What Makes You Put Down a Book?

Life is too short to read a bad book! Put. It. Down!

I did not put aside A Casual Vacancy. I like it. As for books I have put aside? There are various reasons. I once put a very good book aside because it included in the story horrific harm to children, and I simply could not bear it. When I do put them aside I never just pitch them, I give them away. I don't like books that are wordy just to fill pages. If I pick up a mystery to read I don't want it to be a romance in disguise. I read many books about many things, but if I get bored, I'm done. Or if the book turns out to be outlandish bulls**t. I have a hard time with classics, mostly because they seem to be filled with too many narratives, and are too wordy. Not all, mind you, but some. Dickens for instance. And styles have changed.

Besides, life is too short to waste time reading a book I don't really like.

I have finished two of the top abandoned, with the Casual Vacancy becoming one of my favorite books, and Fifty Shades one of my least favorite x3 I've only read Lord of the Rings from the Classic list (and I've read it at least ten times!) but Moby Dick defeated me half way through. It lingered in my lounge room for weeks, I'd read a page, give up, read a page, give up. Nice lists though!

Maureen wrote: "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 was surprised to see this one as well, both my daughter and I enjoyed this one so much that we ended up reading the entire series. I have even read his other fairy tale ones as well and really enjoyed those also.

I had no difficulty reading 4 of the top 5 most abandoned on Goodreads and enjoyed them - the 5th book, Fifty Shades, you couldn't pay me to read.

I usually give a second chance to every book; but, if the second time I'm still unable to stay awake while I am reading, I abandon the book for good. Up until now, this has happened only with "The Pillars of the Earth" by Ken Follett and "On the road" by Kerouac.

Interesting. I've abandoned 3 of the classics, only read one on my own and the other was required for college. Don't know if I would've finished it on my own. I've never even attempted the 5 more contemporary books. Hmmmm...

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..."

Linda! Push through, you won't be disappointed! The book is fantastic if you can get past the slow start and the next two in the trilogy are VERY exciting!

Life is too short to finish bad books. I give a book 10%-15% of its length to win me over, then it's outta here!

Funny you should ask ... I just put down Me and the Devil by Nick Tosches last night after 5 unlikeable chapters. I never used to do that. I'd finish a book no matter what. But now I go with 'life is too short' too waste time on a book I'm not enjoying.

I have over 60 books on my did-not-finish shelf but none are on your "most unfinished" list. I do recall giving up on Catch-22 the first time I started it, but trying again when a friend pushed me. It was well worth the effort -- a five star book. (Well, I finished it in 1965 when I was 17. Maybe I would rate it differentially if I read it at 64.)

I agree that life is too short to stick with a book that doesn't interest you! I love the idea of having a Goodreads list for abandoned books and just created one. The first two items on my list are 100 Years of Solitude and The Lacuna. I ditch out on a book if it hasn't engaged me in 50 or so pages or an hour of listening, no matter how popular or acclaimed it is. I also try to be selective in what I start - too many books, too little time!

I hate to abandon a book, but if I feel that I cover more than enough of the story and still I don't like it and I am not enjoying the experience of reading it, sadly, I can make the decision of abandon it. Life is too short and there are too many books out there waiting for me.

I most often abandon a book when it gets too stressful. Conflict and tension are one thing, but when the entire universe seems determined to ruin the main character's life, or when the character seems hell-bent on self-destruction, I walk away. I have enough stress in real life. In my books I want something better.

Could not finish Ayn Rand, The Fountainhead, even though it was a gift from a friend. Deliberately complicated, semi-intellectual ranting. Sorry.

I've lost count of the number of times I've read Lord of the Rings (from beginning to end), I'm reading Ulysses now, and I've just bought Catch 22 with the intention of reading it in the not so distant future. 50 Shades I would never dream of even beginning.

Richard Adams' The Girl in the Swing I gave up on after about 50 pages. A year or so later I picked it up halfheartedly - and was unable to put it down.

I am, seemingly hopelessly, stuck in Maya, also by Richard Adams. I read about half and enjoyed it very much, then lost my copy when I moved to Denmark and it was years before I got hold of a new copy. I seem not to have the energy to reread the first half, but without doing so, am by now unable to pick up the thread. Odd, because I've swallowed everything else by RA - and Maya takes place in the same universe as Shardik, which I loved.

