What Makes You Put Down a Book?

In 1985 I abandoned The Grapes of Wrath. At the time I was only making a small amount of money and living mainly on peanut butter. The story was relentlessly depressing. So I up and left the Joads by the side of the road. A few years later when things had vastly improved in my life, I went back and there they were, right where I'd left them! I finished the book in the end but it's still one of the most depressing things I've ever read.

I posted earlier about books I didn't finish but two I could hardly put down have not been mentioned. John Berendt's stories, "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil" and "The City of Fallen Angels" caught my attention from the beginning... perfect summer reads! These stories come from truth but allow the characters to come alive... a curtain to be opened on lives other than mine.

I read most books I start, but I have started Bleak House three times and just can't get very far. I still hope to read it, but maybe an audio book would help. I listened to all Lord of the Rings books and loved them although I think I would have had a struggle to read them.

I kept going back to Mistry's 'A Fine Balance' about 37 times. In the end it was thoroughly worth my doggedness. A truly fine and enlightening book. I cannot say the same for Franzen's 'The Corrections' which I abandoned half way through because I hated the people and didn't care what happened to them.

I actually abandoned Casual Vacancy because it was a shitty book, not because it wasn't like Harry Potter. If you read it thinking it was going to be Harry Potter 2.0, you were an idiot.

Linda wrote: "I read most books I start, but I have started Bleak House three times and just can't get very far. I still hope to read it, but maybe an audio book would help. I listened to all Lord of the Rings b..."

I knew that I had started a book and never finished it. I blocked the book's name from my memory. However, you have reminded me. It was Bleak House!

I couldn't stomach "The Corrections". There wasn't a single character I liked. I think in order to want to read a book, there has to be something you like: the setting, the dialog, the characters. Something. I was totally disinterested in anything happening in the book. It went straight to the donate pile.

I've also found that a lot of books on the Oprah Book Club list are books that make the reader suffer. You can have a character go through lots of pain without making the reader feel like crap. It's true! You can! Lately, reading some of these popular books is like walking onto a rake with the tynes up, and getting smacked in the face. Repeatedly.

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..."

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..."

Funny...I could not put that book down ("Life After Life")...I dreamed about it when I wasn't reading it.

Age. And Kindle. I blame getting older on the reality that I now decide more quickly to abandon a book. I've reached a point in my life where I realize that my life will have an end-point. I will NEVER get to read all of the good books out there. So I choose much more quickly whether or not to continue a book. If it reminds me of half a dozen other books I just recently read, then I know the author was most likely just cashing in on a trend, and it's probably not worth my investing part of what remains of my life on it. And Kindle's "free sample" feature means I can decide within just a few pages if I like a book or not. I've discovered I'm much faster at recognizing whether or not I enjoy a writer's style since I bought a Kindle. Before Kindle, I don't think I really even consciously evaluated a writer's style (unless forced to by a reading assignment), and certainly not as quickly as I do now.

I think abandoning a book is a tricky process.those I have given up on have been so banal that I have predicted every step myself . How many people have given up on the classics as boring and outdated, yet to me they are an intricate portrayal(slightly exaggerated) of another life.my mantra is to give every book a chance!!

I rarely ever abandon a book but when I do its usually because the plot is too slow - the most recent for me was The Road to Jerusalem (First in the Crusades Trilogy by Jan Guillou.

Also abandoned Catch 22 pretty early on...

I have no shame about abandoning a book after 50-100 pages. Life is to short to waste your time with boring books or boring people!

I have to be engaged from the first page, if the writing is poor and the characters even more so then there is no way that I can finish the book. I have forced myself to finish some books just to see how it ends and regretted spending time I will never get back on a bad book, when I could have been reading something good.

Surprised to see "Girl with Dragon Tattoo" and "Eat,Pray, Love" on abandoned list. I enjoyed both books. I didn't get past the Kindle sample of "Casual Vacancy." Couldn't get into it for some reason. Not my cup of tea.

Eat, Pray, Love - Blah!

I have always said life is too short to waste my time on a bad book. I remember saying that to a high school English teacher when we were made to read a book that I really couldn't care less about. Needless to say I was made to finish it. I didn't like having to do that so the older I get the more I go back to "life is too short". I read to escape into a new place so if it is boring I'm outta there.

