What Makes You Put Down a Book?

I recently abandoned a Deen Koontz novel. First time that's happened. I made it to page 125 before the boring plot forced me to mark the page and put it in the used book store pile. I may go back to it, but I doubt it.

H.I.M. wrote: "I'm so relieved that the books I wrote weren't in the top five!"

Vampires' SongThe Sound of Blood

I read Eat Pray and Love after the movie so I liked it. Moby Dick was too much "ye olde english' I could not finish it. I have never liked JK Rowling's writings but I admire her as a person who started from nothing . Read Catch 22 when I was younger. I find if a book does not capture me in the first 50 pages thats it I don't finish it . Fifty Shades of Grey was pure nonsense the Harlequin romance on steriods.

I finished the top 5 abandoned, and loved most of them, had to force myself to finish 50 Shades though, hated that book, I really just wanted it to be over by the time I was done. It was really awful. I've never read any of the abandoned classics, I'm bad about classics, in that I never read them. I don't have a page limit for abandoning a book, but if it's boring I put it down. Doesn't mean I won't pick it up a few years later

I have no problem abandoning a book if I am bogged down with it. I want to learn, to enjoy. Not one for being hit over the head again and again. Some (50 Shades...) I haven't even begun, because the reviews showed me a book that would not interest me. I am a voracious reader, but can't stand tripe.

I THOUGHT WICKED WAS ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS I'VE READ, AND I'M A READER. I WAS VERY SURPRISED TO FIND IT HERE, ALONG WITH SOME OTHERS.

I trudged through many books until I realized that life is too short to waste it reading a boring book just to say I finished it. Never again...if I don't like it, I don't read it.

If I'm not hooked by the 1st or 2nd chapter, I'm done.

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..."

Yeah I had the same problem w that book.

Stephanie wrote: "There are too many amazing books out there to stick with ones you don't love. I abandoned Eat Pray Love, too, but I did listen to it in the car, and it was a completely different experience. It w..."

I so agree!!!!

A book has to be VERY bad for me to put it down. "Eat Pray Love' fit the criteria. Atlas Shrugged I finished, but it could have been cut down about 300 pages or more. The premise of the book is good though and worth reading.

Deborah wrote: "I abandoned The Great Gatsby, Twilight, Atlas Shrugged, and The Bell Jar. I would never even bother trying to read crud like 'several shades of stupidity and misogyny' the premiss is disgusting eno..."

Stephanie wrote: "There are too many amazing books out there to stick with ones you don't love. I abandoned Eat Pray Love, too, but I did listen to it in the car, and it was a completely different experience. It w..."

My bookclub read the 1st book of Shades and I passed, to many others to read.

I always try to give it up to Chapter 3, if it's a struggle to make it to Chapter 3 I know the book is toast. I did read LOTR but I gotta tell you it was a struggle because he was way OVER descriptive in some parts. And I tried to read The Casual Vacancy and I went into it knowing it wasn't the Harry Potter series but there was no hook, nothing held on to me. I swear by Chapter 3 I was asleep so I actually gave up and I still feel bad because I've re-read the HP series so many times I could say some of the lines verbatim.

I abandon books that have ridiculous characters. I know it's fiction, but when a character is portrayed as someone every girl wants to be and she acts like an idiot, sounds like an idiot, she must be an idiot!

I abandon bad nonfiction more easily than I do bad fiction. When I do stop reading a book, it is almost always based on the quality of the writing rather than on some disappointment in the premise. I find that I am more inspired in my own writing by really good books ("I need to work harder so I can be this good...") and by really bad books ("I am better than this..."); it is the "just average" books that I find to be a waste of time.

Lostaccount wrote: "Not surprised Casual Vacancy is on the abandoned book list. Unadulterated rubbish (IMHO)."

I didn't finish it, awful!!!

I also abandoned Eat, Love, Pray and then tried to watch the movie and turned it off. Life is too short to read a book you don't like! I use the 100 page rule, if I'm not involved by then, it's time to move on!

I abandoned The Shack and The DaVinci Code for moral reasons.

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..."

Isn't that strange, I loved 'Life after Life'!

Have abandoned room numerous times

I have always disciplined myself to finish each and every book some of the best books I have ever read, were books that took 150 pages or more.. Like The poisonwood bible.
Now that I'm over fifty, I have decided that I only have so much time to read soooo many books. First book I put down was Toys, by James Patterson. Have read every other book he"s written. Next, The girl with the dragon tattoo. Just could not get into it. Gave it three chances. Next, 50 shades of Grey. Yuk! And was grossly disappointed in Wicked, although I forced myself to finish. Eat, pray, love.... Quit! So after reading your list of most non finished books, I no longer feel guilty! Some books just aren't for everyone. Still I will try to finish, because some of the best ones I've read took longer than I'd have liked to grab me, but they were definitely worth the extra time!

And of course, with ebooks, Amazon, Apple, and Barnes & Noble KNOW exactly when people stop reading a book.

Jean wrote: "I also abandoned Eat, Pray love as well as 50 shades.
I almost didn't read the Girl With the Dragon Tattoo because I heard so many couldn't get into it. I fell in love with the entire series."

