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Do push through a boring book or shelve it??
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Robert
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Apr 15, 2013 09:34AM
So a question for this group. When reading a book that just isn't really holding your attention. Do you push through it and just finish it or do you simply move on? I always feel a bit guilty when I just can't get into a book and feel like I need to just shelve it. I always feel like I should push through it but then feel bad because I'm not totally invested in the plot and characters.
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Sometimes I push through, other times I abandon it. It depends on how much time I have and just how boring I've been finding it.I never did finish Grapes of Wrath :(
What I find worse ( at least for me ) is when you have a ton of people who rave over a book and when you finally get around to reading it's totally not what you were expecting and find it dull as dishwater lol. In those instances I might push through it and hope it gets better...but most of the times it doesn't. You'd think I'd learn by now haha.
I was having trouble getting into this month's selections. For Ghost Planet, I pushed through and didn't find it that bad. But for Song of Scarabaeus, no suck luck. I felt bad at first, especially since I had a hard time finding a bad review. But then I relaized, I think I like watching science fiction more than I like reading it. That made feel a little better, but I will still feel "left out" this month.
I always TRY to push through - sometimes it doesn't feel like it's worth the effort, but I recently read The Street Sweeper and I hated it! Hated it and pushed and pushed myself because it was for work and I was determined, and after about 2/3 of the way through I finally ended up loving it. I just had to get through.. well.. most of the book, before I got to that stage. And it even felt worth it in the end.So now I definitely make more of an effort to push myself, just in case I'm missing out on some great endings that I didn't know were there
It depends on the book for me. A lot of times if it's a book that had a great summary, I'll try to push through it in the hopes it will get better, but if it doesn't I shelve it. Other times I just shelve it without a second thought and move on to something better. I've done that a couple of times with the main picks for the bookclub, the most recent being this month's pick, Ghost Planet. I never let myself feel guilty for quitting on a book, though. If I don't like a book I'm not gonna waste energy feeling bad about not liking it.
I usually try to stick it out when reading a book that isn't going as well as I had hoped. Sometimes it pays off. I had a hard time getting into Life of Pi because I found the first half boring. I find the subject of religion extremely boring and it was very religious at the beginning. I just wanted to get on the damn boat! Glad I stuck with it though because I ended up enjoying it very much. The one book I can remember shelving past the half way point was The Lovely Bones. Everyone raved about it so I tried to get into it but I just didn't care about the characters. It wasn't for me.
Depends on how bad it is. I had an epiphany recently: I don't have to finish a book if I'm not enjoying it. I'm an adult. No one is forcing me to read. I don't have a test at the end. I don't need to finish anything for "bragging rights" or anything else.
I'm just about to shelve Cormac McCarthy's "The Road". I'm only a few chapters in and absolutely loathe the writing style, plus I have absolutely no emotional connection to his characters. Back to the library it goes.
If I'm just not getting into a book (particularly one that is lauded by a lot of folks) I'll put it down for a few weeks and try it again later. Sometimes solar flares affect your mindset, you need more zinc, or there's somebody walking on your grave, and you just don't jibe with a particular book. I often find that if I read something else to "clear my palate" then when I pick up a book again later I have a different reaction.
So true! I just need to suck it up and start doing this! lol Sue wrote: "Depends on how bad it is.
I had an epiphany recently: I don't have to finish a book if I'm not enjoying it. I'm an adult. No one is forcing me to read. I don't have a test at the end. I don'..."
Sue wrote: I had an epiphany recently: I don't have to finish a book if I'm not enjoying it. I'm an adult. No one is forcing me to read. I don't have a test at the end. I don't need to finish anything for "bragging rights" or anything else. Yes!! I used to push through no matter how much I disliked it or how bad it was because I was always taught not to be a 'quitter', but now I figure life is too short and there are too many good and entertaining books out there to waste time on something I'm not enjoying. If these are characters I don't care about, then why would I want to spend time with them? Same as with TV shows.
I'm more likely the push through if it's a book group pick, but in the end I will often get to a point and give up. I feel like I've really enjoyed a lot of books that I've had to push through, but on reflection weeks later I realise I find it harder to recommend those books to others.
I'm more likely to push through, as said above, for book club picks - especially in-person clubs. If it has raves and is part of a series, I might check out a later book. Plus I read ends, skip around, etc., so I usually have lots of indicators whether it's for me.I'm presently rereading To Your Scattered Bodies Go for a local club, and I feel pretty much exactly the way I did when I first read it a billion years ago, when it was new - great basic idea, but damn this is dull....
