What Makes You Put Down a Book?

The ONLY book I have ever abandoned was Eragon...and as it turns out the movie was a flop as well :|

I always finish books! I read a book one time that I hated the entire way through until the last two chapter and those two chapters were amazing and I cried for like an hour of the emotion from that chapter. It didn't make me want to read the book again, but I'm glad I can see the book differently than if I had ditched it.

I loved Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns was very good. Currently reading And the Mountains Echoed. With all the hype, I expected a great read. I am struggling to finish it. It is tedious, and definitely does not compare with Kite Runner. Another best seller, Blood Root, did not hold my attention.

Claudia wrote: "I loved Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns was very good. Currently reading And the Mountains Echoed. With all the hype, I expected a great read. I am struggling to finish it. It is tedious, ..."

John wrote: "The ONLY book I have ever abandoned was Eragon...and as it turns out the movie was a flop as well :|"

Another vote for (or against?) The Parade of Dismal Muggles... aka Casual Vacancy.

I have far to little free time to force myself to finish a book I don't find interesting unless there is some compelling reason to need to read them (obligation or the need to learn something). And I usually give up in less than 50 pages unless the story has somehow capture my attention enough to keep me reading to see if it will improve. So i have to agree with one of the previous commenters about leaving more than I've finished, especially since I got my e-reader.

I feel better after reading other peoples' comments. I'm guilty of sticking with bad books until the end, hoping for an eventual payoff, "getting my money's worth" and feeling good about my stick to-it-tive-ness. However, from here on out I think I'm going to treat books like I do bad movies. If it's not good early, why stay? Cut your losses early. You're twice the sucker if you PAY and stay.

These situations often make a book DNF. Not always of course, but often.

1. Jerky hero. Can't abide abusive situations considered romantic.
2. First person.
3. People arguing/bickering
4. Politics
5. Religious stealth elements
6. Flashbacks
7. Too much headhopping.
8. Beginning which are flashbacks. I hate knowing what will happen in a story before it begins
9. Bad dialog

For me, stopping reading a book is very much a last resort, I'd rather complete it unless it was just shockingly awful. But I think in my lifetime, I've only abandoned half a dozen, if not less.

Part of me admires people who can put down a book. Since I choose my books myself I feel obliged to finish them. Usually the books improve in the middle. Sometimes the end is so satisfying I'm glad I stuck with it. Also when I introduce myself to a new genre I have to finish so I understand what that genre is all about.

Bravo! Excellent list.

I did not abandon The Sound and the Fury, even as my students revolted against me.

Gratuitous violence will make me abandon a book or, even better, fling it across the room.

I don't abandon too many books, or if I do, I often come back to them later. As one contributor stated above, sometimes the timing is just off for the reader.

However, the one very popular book I absolutely can't get into is "The Time Traveler's Wife" and I really can't tell you why.

I am about to abandon one now. lol

I've abandoned a few books. There's been myriad reasons for it, but the point I abandon it is when it becomes too much effort to read the book and I'm unable to attend to it any more (when I was reading the ingredients on my pop can with more interest than the book my boyfriend lent me, for example, I decided it was time to give it back).

I guess I'm one of the many compulsive readers out there. There are very few books that I have abandoned. Always because the writing/plot is just so bad I can't stand to read one more page.

I never got through Margaret Mitchell's Gone With the Wind, although I kept a copy for years as a cure for insomnia...

I put Casual Vacancy down, not because it wasn't Harry Potter-ish, I knew it wouldn't be. But because it was boring.

My number one reason for putting a book aside is character names and places. If I can't figure out how to pronounce them I'm out, especially in fantasy writing.

I have such huge stacks of books just waiting for my attention, when an author doesn't captivate or interest me in the first few chapters, I move on. I have no interest in the latest fad or popular craze, I want a book to move me, lift me up, make me better for having read it. I don't waste my precious moments on trash!

Jodi wrote: "I usually try to finish everything, no matter how much I dislike it. However, I recently came very, very, very close to abandoning Kate Atkinson's "Life After Life". Not only did the story move at..."


