Does anyone else get burnt out on long books?

[TJ]

I've found that even though i may love everything else about the book, if it has several hundreds of pages I get burnt out. Maybe this is silly but it kind of bothers me. Is it a matter of getting used to the length or what? Any thoughts?

[TJ]

I hadn't thoughts of reading more than one book at a time. That's an idea. Also I read the Book Thief a few months back and I absolutely love love the book.

[Ashley Marie]

I remember attempting the Book Thief halfway through last year and I dropped it after about 25 pages -- I've found I need to be in the proper mindset for a book, especially a longer one. I picked it up again in December and devoured it in a week. More recently, I got extremely burnt out on Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee, but I slogged through it.

[Amber]

Its not the length its when they keep repeating to make it a lengthy book.

[Michelle]

Quite true, Amber. I hate it when a series book summerizes the whole last book's events.

[Teresa]

The length of the book is not so much the issue for me as what is in the content. If there are many characters with intertwining stories then the book keeps me reading until the end. If its predictable and formulaic I may just read the ending and toss it aside.

[Chris]

I'm at that point right now. Been reading a book about Pearl Harbor for almost two months now. It's interesting, but the sheer length of detail is demoralizing. Not to mention I wasn't prepared for the books set-up: 500 pages lead up to the battle, less than 50 pages on the actual battle, and then a few hundred more pages about the aftermath--mostly hearings. I'm trying to trudge through the last 200 pages so I can finally move on to faster-paced books.

[Melissa ♥ Dog/Wolf Lover ♥]

I usually read one big book and a regular book at the same time so I won't get burnt out. Don't get me wrong, I love the long books, it's just I have stacks of them and get a little stressed reading on and on especially if it seems it's repetitive.

[Joseph]

It is interesting to me that this is brought up now. I just got a book I have been waiting a long time for, but it turned out to be 686 pages, pretty much making it double the size of a usual read for me which has me hemming and hawing a bit over getting started in it. I probably will read it, but I am just not jumping into it as fast as I do with a common 300-pager.

[Daniel]

I agree, if the content drives the pace, then I devour long books but like some other posts I break it up with reading shorter books at the same time.

[Joseph]

Fijke wrote: "I usually just read one work of fiction at a time, because I get into a book more that way. Also, if I have multiple books going on at the same time I often lose interest in one or several of them,..."

Yes, I very rarely can get into more than one book at a time. I have to finish the one I am currently reading before starting another. If I don't, I often end up putting aside the first book for anywhere from days to years having only gotten through it part way and when I do pick it up again, I have to start all over with it.

[Bethia]

I find it very, very hard to commit to reading long books, I think because I often cannot find a good book that I want to read and switch through several books dumping all of them after just a few pages, and I get so demoralized that starting a long book just seems like... maybe the the final straw or something, like I have been waiting so long for something that matches my mood, I lose faith in my ability to get through something fast and it just becomes a huge hurdle when starting a new book. Or I lose faith that there are any books out there that I'm going to like... and I guess I feel like I have to finish a book that I start, so the possibility that I might force myself through heaps of bad writing before finally deciding to give up on it is really tough. Rough, my own fault I guess :( but I definitely have that too, Tammy, even though this wasn't quite what you mentioned...!

[[deleted user]]

I think it depends on how good a book is, sometimes too short of a story leaves me unfilled but a long book that has over fodder than story can burn me out.

[Mary]

I agree with you Tammy. it all depends on the book.

[Jocelin]

Sometimes, it really depends on the book.

[Thom]

I have to agree with Tammy, Mary and Jocelin.... it depends on the book and my current mood. It has often happened that I couldn't get in to or feel comfortable with a book. Days, months or years later I pick it up again and presto it is a four or five star read! This proves that the problem is in me and not in the book.

[Scott]

Fijke wrote: " Fijke | 6 comments I usually just read one work of fiction at a time, because I get into a book more that way. Also, if I have multiple books going on at the same time I often lose interest in one or several of them, even if both books are very good. Does anybody else have this problem? "

I can't do it either. I get characters, plots and settings all jumbled up and if a book isn't holding my attention or gripping me I just give it up. Life's too short and there are too many books out there for me to get bogged down in something I'm not digging.

With long books, I don't really have an issue getting into or reading them. I'm a pretty fast reader and devote a lot of free time to it so the length of a book doesn't scare me away. I've also been on a huge fantasy kick lately and there aren't many short ones so I've kind of gotten used to 600+ page books as a norm.