I could not read Eat, Pray Love either and I liked all three Girl w/the Dragon Tattoo books

I try to always finish a book. There have been times where I haven't been able to get into a book, but I leave the bookmark in the spot I stopped at and will eventually go back and read it again.

Even if a book is absolutely horrid, but i'm far enough into it I feel compelled to finish it anyway. Sometimes they are such a train wreck you have to see how it is going to end.

Gail wrote: "This is an interesting study! I usually try to finish every book I pick up. I find that audiobooks help me with some of the ones that I'm not getting into. Maybe it's just by the readers voice or t..."

That is how I "read" Atlas Shrugged. I adored it and, later on, bought the book. I got to know those characters, and identified with them so well, that I knew what some of their reactions would be, literally saying it out loud before the character said it. I might be able to understand if someone was reading a physical copy of it, but I was a bit surprised to see it on this list.

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."

Well, you've got yourself a golden advice!

Interesting I agree with all the comments on the abandoned books though I did not try Casual vacancy. Couldn't stand Dragon tattoo and Eat Pray Love made me want to kill somebody. Fifty shades I have heard too much about and I think I would be ashamed to call it a piece of literature. I got thru Wicked barely.As for the abandoned classics. I am pretty sure I ahve read them all though I don't remember Catch 22 that well and I am unsure about Ulysses, I think I might have cliff noted that one for college...

I should have abandoned Wicked...

I enjoyed Catch 22 years ago and plowed thru Atas Shrugged. That one made me feel like I was taking a college course! I think I did Moby Dick but not sure, too long ago. I almost always finish fiction but not biography.

I am in the 50-100 page category. I've only abandoned a few books ever, and don't plan to go back to them.

How can it be that The Lord of the Rings was more often abandoned than Ulysses and Atlas Shrugged?

I begin to lose faith in people.

Iselin wrote: "How can it be that The Lord of the Rings was more often abandoned than Ulysses and Atlas Shrugged?

I begin to lose faith in people." "different folks, different strokes."

Poor grammar, poor editing are the primary things that make me abandon a book. Other things: the story not living up the the blurbs or reviews and the subject matter making me uncomfortable due to personal experiences. That said, it's pretty rare for me to set a book aside without finishing it but it happens more and more, especially with self-published works.

I do my best not to, but I abandoned Eat Pray 70 pages in (and that was way too many) and didn't abandon but wound up skimming through Dragon Tattoo as well. I try not to abandon books my Book Club picks but Eat Pray was torture.

I only put aside three books in all my life - for bad writing or unbearable main character. Even now I'm reading a book that in English (its original language) is so painfully badly written, I had to see if the Russian translation was any better, so I can continue on. It surprisingly is.

I read Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, the beginning was boring and I think it had something to do with the translation but overall the series is really a good read and you should push through the beginning. I have been reading The Casual Vacancy in small doses and will finish it. Could not get though Wicked or Atlas Shrugged. Read Fifty series was not great writing but a fun read.

If it takes me longer than a week to read a book, (barring real life interference) then I will usually push it aside and attempt to try again later.

I abandoned 3 books in my life: 100 Years of Solitude, Catch 22, and Jonathan Strange and Dr. Norrell. Read almost half of each book and then gave up. Didn't find the hook...

I have given up on many books. "Girl With The Dragon Tattoo" was one of them. I may try that one again, most of the time I don't go back to one I've dropped.

Some other popular titles I've bailed on in the last few years:

The Other Boleyn Girl
Gulp
The Glass Castle
The Thirteenth Tale
American Gods
Special Topics in Calamity Physics
Blood Meridian

No matter how uninteresting the book is, I try to make it through to Chapter 4 before putting it aside. I struggled with Life of Pi and finally put it away.

I never started Lord Of The Rings after I read the Hobbit I felt all they were doing was walking ,walking ,walking in it. It is one of my brothers favorites, maybe I will try it in the far future. I have too many other books on my list now.

I couldn't get past the first page of Wuthering Heights as a teenager, so I've got it on my ereader to try again, all these years later. I loved the Girl series, and LOTR, but I've seen so many copies of the Grey series on 2nd hand book shop shelves, and I think that says it all, really!

John Irving's "Son of the Circus".

I did not finish Catch-22 and Moby Dick.

"Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" - I couldn't put it down. When I abandon a book it's due to boredom and uninteresting protagonist...nothing angers me more than reading a book to the end and not having a closer. This happened to me very recently. "The Killing Circle" by Andrew Pyper was so well written & interesting until the last few paragraphs- I had to read several times and still not sure what happened to protagonist...grrrrrr!

I couldn't read anything by Jerzy Kozinski or Joyce Carol Oates. I also couldn't finish Eat,Pray,Love

If a book starts slow or boring, I jump about 60 pages in. If I'm still not interested in what's going on, I put it down. Years of sticking with it only to be irritated I kept going at the end has lost me too many hours that I won't get back trying to enjoy a bad book.

Moyasser wrote: "Actually, it is catch 22, not finishing a book."

How so?

I tried to read A Winter's Tale but I was so lost and confused and I also didn't want spend 9.99 for a book I wasn't sure about. I like the first part of the crossfire serious but by the end of book three i hated the serious. Everything about Gideon Cross make me mad and disgusted. The way Sylvia Day stretched everything out drove me crazy, and now she write two more book. There is no need for two more books.