I recently abandoned this book.
The whole going back and forth plot left me dizzy and confused. It was terrible

I tend to finish books eventually, but I am extremely picky about what I will open in the first place. I don't have a lot of time to read for fun, so I tend to read the same favorites again and again. A new book really has to sell itself to me, be by an author I love, or come highly recommended from people who truly understand what I like. I do not read trendy books. If I stop reading a book or series, it is because the story becomes boring or tedious. My big "put down"? Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Horribly written and the series had become ridiculous and repetitive. Never read any more of it. The first book, however, is very nice. I just didn't like the change in tone and the poor writing.

Great information--both as a read and a writer.

The moment I realize I don't care what happens, that I'm not interested or invested in the characters, that I can walk away and live my life without forever wondering how it ended . . . I put it down. Life's too short.

usually, it's just happenstance that keeps me from finishing a book (the exception being an incredibly boring book, but those generally reveal themselves quickly).

If circumstances cause me to have to drop a book for a few months, there's a good chance I won't pick it back up, or if I do i'll wait years so I can reread the whole thing from the start.

The Tommyknockers is the one exception to this: it took me three tries over 2 years to get into it, and then it was a lightning fast read. Not sure why it didn't click for me the first two tries, or what made me keep going back to it.

I abandoned two of the top five: Catch-22 for sexism, Lord of the Rings for not really caring what happened (and now that I've seen the film it's too late). Am dying to try Ulysses to see whether I can get through it.

I have to say that I'm more likely to abandon a non-fiction book than a novel.

I started reading all five of them . . . only finished Moby Dick because it was a school assignment (eons ago). The other four were either too difficult to get 'into' or I didn't like the characters.

Another reason I don't finish books is because they make me edgy or uncomfortable in a bad way - the premise - like Ender's Game.

I put down Shogun (after seeing the movie in English class) I put down It (did see the movie; couldn't get past the description of the first boys murder), I wanted to put down Caine Mutiny and Dandelion Wine but read them in English so had to finish (found them boring; Mutiny turned out to be a pretty good Bogart movie and Dandelion was a big disappointment after having read The Illustrated Man)

If there are a lot of spelling, punctuation and/or grammatical errors, it has to be an otherwise amazing book for me to continue. When I get to a point where a book just doesn't seem worth my time for whatever reason, I will give it one more chapter to pick up. If not, it goes in the box to take to my local used book store. Just because I don't like a book, doesn't mean someone else might not enjoy it.

I try to finish a book once I've started it. Unfortunately there are a few that I simply couldn't get through: "The Shinning", because it scared the bloody hell out of me, "Fifty Shades of Gray", because it bored the bloody hell out of me, and "Atlas Shrugged", because, well just because.

If I really enjoy a book I'll read it more than once. I've read "The Number of the Beast" by Robert A. Heinlein a dozen times, and "The Queen of Denial" by Selina Rosen a couple of dozen times.

Sometimes there is a certain degree of awfulness that actually keeps me reading. The 50 Shades books were like that for me. On the other hand, I really loved the Dragon Tattoo and Wicked books. Far from having trouble finishing them, I had trouble putting them down long enough to eat or sleep. I do subscribe to the "life is too short to read bad books" principle. I've never been able to finish either Moby Dick or War and Peace. The worst book I haven't finished in the past year is a ghastly thing called Claire DeWitt and the City of the Dead.

I often abandon books--on an odd scale that I have worked out. I give it about fifty pages to establish itself. Then if I'm not sure, I'll give it another 50. Even then, sometimes I continue just because I have a feeling the book is gathering its forces and will reward me in the end. THE MAGIC MOUNTAIN is my all-time example of this. Only in the last few pages does the book become "whole" and dazzling.

I always feel guilty putting down a book that others love. Just stopped reading ALEF THE UNSEEN. It got rave reviews. The writing was fine, but the subject just didn't grab me. I gave it more than 100 pages. Life is too short.

It's not the length. I read the 1,000 page IQ84 withno problem. But if I have to work too hard, as if I'm still in college and have to decipher a novel, I may put it down. I also will abandon facile plots, characters, stories.

It took me months to read Atlas Shrugged! I'm not even sure why I kept at it... I finally ended up finishing it on a 7 hour plane trip. I'm glad I did, because the last 100 pages were the best part.