[Virginia]

I've mostly stopped reading books over 300 pages at the moment but that's because I'm trying to get through as many as possible this year. Maybe for 2015 I'll go for page count and get to all those 'old classics' with 700 or 1000 pages?

For me it's got to be a really good book to get me reading it at the moment. It's got to be worth the time investment.

[Melissa]

I have a long time with harder books because I'm such a mood reader that I don't always stay in the same mood long enough to finish out a long one. Having a 2nd book handy to break them up helps.

[Thom]

Size does matter. I much prefer 1000 page books to those just counting 200. I don't burn out with long books, I enjoy them. A long series of books can however do it.

[Mary]

A long book for me is a turn- off and I won't even start one that I feel is too long.

[Christie]

Even if I love a long book, I start to feel antsy at some point because of how long it takes me to get through it. I usually read multiple books at a time and that helps a lot. More specifically, listening to an audio book at the same time helps because you can't help but move through them fast since they're being read to you at a steady pace. The feeling of getting through one book on audio more quickly definitely counterbalances the long slow read.

[Bj]

I have wanted to read the Game of Thrones series but knowing how very long they are just makes me pass them up for something else. I have read very long books in the past like Stephen King's The Stand and Anne Rice's The Witching Hour but now that I am older and a lot busier I prefer shorter books for some reason.

[Stephen]

I do. As much as I love a well-developed storyline, I've yet to read a book over 800 pages that could keep me that interested.

What I had to do with Wheel of Time was skip past major parts and go back later to pick them up.

[John]

I never look at how many pages a book has before I start to read it.. I just pick up what is next on my shelf. How could anyone say they were sorry they read any of Charles Dickens works or Hugo's. It has happened many times for me where I have read a 1000 page book and only liked perhaps 100 pages of it, but those 100 pages made the book worth reading.

[Lin]

I read Gone With The Ind when I was 15. Read t dg the summer just because I wanted too. I never felt bored or that the story was dragging. I was fully engaged with the stories from beginning to end. For most, more contemporary authors, the issue seems that poor editing is a problem. If a first rate editing job is done, repeating words, and phrases will be eliminated.my favorite length for books is 350-500 pages. Right now I am re reading the entire Stone Barrington series by Stuart Woods. All 30 books, in order. Loving it.

[Annie]

I think it depends on the book and how it's written. I can read a long book and never get bored if it's always exciting. But if I'm reading, for example, a description of a meal go on for paragraphs, I'll get bored. Or when I read the Iliad for school I got bored during the fight scenes because the book would say "Blank, son of Blank just killed Blank, son of Blank" and it was really confusing and boring because I wasn't sure who was killing who or who was dying since the father's names were also mentioned. And I tend to get bored by fight scenes in general. I'm weird like that. :)

[Sally]

It depends entirely on the writing. The Forsyte Saga is a huge monster of a book but I loved every minute of it. On the other hand, I am struggling through The Princes of Ireland I'm just not that interested in the characters and I keep getting them mixed up. It's good enough to keep slogging through it though.

[MissJessie]

I loved the Forsyte Saga when I read it many many yrs ago, could not put it down. But today, I probably would not undertake it. I think I have developed post-menopausal ADD or something, but long books and sagas just don't appeal. I have given away almost all the ones I bought before I figured this out, realizing they would never be read.

I went thru the epic novel phase of my life many yrs ago and did Michener, GWTWind, Leon Uris (a favorite), etc. Today, I would probably never even pick them up.

[France]

I've never been afraid to begin a big book, but it's probably because I know that if I get bored with it, I can always pick another one and go back to the big book later. I'm pretty good at keeping track of what happens in the different stories I read at the same time. I have to do it with TV shows anyway.

I had never thought about Gone With the Wind as an epic read before, but now that you point it, it is quite a long read. I guess I've been deceived by my French translation, which is divided into three manageable books! I've read it twice without realising how long it is.

[Eric]

It's pretty rare for me to abandon a book, even a long one. Sometimes I start getting bored - that happened to me with The Runaway Jury. But once the book gets to the climax, I can usually finish it in no time.

[Kathryn]

If I'm reading a fiction book length doesn't bother me - just the weight in my purse! For non-fiction books, mostly history, I do have some problems slogging through the boring parts to get to the more interesting parts. For example I read A. Lincoln and over all I really enjoyed the book. However, whenever there was 50 pages on circuit court politics I really struggled. I had to make myself read A. Lincoln on the train and then I read something lighter a night when I was in the middle of the boring bits.

