say I read all the time, but I survived Portrait of a Lady in college, and vowed not to subject myself to that which makes me fall asleep.

Me and Bearilou are thinking in lockstep again. I am an impatient reader and I put a book down as soon as I'm sure it's not going to be any fun. I kept statistics on that once, and on average, if I was going to give up on a book, I did it by page 10. That's a small enough sample to sprint through in the bookstore.

What's more interesting is that when I was a kid, I was much less likely to put books down. I don't think I was any less willing to ditch bad books, but I think I might have been more prone to getting immersed in them. Either my standards have gone up or my ability to concentrate has plummeted.

VERY difficult, but it's gotten easier over time. Earlier this year, I had a book by a well-known fantasy author recommended to me. When I got to the store, I couldn't remember the details - only a vague recollection of his name and the cover image of a guy in a hooded robe. Well, I picked the wrong one (similar name and hooded guy), realized halfway through that it was just plain awful, and tossed it aside with great pleasure. (One good thing about print books - you can trade 'em in for credit at your local used bookstore!)

I snagged the actual recommended book a day later and tore through the series - Peter V. Brett is great!

jjdebenedictis said:

Me and Bearilou are thinking in lockstep again.

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We do share a brain after all.

jjdebenedictis said:

What's more interesting is that when I was a kid, I was much less likely to put books down. I don't think I was any less willing to ditch bad books, but I think I might have been more prone to getting immersed in them. Either my standards have gone up or my ability to concentrate has plummeted.

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This proves it. I went through a period of time where I didn't read at all. I simply could not find a book that would engage me for more than a few pages before I was bored. In retrospect, this was right after I read Dune (a book I love) and nothing could measure up.

After that, my standards bar is much higher to attain. So when I've researched and read samples, if it still ends up in my hands, it has managed to, at the very least, touch the bar.

JournoWriter said:

I snagged the actual recommended book a day later and tore through the series - Peter V. Brett is great!

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You mentioned stinky hooded man book and I kept thinking 'please don't be PVB, PLEASE don't be PVB'. He's up next on my TBR pile. Now I'm excited!

mirandashell said:

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

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I confess I couldn't see the point of Night Watch. I wanted to know what happened to the characters next, not previously. Possibly a failing in the reader.

Have Paying Guests right here *pat pat*.

Makes me wonder, all this. There are several books that I couldn't get on with at first, but on subsequent readings have made more sense - "growers", if you will, like albums.

I totally get the "life's too short" argument, and I've dumped plenty of books that were just clearly not for me. But I do often wonder - particularly with books that others have recommended to me - if there's something in the whole that you might not get from just a part.

I had that 'try try again' with Tess of the d'Urbervilles, but then I had to read it for my 'A' level. It's quite a favourite now but at first I could not get past all that nature description.

Hah, I would not give Moby Dick a second chance. Ploughing through it once was enough.

Nope. My free time/reading time is extremely short and I won't waste it on a book I don't enjoy.

It's unfortunately very easy for me to not just abandon a book, but to also forget about it. Sometimes I go back and finish them, esp if they're popular books people keep mentioning. Sometimes they're good, sometimes not.

I always check out the first chapters of books on amazon first and most books I do not continue. If my eyes glaze over or I stop paying attention or I can guess what happens next, I stop reading. But of course, I always worry that I've ditched a book too soon.

My don't-buy-without-reading-sample rule has only failed me catastrophically once, and even then only at the end of the book. I buy if the voice grabs me, and unless that compelling voice fails, I'm good for the long haul.

I might grab a library book without the preliminary read and then stop reading that. No financial risk involved, less caution.

If I take on an ARC or beta read, I'll finish it no matter what. Which is why I don't take on many.

I won't review a book I haven't finished. Period.

If I don't put down a book on the first page, I'm generally in it for the long haul, good or bad. Something has to REALLY bother me to force me to stop reading. Most of the time, good or bad, I learn something off reading it.

Perks said:

Are you guys stubborn or do books get lobbed at walls and recycle bins willy nilly at your place?

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I used to read every single book I bought or borrowed right through to the end. Then I was halfway through 'Pandora' and I suddenly realised that my life was too short to force myself to finish a book I wasn't enjoying.

Since then I've put down maybe a dozen books. I don't chuck them though, I pass them on to friends.

shaldna said:

I used to read every single book I bought or borrowed right through to the end. Then I was halfway through 'Pandora' and I suddenly realised that my life was too short to force myself to finish a book I wasn't enjoying.

Since then I've put down maybe a dozen books. I don't chuck them though, I pass them on to friends.

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Same here, one summer I read like twelve young adult/new adult books and only wound up liking one (Looking for Alaska). The only one I stopped reading was Freshmen, it started off funny but then it started to get a little out there...for me at least so I stopped reading. I mean its like watching a movie all the way through hoping their is some redeeming qualities but I feel like I wasted enough of my time, no point in wasting any more.

Greene_Hesperide1990 said:

Same here, one summer I read like twelve young adult/new adult books and only wound up liking one (Looking for Alaska).

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John Green is all kinds of awesome. I initially didn't actually like his style, but I'm glad I stuck it out for a couple more chapters because I got really into him.

The only one I stopped reading was Freshmen, it started off funny but then it started to get a little out there...for me at least so I stopped reading. I mean its like watching a movie all the way through hoping their is some redeeming qualities but I feel like I wasted enough of my time, no point in wasting any more.

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I know. But I still feel a bit bad when I put a book down because I'm not enjoying it. But then I try to look at the postitive and realise that I'm going to get to read something else instead.

shaldna said:

I know. But I still feel a bit bad when I put a book down because I'm not enjoying it. But then I try to look at the postitive and realise that I'm going to get to read something else instead.

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Yeah, I do feel a little incomplete not knowing what happens for the rest of the story but honestly that is the only book I didn't finish (haha aside from the novels I didn't finish reading in college) but I like stories so I like seeing how each goes through but if my attention is pulled into it then I can't force myself to finish.

mrsmig said:

Please tell me this wasn't the McCullough biography...

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Not McCullough. Twas a YA bio, on John Adams. Part of it was I'd read another from the same publisher on Lincoln which was sublime:
Abraham Lincoln: Friend of the People by Clara Ingram Judson

So I expected something good with this other bio too.
Another annoying thing, besides the bland writing, was redundancy. A fact about Adam's history was repeated within the course of a few pages. Didn't bode well.

Perks said:

I think I would only ever try again with a book that stood out for its writing, not just the story.

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I've tried and put down Jack Whyte's The Renegade about three times. I'm not sure why I'm having trouble with it. I like his writing, he's terrific with historical details but I'm struggling to stay focused. Feels a bit dense (or maybe I'm dense). I'm about half way through the 789 pages and I'm going to finish it by the end of the year if it's the last thing I do. My brother's a friend of Jack's and he'll ask me how I liked it. I don't want to tell him I couldn't finish it.