How Many Pages Until You Give Up On A New Book? (10/24/21)

[Marc]

Are you someone who stops reading a book if you don't like it or something about it feels off? If so, at what point do you make this decision---is it a certain number of pages or an amount of reading time? Does it vary by book? Have you given up early on or quite late in any given attempt to read a book?

[Stacia]

Yep, I abandon books with abandon. I have an "abandoned" shelf here on GR.

It can be at any time, early, middle, or late in the book. Usually early, though. I won't rate a book I haven't fully read, but I often will write a sentence or two about why I'm abandoning something (mostly to remind myself should I think the book sounds interesting later, lol).

For me, it's by feel/mood, not by a certain number of pages or given amount of time reading.

[Alwynne]

Is this prompted by the recent Guardian article?

https://www.theguardian.com/books/202...

Looking at my GR list of books I abandoned the reasons vary. I gave up on The Runaways not long after the author introduced two characters whose treatment - in terms of race and disability - I found offensive which made me reluctant to continue. Bestiary I discarded after a couple of chapters because I disliked the prose style. I got about two-thirds of the way through Minty Alley: Black Britain: Writing Back but the storyline became repetitive and stale. I made it about halfway through some others but found myself glazing over so often it wasn't worth persevering.

[Bill]

Varies by book. Usually I try for around 100 pages. But if I'm really not convinced, I may stop much earlier.

Books that I've gone with 100+ pages usually get rated and marked "abandoned". But I don't rate books that I give up on earlier; I just remove them from my reading lists.

[Alwynne]

I don't rate mine either but I do write notes on them sometimes, as a personal reminder or if none of the other reviews picked up on elements I think GR friends would find equally annoying, and might have saved me from trying a book if I'd known about them in advance.

[Lark]

I sometimes put a book down after reading the first sentence.

[Stacia]

lark wrote: "I sometimes put a book down after reading the first sentence."

This made me laugh.

(I have done that too.)

[Marc]

Permanently, Lark?

[Lark]

Marc wrote: "Permanently, Lark?"

yes? (is that okay?)

[Lark]

fyi the last book I stopped reading forever, after reading the first sentence, was Damnation Spring. I'm not saying it was a bad sentence but it was without a doubt a not-for-me sentence.

[Alwynne]

I'm curious did you get a copy then read the first sentence? Apart from arcs, it's so easy to find an extract from contemporary work online now.

[Lark]

Alwynne wrote: "I'm curious did you get a copy then read the first sentence? Apart from arcs, it's so easy to find an extract from contemporary work online now."

Alwynne, I requested it from NetGalley. I just had to tell the publisher "not for me." When I don't read a book, or when I'm conflicted about it, I may still write something on Goodreads, but not leave stars--a review without stars, I've learned, doesn't affect a book's rating.

[Alwynne]

I do that too, not just for unfinished books but for ones - usually vintage - where I'm not entirely comfortable with the content, so don't feel I can wholly endorse them. Netgalley's quite annoying, I wish they provided extracts or the facility to remove a book from the request list.

[Marc]

Of course it's ok, Lark. I just wasn't sure whether we were entering the realm of "false starts" or true abandonment. I will occasionally read a sentence or a few pages and put a book back on the shelf or in the pile because I'm not ready or in the mood.

I usually try to abandon before the halfway point because I feel like I might as well finish after the halfway point. It used to be I never abandoned books. It's still rare and it usually happens late in the process where I suddenly realize I don't care how a book ends or I can't answer the question of why I'm still reading it.

[Lark]

Marc wrote: "It's still rare and it usually happens late in the process where I suddenly realize I don't care how a book ends or I can't answer the question of why I'm still reading it. ..."

Sometimes I have a visceral reaction to the rhythm or the style of a particular book and I just need it out of my head. I mean 'visceral' in a fairly literal way, where it feels as if I just accidentally bit into a piece of moldy bread and I need to spit it out immediately.

[Stacia]

lark wrote: "Sometimes I have a visceral reaction to the rhythm or the style of a particular book and I just need it out of my head. I mean 'visceral' in a fairly literal way, where it feels as if I just accidentally bit into a piece of moldy bread and I need to spit it out immediately."

Yes. Exactly.

What I can't understand is those who soldier through when they don't even like or really care for a book. (My good friend does this. She doesn't understand my ability to abandon books, I don't understand her dedication to finishing something she doesn't like. We enjoy ribbing each other about it. Lol.)

Obviously, I understand keeping with it if it's for a purpose such as an assignment, work, or something specific you're trying to learn. But just for fun reading? No.

[Robert]

I give every book 50 pages. If within those 50 pages I start to skim read or dread reading the next few lines then it is abandoned.

In the past I would put it aside for rereading but my TBR pile is too big for that so I just delete the book from Goodreads and give/sell the book.

I usually read between 10 and 12 books a month and I'll DNF 1. Then once or twice a year I'll just DNF huge amounts - usually in January and May. This October I abandoned 11 books though.

[Marc]

Stacia wrote: "What I can't understand is those who soldier through when they don't even like or really care for a book.."

