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30-day Challenge! - Day 22: Do you ever skip to the end of the book to find out what happens?
I don't usually do it, but I do admit I sort of did what you did.. Reading the Song of Ice and Fire series, you just HAVE to peeek sometimes because seriously, people die all the time!!! So I sort of.. Went through the books I haven't read yet to see if a certain character still had his/hers chapters in the next book.But other than that I usually don't skip ahead!
No! I never skip to the end, and I try to avoid skimming ahead too (although sometimes I fail at that if I'm reading an exciting book and can't wait to see what happens).I'm VERY anti-spoiler, so I often avoid even reading the book's blurb! I almost never read reviews before starting a book either:-). I want it all to be a surprise.
Kim wrote: "I don't usually do it, but I do admit I sort of did what you did.. Reading the Song of Ice and Fire series, you just HAVE to peeek sometimes because seriously, people die all the time!!! So I sort ..."Oh! If I was reading those books .... I would HAVE to know if certain characters had chapters later. Watching the show, I've decided I just can't 'invest' myself in any characters, cuz Martin keeps killing them!!! lol
Kelly wrote: "No! I never skip to the end, and I try to avoid skimming ahead too (although sometimes I fail at that if I'm reading an exciting book and can't wait to see what happens).I'm VERY anti-spoiler, so..."
Kelly, you are very disciplined! :)
MK wrote: "Kim wrote: "I don't usually do it, but I do admit I sort of did what you did.. Reading the Song of Ice and Fire series, you just HAVE to peeek sometimes because seriously, people die all the time!!..."So far only one of my favourites has died, so I consider myself lucky! :P
Mod
Of course I am not a linear thinker so that might have something to do with it -- Random Abstract is me.
However it is too hard to skim and skip about on a Kindle for me -- so that has somewhat broke me of the habit.
Never! I'd feel like if cheated myself out of the experience of reading the book and I wouldn't feel like I've actually read it.
*James Earl Jones voice* Noooooooooo...!
Nechama wrote: "Never! I'd feel like if cheated myself out of the experience of reading the book and I wouldn't feel like I've actually read it."Ur as disciplined as Kelly :-)
Edit - oops, that's what I get for opening a window and not trying for a half hour :-p. This reply was in response to Nechama, but ... lol .... Okay, adding you to the 'very disciplined' camp , Gavin ;-)
No way! I feel angry and let down if I'm just checking how many pages there are and I accidentally see what happens at the end! I hate that (so I tend to check GR for the page numbers now lol).
Kim wrote: "I don't usually do it, but I do admit I sort of did what you did.. Reading the Song of Ice and Fire series, you just HAVE to peeek sometimes because seriously, people die all the time!!! So I sort ..."I never normally do this - but have done what you did Kim, and skimmed the chapter headings of some the Game of Thrones books - but only ever within the same book, not the books ahead (only one I haven't read yet is A Dance with Dragons)
Don't think I've ever been tempted to do this, although if I had done what Leanne did and accidentally saw something when checking the page count it wouldn't bother me. I also love to reread books, so knowing how it ends doesn't actually bother me, but I know loads of people who get really upset if they accidentally find out something that happens later in a book and it completely ruins it for them. Chapter headings, on the other hand, are something I look at only if there's a table of contents or I have some need to scan them (setting up a reading schedule for example - I only do this with books I'm reading in a group).
Sometimes I have done this. I just need to know that everything will be okay at the end of the book. But I also try to avoid all kinds of spoilers, when I start to read a book.
Never, I don't see the point in doing this at all.
No way ... unless I really dislike the book enough not to finish it, but do want to satisfy my curiousity about how it ends.
Day 22 entry - May 22nd: When I am reading a book, I do not go to the end to find out what happens. However, if the book is really slow, I skip to another chapter to see if it picks up. Also, I am stated that I enjoy reading the book after I see the movie because I like to compare it that way. Although, I have read some books before the movie came out i.e.Divergent and felt it hindered my movie experience because I was pissed off that they took out some scenes I felt that was important, and many other things.
May 22:
I usually do not skip to the end of a book, although I have done it in a few instances. If I am utterly tired of a book and trying to decide whether or not to abandon it, I may sneak a peak at the end. Either way, knowing the ending doesn't hurt and may give me good enough reason to continue reading.
I usually do not skip to the end of a book, although I have done it in a few instances. If I am utterly tired of a book and trying to decide whether or not to abandon it, I may sneak a peak at the end. Either way, knowing the ending doesn't hurt and may give me good enough reason to continue reading.
Mod
I have done this earlier, when I have been stuck and tried to see whether the story gets any better or interesting. Usually I end up reading the best parts and won't be interested in reading the whole book anymore. But even then I didn't do it with mysteries. I am not really afraid of spoilers but I prefer not to know any major ones.