I'll stop reading books. If I hate it, I don't want to waste my time. If I just can't get into it, I'd rather pick it up at a better time for me (6 months, a year later?) and possibly like it rather than force myself through it and resent it. It works for me!

I try to stick with a book for at least 100 pages before I'll consider dumping it. My guideline is based on my experience with The Magus . The first time I read it (a long time ago), I thought it started off pretty bad. I almost put it down several times in the first few pages. But then, around page 100, something clicked. I finished reading it and it was my favorite novel for several years afterwards.

I rarely abandon a book, but when I do it's because the writing and/or editing are so bad. I have often wondered how many writers and editors managed to make it past their third grade English classes. When the poor grammar/punctuation or weak writing begin interfering with my ability to follow the plot, it just doesn't make sense to keep going.

I very rarely abandon a book but I still agree with the 'timing' comments. Sometimes I read a book to the end and don't enjoy it then a few years later I re-read it (I still have not worked out how I end up re-reading books I did not enjoy :-) ) and say 'This book is fantastic! What was I thinking the first time round?'

Despite loving 'Lord Of The Rings', I can see why so many abandon it. The first few chapters while the party assembles are really quite boring and hard going. A good example of why 'If it does not grab me in the first few chapters I will give up.' is not always a sound strategy.

I definitely put down a book within the first chapter if I am not into it. I think the most famous book I only gave about 3 pages to was The Hunger Games.

I'm just started reading This Man but I'm not sure about it.

Linda wrote: "I'm having that problem with The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo right now. I'm on page 59 and am just forcing myself to keep on. It must get better at some point. I've read a lot of great books that..."

Keep going. I put it down three times before I made it through the first part. The series is good - it's just the beginning that makes you want to heave the book out the window.

I try to finish book once I start even if I don't really like it but if it starts to feel like a chore to read then I will quit reading but I will put a bookmark on my page in case later I want to try to finish it

I was assigned to read Portrait of a Lady my freshman year in college and could not get through it. I just didn't like Isabel. Years later (after marriage and children) it haunted me that I hadn't finished it. I re-read the book and while I still didn't like Isabel, I respected her and really enjoyed the book. Sometimes age brings a different perspective.

You know, I'm pretty shocked that Catch-22 was an abandoned classic. That book is hilarious for cover to cover. LOTR though... it's a little more understandable. It's not really built for modern audiences who want quick action.

As for Ulysses... that book is an "English Major" book. The author wrote it KNOWING it would entice English Majors for the rest of eternity. Does that make it a good book? Heck no. And I'm sure the author knew that as well. XD

I'm trying to read a book right now that I'm considering abandoning... and I rarely do that. But the constant grammatical errors, word usage errors, missing words, and sketchy punctuation keep taking me out of the story. The premise of the book made me buy it--cute idea--but it sure could use some editing.
I won't name the book because those kinds of things may not bother every reader, but they sure bug me!

Edit: Not to say that Moby Dick or War and Peace are bad books. My husband thinks Moby Dick is the best novel ever written. Just not my cup of tea.

gabiiescobar wrote: I used to read every single book I started, until a teacher told me that "life is too short to read a bad book. Put it down, and move on." I never forced myself to finish a book after that. "

Agreed - I follow that same advice. Most of those books above I didn't even bother to pick up. I am surprised that Lord of the Rings and Catch-22 are in the Top 5, though. I really enjoyed both of them!

If I get more than about 50 pages in and it's really not grabbing me, I break my rule about not looking at the ending. But I don't go all the WAY to the end. I flip to the last chapter and start skimming. If there's anything worthwhile, I stop reading and go back to my previous spot. If the ending is really lame, I'm done.

I'll abandon a lot more readily than when I was younger (after I survived my stroke I decided life was too short to read books I wasn't enjoying). Usually because I've decided it's boring or badly written, and isn't going to get any better. So usually in the first 100 pages or so; that should be enough to tell.

ETA: Terry - no, Alif doesn't get any better. I feel the NY Times sold me a lemon.

The Casual Vacancy is so good. Too bad people didn't read the description and understand it was NOT Harry Potter before trying it.