I can only answer this for myself and it seems to be a combination of something like OCD and the feeling that I can't judge the book/movie/art without experiencing it in its entirety. When I was younger, I used to read every page in whatever magazines I was reading (and that includes the ads). I think it tends to be a personality thing. This whole discussion caused me to stumble upon this article: Why It's So Hard to Stop Reading Books You Don't Even Like (https://www.thecut.com/2018/07/why-it...).

I do tend to too often think, "Surely, this will get better." Sometimes it does. Mostly, it doesn't.

A lot depends on why I'm reading a book, as well (did I agree to a book discussion, was it a gift... if so, who gave it to me, etc.).

I think 50 to 100 pgs is a pretty fair range before abandoning a book. Not too much time wasted, but enough to get a pretty good sense of a book.

[Carol]

I really struggle to ever stop once I’ve started, in fact I’ve managed it twice in the last 10 years. I have a huge stack of books waiting to be read and know I should just move on but it just seems like I’m not giving the book a chance unless I read the whole thing.

[Hugh]

I hardly ever abandon books - the exceptions are mostly non-fiction and books I don’t own, for example things found in holiday cottages or my parents' house. If i have paid for a book I like to finish it, especially if it isn't very long.

[Lark]

I wonder if people who rarely abandon books are just very good at filtering what they choose to read before they even pick a book up to begin with.

[Robert]

lark wrote: "I wonder if people who rarely abandon books are just very good at filtering what they choose to read before they even pick a book up to begin with."

Or they are adaptable

[Hugh]

I like to think that filtering is part of it, but with most books one can look forward to reading something else in a day or two and I don't often read books with no redeeming features.

[Sam]

I am another who does not like abandoning books even if I dislike them. I look at my relationship with the book as a contract with the author. I commit x amount of time to fully hear what he/she has to say. Since I make the commitment before beginning the book, I am loathe to break it before the end. Occasionally, I have to finish a terrible book but considering all, I am proud of my commitment and rarely do I not have some benefit. OTOH, I sometimes interrupt a book for various reasons, returning to it some time in the future, often years later.

[LindaJ^]

I have lots of unfinished books laying around but still on my TBR list. I stopped marking books in GR as "currently reading" so I don't have to be reminded! I have six marked that way and all are ones I intend to finish, someday. The nonfiction ones I will eventually finish. For the fiction, I may resort to audio. I try to finish everything I start, but do have 7 books on my abandoned shelf. Four are books from the Booker/International Booker longlist that I just did not like and when they did not make the shortlist, I abandoned them.

I do not have a page limit. I rarely rate them or write a review.

[Sarah]

I go with the recommended (by a WAPO editor I think) 60 pages. Have given up as early as 4 pages, couldn't read the writing style and met the author who made me bristle. Generally, pace and writing style are the reasons for giving up. Life is too short, TBR too long!

[Lark]

Sam wrote: "I am another who does not like abandoning books even if I dislike them. I look at my relationship with the book as a contract with the author. ..."

Sam, you would make a good literary agent! Whenever I read an interview with an agent or an article they've written about their process, it seems they describe a love of reading that goes far beyond what's on the page, where they read quite a lot of a submission even if it's not grabbing them at first.

[Stacia]

lark wrote: "I wonder if people who rarely abandon books are just very good at filtering what they choose to read before they even pick a book up to begin with."

Good point.

I hate spoilers, rarely read book summaries, etc. So, I don't have lots of filters ahead of time in place. Perhaps that's why I don't mind abandoning books.

[Whitney]

Interesting assortment of answers. I think a lot of them apply to me.

I like Nancy Pearl's "Rule of Fifty", which is to give a book 50 pages. If you're over 50, subtract 50 from your age and give it that many pages. (I like it, but I don't always follow it).

I tend to give books from different cultures or countries more of a chance, as I assume the issue may be my unfamiliarity with the culture or style, and not a problem with the book per se. Like Linda, most my unfinished books haven't been officially abandoned, just set down and never picked up again. I also fall into Lark's category of people who put a lot of thought into what they read next, so rarely do I find myself with a book I dislike enough to officially abandon.

[Stacia]

Whitney wrote: "II tend to give books from different cultures or countries more of a chance, as I assume the issue may be my unfamiliarity with the culture or style, and not a problem with the book per se. Like Linda, most my unfinished books haven't been officially abandoned, just set down and never picked up again. I also fall into Lark's category of people who put a lot of thought into what they read next, so rarely do I find myself with a book I dislike enough to officially abandon."

I probably do the same w/ books from different countries.

Re: setting an unfinished book aside w/ the intention to finish later.... I used to have a GR shelf for that but then I realized I never went back & finished the ones I set aside for later, so I deleted the shelf.

[Alwynne]

I can't imagine sticking with a book until the end if I didn't like/enjoy/find it interesting/have to read it for study/work. It seems no different from forcing myself to eat something I dislike or that makes me feel nauseous. I have a friend who makes herself finish books she doesn't like but she complains the whole way through, so I assume there's a slightly masochistic or performative aspect to doing that.

[RJ - Slayer of Trolls]

I made it almost 100 pages into Papillon by Henri Charrière before I surrendered. But it only took 2-3 pages before I put a stake in the heart of Twilight by Stephenie Meyer.