[Erin *Proud Book Hoarder*]

It depends on how good the book is. If it's a series I'm addicted to, I can't put it down. But most stand-alones that are too lengthy suffer for it. I like King, for example, but to me most of his stuff would be better shorter.

[Mari]

Thom wrote: "Size does matter. I much prefer 1000 page books to those just counting 200. I don't burn out with long books, I enjoy them. A long series of books can however do it."

I agree, Thom. I love long books, if the story keeps me interested. I find that longer books have the ability to explore the story more. I found that I became bored with some series, and was looking forward to moving on. For example: the Divergent series. The same with Twilight series. I have really enjoyed some of the long ones, like The Count of Monte Cristo, Anna Karenina, The Fountainhead, and a few others that have become my favorites, and have stayed with me for years.

[Mari]

Christie wrote: "Even if I love a long book, I start to feel antsy at some point because of how long it takes me to get through it. I usually read multiple books at a time and that helps a lot. More specifically, l..."

I love long books, but I get a little antsy with the long audiobooks. I listen to them enroute to work(60 miles round trip) and I feel like I lose ground on my days off. For example: The Invisible Bridge I started listening to around March 20th, and I've still got 40% left. Although I still listen while running errands and such, I am unable to cover many chapters that way. But.... I love reading, and I'm very grateful I can incorporate it into my trips to work and back!

[Paulfozz]

It depends on the subject and type of book - novels are ok, I've read a few 800-1000 page books that kept the attention very well, but non-fiction can be a little draining when they get very long as I find you need more concentration somehow and I tend to read those over a long period (sometimes it's taken a few years to get through them! Technical books particularly so - I have a 560 page book on Plant Galls I want to read but am rather daunted by it! I think some of those will be books I refer to or read in chunks rather than read cover-to-cover.

[[deleted user]]

I agree Paul, non fiction just doesn't keep my attention. I have to read in spurts in between my novels.

[Karen M]

I just read A Dance with Dragons at 1125 pages. Thank goodness it was on my Kindle. This is the longest book, so far, in A Song of Ice and Fire series. I've read a number of ones even longer, War and Peace, Noble House, The Life of Samuel Johnson but this was probably the one I enjoyed the most.

[John]

If a book is good , it is good, be it 200 pages or be it 2,000. if it is bad, even 100 pages are too much.

[Lin]

Amen, John. That summed it up really well

[Erin *Proud Book Hoarder*]

Tammy wrote: "I agree Paul, non fiction just doesn't keep my attention. I have to read in spurts in between my novels."

I do the same thing. Even if it's interesting. Odd, that, but I guess it's how my brain works ;)

[Doubledf99.99]

I don't get burned out in the least bit, lot of times hate to see the book end.

[Karen M]

John wrote: "If a book is good , it is good, be it 200 pages or be it 2,000. if it is bad, even 100 pages are too much."

I agree too. I never did finish Don Quixote and I'll never go back. Yes, I know many people loved that book but not for me.

[A book away from an episode of hoarders]

It all depends on the book for me.

[John]

Karen M wrote: "John wrote: "If a book is good , it is good, be it 200 pages or be it 2,000. if it is bad, even 100 pages are too much."

I agree too. I never did finish Don Quixote and I'll never go back. Yes,..."

yes and I agree with you on DON QUIXOTE which I have tried to read several times, just did not like. Seemed like it was just the same thing over and over. Funny the first few times but come on.

[Donna]

It absolutely depends on the book. For example, I found the Harry Potter books long in page numbers, but never long in the story.

On the other head, I just "worked" my way through - while I loved the writing, I was SO ready for this book to end.

[Sarah]

John wrote: "Karen M wrote: "John wrote: "If a book is good , it is good, be it 200 pages or be it 2,000. if it is bad, even 100 pages are too much."

I agree too. I never did finish Don Quixote and I'll neve..."

That's how I feel about anything done by Herman Melville may it be Moby Dick or Billy Budd. Billy Budd is a short book too. I just can't push through it.

[Christie]

I was so ready to love Moby Dick, and I did at first, but then there were so many irrelevant, drawn out sections that could actually be skipped over without losing anything (not even character development) that I lost interest and couldn't keep reading. I hope someday I'll be able to finish it!

[Mari]

The thing that pushed me to put Moby Dick down was all the detail of the boat. Normally I will try to push through, but it just went on and on....

[Christie]

And on and on and on :P