If the book is part of a series and I know I will read more of the author's work in the future, I will plow through. I don't want to have to go back and read bits and pieces to make sense of the latest installment. I hated "Seabiscuit". I don't know. It was just soooo.....something. Trying to read it made me feel like my face was turning in to a Dali painting. I wasn't intrigued by the story, and felt like I could feel my life slipping away. I have never had that reaction to a book! LOL. So, I donated it to the library and moved on. I had the epiphany, too, about not spending time on books that just aren't worth it. If it is a classic, I do try to get through it. I wasn't exposed to much twentieth century writing in high school, so no Fitzgerald, Parker, Hemingway. Now I will attempt to read something by one of them and I will go in knowing the style is different, that I don't have any prior knowledge of where they were coming from and if the book goes sideways, I will try to be more forgiving. I may need to keep going back, but I think stretching my comfort zone is a good thing. And sometimes it means reading something I would rather not.
It takes A LOT for me not to finish a book. If I leave anything unfinished it nags at me. I get very anxious, and it drives me insane. I did stop reading Left Behind, however, because it was just too dumb.
I'll always force myself to read the first few chapters. Or first 100 pages-ish. Sometimes I've read great books that had a slow start. Diana Gabaldon's Outlander series for example... LOVED it. I've read every book she's released and thoroughly enjoyed them. However, the first novel started out a bit slow. The first chapter before the main character goes back in time is very slow. It also is very differently paced and has a different feel from the rest of the book(s). Maybe it's because it's the first chapter of the first book she wrote and she hadn't found her groove yet? Who knows... but if I hadn't pushed through... I would have missed a great series.
i always push through, i cannot say i have ever lemmed a book, i guess im too stubborn for that.this is where i say, NO! and then tomorrow i post again saying oh geez i just lemmed somthing. but hey.
I used to try really hard to finish a book that was boring me. I was poor so that was usually the only fresh read I had at the time! Though there were times I'd put a book aside and go reread something.These days, I have far too many books in my to-read shelf to waste time on a book that's not doing it for me. If I get halfway through and I'm not engaged, I put it aside or try another format. Sometimes, a book doesn't work for me at all, in print or in audio, and I just have to say, "maybe some other day." I actually made a shelf here on GR that's "didn't finish but may try again."
I also have one that's "didn't finish and calling it done." This is reserved for books that piss me off, such as too many jibes at fat people, sexism (women are in the story only as sex objects), or icky scenarios with centuries old vampires grooming five year olds to be their lovers, etc.
I do both really. Recently I picked up a book and had a hard time with it and just put it down again after only a few pages (seriously the writing was that bad) But I've also set books aside and picked them up again. I'm slowly going through The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest because when I first picked it up after reading the other 2 and life was too stressful to read a stressful book.
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Some of my favorite books have had slow starts, so I like to give books a fair chance so I don't miss something great. On the other hand, I have a hard time NOT finishing a book once I've gotten more than halfway through, since I've already made it that far.
It also depends on what kind of book it is. There were several books that have been VF picks that I didn't like, but they're such quick/fluffy reads that I'm not as likely to put them down as I would be a longer/deeper book.
I think it's like trying to finish your plate at dinner. Sometimes it's not to your benefit to do so.I recently learned an important lesson with the March Kindle Smut Club challenge. The challenge was to go back and finish either books or series or club reads we had not previously finished. What I learned was that there was a reason I hadn't finished those books previously. Either I was bored with the series or I couldn't connect with the book. I could try over and over again but all it made me was unhappy. Life is too short to waste on things that make me unhappy. There are other things I could be doing and other books either of which would make me happier.
So now I subscribe to the Steve Jobs school of thought. What I choose to NOT focus my time on is as important as what I choose TO focus my time on. If a book can't hook me in the first 50 pages, I'm not going to waste my time wading through it unless there is some other compelling reason to do so. And it better be a damn good reason.
I used to ALWAYS finish a book no matter what. Then like another poster here, I realized why am I wasting my limited reading time on something I am not enjoying. SO now if it doesn't hook me, I move on.
I used to finish all books, no matter what. A few years ago, during a particularly bad book, I finally decided that life is too short and time too precious to waste on doing things that didn't make me feel good. Now, I'll quit reading and move on to something I find more engaging.
Sometimes I just push through it. I feel guilty when I dont finish a book then it will drive me crazy
After I feel I've given a tough book a good try I shelf it. I usually read about 20 or 30% of a book's volume before I give up.
Edit: Sometimes, I do go back to books but I can usually tell when I'm not in the mood compared to when I'm just not that into it.
I am really spoiled by the fact that my library system allows you to keep a list of books you've checked out. I go through it periodically to find things I maybe wanted to try again, or had to return because someone had them on hold. That said, there are many reasons why I do not finish books and I believe them to be valid. One book I put aside and didn't finish because the white heroine's Spunky Asian Sidekick was so transparently chock full of stereotypes I just couldn't even.
Normally I'll push through it, but only if it's because it's a classic (such as Enders Game) or if it's really popular and I should read it because I work at a library (Twilight)I can't even remember the last time I stopped reading a book and decided never to pick it up again
I find it really difficult to not finish a book. I think I can genuinely count the ones I abandoned in the last year on one hand and I'd still have fingers left over for other things ;).It just leaves me with a bad feeling if I don't and it has to be more than boring - i.e. actually offensive to me to go that far ;).