I never picked up the 50 Shades series. I read it first when it was just a fanfiction and it was an embarrassment. Not to mention it insulted some friends who live the lifestyle? It is a ridiculous book written in elementary language that failed grammatically. Nuff said.

kim wrote: "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 also abandoned..."

Abandoned Eat, Pray, Love, after reading Eat and Pray sections; saw the movie and finished Love section. No regrets.

Very interesting post, thanks for collating this. I've got some of the abandoned books patiently waiting to be read!

Personally there are only a handful of books that I've given up on and like others have said sometimes it's down to timing rather than the book itself that makes me put it down.

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo had a super slow beginning but was so worth sticking with. The second book was my favorite of the series. I loved the whole story, the characters, the mystery. Also Lisbeth, she was absolutely fascinating.

I had to stop American Psycho. I just couldn't take all the violence and depravity. I may have made it halfway through. The other one is Needful Things; once the dog was killed by the corkscrew through the chest...done. Everything else I will push through.

I'm really struggling to read Lord of the rings at the moment. It's taken me months to get through book 1 and 1/3 of the way through book 2. I keep downloading other books on Kindle so I have a tonne of exciting books I could be reading if I wasn't stuck on this one. The only other book I've abandoned was Clockwork Prince. The main character needed a slap and the main love interest was a moron.

What?! I really enjoyed Casual Vacancy! But hated 50 Shades and Dragon Tattoo. Currently struggling through We Need To Talk About Kevin...I think it's going to get abandoned.

In my teen through adult years I have only ever put down 2 books without ever going back to them. Both were because the print was too small... Apparently, the only criterion I use to figure out if I'll continue reading garbage is eye strain.

I hate not finishing a book, but I could not get past the first chapter of "Love in the Time of Cholera."

The writing was just dry and I could find no story to latch on to. I've decided to make next year a re-read year so I'm going to try it again. If I don't make it through this time I'm giving up on it.

Oh thank heavens! I thought I was the only person in the world who stopped reading "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo." Great relief.

Jennifer wrote: "The only book I've abandoned - so far - was 'The English Patient'. I almost abandoned 'Lonesome Dove', but I managed to stick it out 'til I hit the magic 100 page mark... then, when I was done, I w..."

I managed to finish "The English Patient," but I hated it. I agree that Lonesome Dove stars very slowly, but is worth finishing.

I am probably the only person in the world who has abandoned Jane Eyre, and I've tried at least 12 times. I did finish Catch-22 though.

You should ask what books people have finished but wished they hadn't. Wicked and The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo would both be on that list for me.

If I cannot connect with a book, either through plot or character, then there is no point torturing myself. I used to plod on hoping things would change. Now, I can usually crack open a book at the store, and know within a few pages if I am interested. Some books can grab my attention from the first page.

i abandon books if there is nothing that grabs my interest in the first couple of chapters (happens rarely), or is poorly written/trite dialogue.

i just could NOT get through Death with Interruptions by Saramago. it seemed, to me, to be one long rambling paragraph.

Courtney wrote: "What?! I really enjoyed Casual Vacancy! But hated 50 Shades and Dragon Tattoo. Currently struggling through We Need To Talk About Kevin...I think it's going to get abandoned."

How far along are you with "Kevin?" It gets much better in the second half of book...much better.

I usually abandon books because I start reading a new, perhaps more interesting, one. This doesn't necessarily mean that the first was boring or a disappointment, it just wasn't thrilling enough at the moment. I'm a bit restless like that, and usually read several books at the same time.

Once of twice the reason have been that I've had to return the book to the library, never to really pick it up again.

Interesting reasons.
I don't think I ever abandoned a book. I don't consider that a good thing though. I can't help myself it seems.

Keriann wrote: "I am probably the only person in the world who has abandoned Jane Eyre, and I've tried at least 12 times. I did finish Catch-22 though.

You should ask what books people have finished but wished t..."

That would be Gone, Girl for me; what a waste of time!
The story had no redeeming value, and the characters were twisted.

If you can't get through the book by reading the printed page, perhaps you would enjoy hearing the words come to life in an AUDIOBOOK!

Audiobooks are now mainstream entertainment. I know that I probably would've have ditched The Grapes of Wrath in printed form, but the audiobook was fantastic!

If you abandoned the Harry Potter series, try listening to Jim Dale's award-winning rendition of these books instead.