Generally, however, I'm very stubborn and finish what I begin to read. The fact that I've completed two of Kureishis novels should be proof of that.

I read 50 Shades of Grey only because it was for a book club, if you can believe it! We were supposed to read the trilogy so I read the second one, can't even remember the title, to within 15-20 pages of the end of the book, then put it down. I just didn't care how it ended. The books were ridiculous, like someone else wrote, romance novels with dirtier sex, not my type at all. The two best books I ever read are Yellow Raft on Blue Water and A Thousand Splendid Suns.

My most-frequently abandoned book is "Gone with the Wind" because I catch myself tossing my curls and saying Fiddle-dee-dee by the time Scarlet gets back to Tara. She is a compelling, frustrating character that I just can't keep caring about long enough to finish the book!

Interesting. I have a touch of OCD and HAVE to finish books I start or I drive myself crazy with it. The only time I stopped reading a book was when there was just too much cussing... Even then it still bothered me.

I loved The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, did not read any of the other titles. I will give a book a couple of tries before completely abandoning it. I have picked up a book previously put down and really liked it. Mood has a lot to do with reading a book.

I think that once I started reading books that appealed to me instead of what appealed to everyone else ie. Bestsellers, classics, etc. I had a lot less unfinished books. I tried a bookclub and so many of the chosen books did not appeal to me at all that I abandoned that as well.....lol!
I sometimes wonder what future people will think of our bestsellers (future classics?) and cringe just thinking of Twilight and 50 Shades on the list!

When I was young I used to think that I could not criticize a book unless I finished it. I put one book by Martin Amis in a trash can (have even forgotten the title now). All male ego and nothing remotely worth saying. Since then I have aged considerably, time is important and I will readily abandon a book after a chapter or two if I don't enjoy it and I'll just be slogging through it. I abandoned The Corrections. Life is too short!

I usually finish a book, but admit I skim it just to finish & to see if it gets any better. Sometimes it does. I really liked The Girl with the Dragon Tatoo. Bought but haven't read the 3rd book in that trilogy. May be too late to revive my interest. Absolutely abandoned Casual Vacancy. Sold it on Ebay, bye, bye... Wicked was another life is too short book.

100 pages. That should be enough to engage me.

Though I will admit to giving up on The Satanic Verses much earlier than that. I tend to do that with Rushdie...

Gail wrote: "I also put down Eat, Pray Love and Casual Vacancies. I also abandoned East of Eden, The Corrections, and I Am Charlotte Simmons."

Where did you abandon East of Eden? I don't like Steinbeck as a general rule (at least as a PYT), but I found that if East of Eden is given 150 pages, the reader will usually finish and cry at the end.

it took me almost a year to read A Game of Thrones-too many characters, too many locations, all the made up names. But, the book intrigued me enough to continue to slog through it. i don't think i'll read any of them quickly, i'm at least enjoying A Clash of Kings much more.
the only one i've ever not finished is Jasper Fforde's Lost in a Good Book. i enjoyed The Eyre Affair but Lost just Lost my interest.

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..."

I gave up twice on The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. I came back a third time at the urging of friends. The second half is so much better. All of the beginning is needed, but it was so cumbersome. The second and third book were great.

I echo April's comment (48) as I also continue reading each book I start even if the beginning is tough. I don't put it down though as otherwise I would never go back. There are too many books on my wish list and never enough time to read. But I do have one title that I absolutely had to abandon the effort - and I had achieved over half - It was "Hawaii" by James Michener. And to this day, I have never tried to read another title by James Michener. It's a definite "no can do"!

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."

Ah that's an awesome piece of advice!

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 have only abandoned one book in my life ... Watership Down. I tried it three times and never got past page 100. I will one day finish it!

the only book that i can think off of the top of my head that i've have just been like "nope not getting into it" was hannible. didn't really care much for the movie's in the series except silence of the lambs. and the tv series i tried but no go on that as well.

I was the only one in my book club who hated Eat, Pray, Love. I am so glad to read that other people disliked it, too. Lord of the Rings was fun to read in my teens, but I couldn't even watch the movies today.