I used to do this when I was younger, but upon reading the end of Where the Red Fern Grows, I decided to not wreck the story for myself ever again!
No. That would be like opening a Christmas present before Christmas which is a big no-no!
Kathy wrote: "Yes, sometimes. If I'm not sure about a book I'll skip to the end to see if it is worth reading. Spoilers don't bother me at all, actually; either books or movies. Of course I am not a linear thi..."
Yes, I do..
Spoilers don't bother me either.I can relax and read it once I know the book is to my liking.
For me the journey is more important.
I am too impatient .waiting to open a present is torture for me.
My mom is notorious for doing this and it drives me crazy! Even as a kid I didn't approve. I am very anti-spoiler and can't stand even accidentally reading a characters name towards the end!!
Always. A little in the beginning, a little in the middle, a little in the end. You usually cannot tell what happen, but you can get a general feeling about the book.
No. I used to when I was in public school, but then wrecked a favourite book for myself, so I haven't done it since.
All the time. I tend to skip back and forth with a book. I don't think it spoils anything for me, instead I get more interested in knowing how the ending came about.
My first response is “No! Blasphemy!” =P But perhaps somewhat similar, I have been on the fence about continuing some series and perhaps even some individual books in part because I was unsure where the author was going to take it and so I looked at reviews with spoilers to help make my determination. I think I’ve almost always decided against, maybe had already, and my looking ahead was to confirm that or satisfy any lingering curiosity about a series I was no longer interested in continuing. 🤔
I don't skip to the end but I will sometimes look ahead a few chapters to be sure the character is still alive, for instance. In general, I hate spoilers and I try to avoid reading the blurbs inside the cover or on the back because they often give away a lot. Audio is great because you can't look ahead, or not easily. I listened to one book where it was totally clear that a character was dead and everyone was looking for the body and then, bam! it turned out she was alive. In a paper book, I might have glanced ahead to see if her name turned up again and lost the surprise.
I've only done this when I'm within a few pages of finishing the book.
Goodness NO! Is that even allowed? I move that we banish anyone who answers yes to this!
I’m not a linear reader when it comes to tree-books. If I don’t like the direction a story is going, I’ll go to the end. If I don’t like how it ends, I DNF so I won’t waste my time on a book that doesn’t work for me. Also, if I come to a scene that is too scary or embarrassing for me to read, I jump ahead 10-20 pages and read back and forth until I read the entire section, just not in order so I won’t get too anxious. Weird I guess, but it works for me.
Jen wrote: "I’m not a linear reader when it comes to tree-books. If I don’t like the direction a story is going, I’ll go to the end. If I don’t like how it ends, I DNF so I won’t waste my time on a book that d..."Nice to know someone else does the same things and has the same feelings about DNF. A book is for enjoyment. Read it anyway that works for you. I do.
No, I hate spoilers so I don't do that to myself. But if others read this way, it doesn't bother me as long as they don't share if we read as a group.
I had a literature professor who once told the class the ending of Orwell's 1984 to a classroom full of shocked students and some groans. He then smirked, and said "Now, remember, we aren't reading for the ending of the book. There are so many more valuable aspects of reading literature." This thread has brought this memory back to me. But, in a way, I really don't mind reading the ending if I am reading a lukewarm book that doesn't seem very interesting or I care much for. There are so many books I really want to be done with , particularly ones with annoying characters, narrators, etc.
Too many books, too little time.
When I buy physical books in person, I always read the very last line of the book before i buy. idk why but it's fun for me. but I don't skip to the end to find out what happens after I've started.
I don't know why I do this! It never works but it's usually when I'm confused about something and skipping around always exacerbates the confusion. I usually read the last couple lines of every book to get a tone for the way it will end. Sometimes this works but most of the time it doesn't. It's not about spoilers but trying to figure out the narrative while I'm experiencing it. I love doing this with detective fiction!
Mod
BTW, this is one of the reasons I always try to read the book before I see the movie.
Catching up on Classics (and lots more!)
Books mentioned in this topic
Where the Red Fern Grows (other topics)Divergent (other topics)
A Dance with Dragons (other topics)
Wool Omnibus (other topics)
Hmmm, I don't know if I can say 'no', but I don't know if I can say 'yes'. I mean, I know I don't USUALLY do this, but it feels like in my memory, once or twice, I may have been so anxious to find out, I *might* have peeked ... a little!
I can't remember for sure, tho :p.
Oh! I do remember 'sorta' cheating last year, when I was reading Wool Omnibus by Hugh Howey. I was so anxious to know if a certain character survived, that I used the then relatively-new 'xray' feature on kindle, which shows you what characters appear in what parts of the book. I just HAD to know if this one certain character was still being mentioned later in the book! I figured if they were, then surely they must have survived. heh ...
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