One of the best reasons to pick up an audiobook is because you can read even MORE books. Yes, you can still say you read the book even if you heard it.


Cordially,
Karen Commins,, audiobook narrator
My audiobooks on Audible.com

Lord of the rings...Not only i abandoned it but also i locked it in the closet...the movie was ok...

I'm a strange one. Even if I absolutely hate the current book, I HAVE to finish it, no matter what. I actually really liked Ulysses by the way.

When my book clubs select a book, I will generally stick with it all the way to the end, even if it doesn't excite me. I enjoy the challenge of stepping outside of my own, personal genre biases to try something new-- plus, I think we all have just as much fun lampooning books that we didn't enjoy as much as we enjoy sharing and celebrating the ones that we really did!

When the book is to descriptive and drags on. I very rarely abandon a book (I'd say two only so far)so I try to pickem based on reviews and friends.

Ruth wrote: "I couldn't stomach "The Corrections". There wasn't a single character I liked. I think in order to want to read a book, there has to be something you like: the setting, the dialog, the character..."

You are so right -- I read partly for escape, and because I want to be in a different place, not necessarily a horrible place. It's nice if it's a pleasant place, but it at least needs to be INTERESTING for some reason. And I have to like something about it. I managed to read the first Hunger Games, but when I started the second, I decided I really didn't want to go back there.

There's no single answer as to why so many readers couldn't finish these. My guess is the books were either dense and required too much attention and commitment to finish, or the reader had very high or unrealistic expectations going in (i.e., they saw the movie/broadway show first, or they wanted another Harry Potter).

I'm so surprised to see so much hate and so many people giving up on The Casual Vacancy. I got it as a present a few months back and just started reading it and am 1/3 the way through and think it's excellent. Rowling's character portrayals are so realistic and relatable, and I don't get why people are unable to see that. She used very similar characterizations for her Harry Potter characters.

Other than Casual Vacancy, I've finished all of them except for Fifty Shades of Grey and Eat, Pray, Love. All of the others on this list (including the 'classics'), I finished because I either really enjoyed the book or found the book interesting for its cultural and historical significance.

I have absolutely no interest in reading Fifty Shades of Grey or Eat, Pray, Love. I have read enough of the reviews and heard the hype, and I already know I would hate them. That doesn't make them bad books, but everyone has different tastes.

I'll put down a book after the first five sentences if it doesn't grab me then ...meh.

Tumblingup wrote: "I'll put down a book after the first five sentences if it doesn't grab me then ...meh."

One of the things I appreciate about the Amazon listings is that you can read the first few pages of a book. I figure that way I can get a sense of whether the writer can write, if they are writing about anything interesting to me, etc. I love good lead-ins to story, good hooks, as it were, and think that's a high art. If an author can pull me in right away, usually that's a good sign that the book will be good. If not ... it may still be good, but I may have to work harder, which is not necessarily a bad thing, but not always worth it. And, of course, there are certain things up with which I will not put.

Not surprised at all to see Moby Dick and Ulysses on the list. Both have nearly unbearable sermons in the middle that go on for far too many pages. I remember an English class in university where we spent three classes analyzing the damn sermon from Ulysses. I wanted to shoot myself.

All the books I haven't finished are marked as currently readind, always try to come back for it later...

I know this is going to sound cray-zee, but I have actually loved books so hard that I couldn't bear to finish the last few pages- that way the book would never 'end'.

I put down 50 shades of grey half way through. 50 shades of stupidity, annoyed at myself for being talked into buying it .

Beau wrote: "I know this is going to sound cray-zee, but I have actually loved books so hard that I couldn't bear to finish the last few pages- that way the book would never 'end'."

Ah, well, but if it's good enough, it can get re-read. I do that with my favorites. There are books I've read dozens of times, and some only 4 or 5 times. Re-reads are a particular genre with me.

I've finished fifty shades infact I finished the entire trilogy :D The other books I have not read

I usually don't like unfinished books but sometimes i just can't stand it and think that maybe the book wasn't really meant during this period of time. I of course return again to the book and finish it.

I usually put the book down when I'm at the beginning or something but if i have like 100 pages or 200 pages left i will finish it

(:

Colleen wrote: "I couldn't read the Outlander series, even after rave reviews from friends. I just couldn't connect with the characters."

I loved the "Outlander" series