Jody wrote: "I've abandoned Eat, Pray, Love (absolute apathy for the character/author) and 50 Shades of Gray (out of embarrassment/bad writing and editing). I also abandoned the Lord of the Rings series because..."

Girl With the Dragon Tattoo had terrible opening chapters. I tried three times, finally got through those, and then read all of the trilogy. The books bogged down in places, but overall I found them intense and have not forgotten them--and I've forgotten a lot of books.

If the first 50 pages don't grab me, I will skim the rest until the end. I am incapable of saying I didn't finish a book. Even if I don't remember what I read, I can say I read it, lol....

Browsing these comments no one seems to mention what most often compels me to abandon a book—lack of emotional resonance. If I can't connect with a character or situation in fiction or if the nonfiction doesn't offer an interesting point of view, I can't go on. This puts a lot of best sellers on my Do Not Disturb list, but it saves a lot of time.

All of the above mentioned books I have put down ! I will put down a book when what is a nice romance turns into explicit sex that has nothing to do with the storyline...just won't waste my time..

Gladys wrote: "Very interesting. I abandoned Eat, Love, Pray. Maybe someday I will finish it because as a rule, I don't leave books halfway. I hoped to see the devil wears prada."

I abandoned Eat, Love, Pray because after the Italian food, I just didn't think it was very interesting.

Who could possibly abandon Lord of the Rings? That's ... that's ... words fail me *sobs*

I abandoned the 50 Shades series because the dialogue was horrible and the story wasn't all that compelling (but mostly because bad dialogue is a pet peeve). And, really, printing formatted emails is just a way to make the book look longer and, therefore, worth the price.

I've read Eat,Pray, Love and I really liked it. But part of me wonders if it's because I saw the movie first, so I saw the movie in my head.

50 Shades....I have to say, I can understand why certain people don't like it....I liked it, but I guess that's because I'm a perv. Casual Vacancy, I read the first two pages and put it back on the shelf.

My trick when it comes to a book, be it buy or getting from the library is I read a few pages from the beginning and the middle. If it interests me i'll get it. If not I don't even bother. So I've never actually read a book I had to put down.

I read 3 of the most abandoned books and I really can`t wait to read the others :))Tolkien is heavy but raises lots of feelings, Moby Dick - my favorite book from childhood,The girl with the dragon tatoo - I read all trilogy in 10 days;)) Honestly I can`t finish The Island of the Day Before - this is me!

I did finish A Casual Vacancy somehow-just barely. I finished Dragon Tattoo and LOVED it, and I finished 50 Shades because I felt like I had to know what all the hype was about. The only book I ever quit was Max Ride by James Patterson. It was just a little too YA for me.

This made me smile! I abandoned Casual Vacancy (bored), Fifty Shades (bad writing and bored), Eat pray love (not as good as I was told), hated Moby Dick in high school, but loved Catch-22. Funny!!!

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..."

I finished this book, to me it started to be good after page 300 even though I dislike that guy very much.

Started and finished all except Eat, Pray, Love. Not interested in EPL at all. Casual Vacancy took some perserverence, I'll admit. 50 Shades great read before sex, otherwise, no. Loved Wicked and GwDT.

Of the classic books, I made it through Moby Dick. LOTR is an all-time favorite. Catch-22 is on my list.

I NEVER completely give up on a book i might put it down but go back to it. Interestingly i read the blurb for the casual vacancy and thought not for me and i could not stand the hype around 50 shades. I too am a bit of a lit snob

Joan wrote: "I may be the only one but I hated The Kite Runner, boring, boring"

I didn't find it boring, but I didn't entirely like it -- it was pretty disturbing.

The book I put down in the middle and then picked up a couple of weeks later to finish was Beloved, by Toni Morrison. A terrific book, but it got too intense for a while. Had to take a break. Did finish it, and was glad I did. The movie actually made more sense of the book, I thought. It's rare that I put something down and come back to it -- usually once it's abandoned, that's it.

One book I hated all the way through but stuck out to the end was The Birthgrave by Tanith Lee. She redeemed the whole thing in the last two pages, and so again I was glad I finished.

Both of these are rare experiences, and hence memorable.