Romance Readers Reading Challenges discussion
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books you could not finish
I'm an impatient reader. I will be the first to admit it. So, if a book doesn't grab me at least by the first 5-10 chapters- its hard for me to stay interested in the book. I've had that problem with the 2 books below.
River's End by Nora Roberts
Jemima J: A Novel About Ugly Ducklings and Swans by Jane Green
I plan to finish both at some point. Really, I do. LOL
War and Peace and a suitable boy are still being plodded through. I will get through them one day but better books demand my sttention
A Kiss of Shadows (Meredith Gentry, #1)Dead Witch Walking
These two I just had to put down, I just couldn't seem to get into them.
I feel guilty not finishing books I've started. It kills me to even put it aside and pick it up again months later to finish. Just finished two books that I did that to and it felt wonderful to finish them even if I wasn't all that into them.
Mirely wrote: "I feel guilty not finishing books I've started. It kills me to even put it aside and pick it up again months later to finish. Just finished two books that I did that to and it felt wonderful to fi..."That's why I'm grateful for wikipedia and other sites that put book summaries online. So I can find out what happened but not be burdened to finish reading it.
I just had two books I had to give up on back-to-back. They were "The Duke's Wager" by Edith Layton and "Phantom Waltz" by Catherine Anderson. I just couldn't get into them and gave up. I hate wasting time trying to force myself to finish a book I'm not into. Occasionally, I will, but I usually just move on since I have hundreds of books on my TBR list.
I used to be very diligent about finishing books, not any more. I will give a book 50-100 pages maximum. If it doesn't work for me, I will put it away without hesitation and will read a wiki summary if curious about the ending. I will sometimes put in an extra effort if it's a classic or has received critical acclaim, but for a regular entertainment type read 50 pages and I am done. Life is too short and my TBR is too long:)Recent books that I couldn't finish:
Glass Houses
Moon Called
The Luxe
Recently, it was Beautiful Creatures. I just didn't care about the characters or what was happening. I tried several times, but I ended up giving up after 80 pages.
Christine wrote: "Recently, it was Beautiful Creatures. I just didn't care about the characters or what was happening. I tried several times, but I ended up giving up after 80 pages."Oh, I finished Beautiful Creatures, but it was pure torture. I ended up skimming last 500 pages.
Oh, thank God I wasn't the only one that didn't like it. A lot of my friends loved the book and I haven't been able to bring up my inability to finish it around them.
For me it has been these two ...Beyond The Pale by Savannah Russe - the main character got on my nerves and I had issues with her (and other like characters) turning into huge people-sized vampire bats!!
The Pact by Jodi Picoult - bored me and I just couldn't care about the characters.
Usually if a book is failing to picque my interest I will skim ahead a few pages or flip to the ending. Mostly something will happen and I'll want to know how it came to be so I will go back to where I left off and continue to read. Unfortunately, that plan of attack didn't help with these two so I just gave up. It's not as if I don't have plenty of other books on my shelves to take their places :)
I just read the summary for Beyond the Pale. Team Darkwing? I had to giggle at that because I immediately thought of Darkwing Duck.
the last book I couldn't finish was A is for Alibi - I know that its a hugely popular series, but I just couldn't get into it - I gave it until 1/4 of the way through, but called it quits after hat
There's been a few books that I DNF but the one that comes to mind is Dragonbound. I threw the book at the wall when the hero got some other chick pregnant with his dragon seed & the heroine was all "Yeah thats cool you knocked some other chick up. I still love you". Wtf?
I could not finish Ceremony in Death by J.D. Robb because of its content and will not finish it. I currently have Mistress and the Art of Death by the side of my bed that I quit reading a month ago and need to go back and pick it up again, give it another chance. I hope I can finish it. I have also stalled on A Tree Grows in Brooklyn only because I haven't had alot of time to read and this one requires more patience and thought than some of the other books I grabbed to read during this busy time of life.
I really can't remember a book I couldn't finish. I remember reading a book last year and my son asked how I was liking it. "Well, the first 800 pages haven't been that good, but I'm not quite at the end yet. There's still hope." I told him.Forever the optimist.
Photojim wrote: "I really can't remember a book I couldn't finish. I remember reading a book last year and my son asked how I was liking it. "Well, the first 800 pages haven't been that good, but I'm not quite at..."That's me too. There are a bunch of books that I had to make myself finish, but I always finish them. I am always worried that I'm going to miss something great if I put it down.
Dee -- I forgot about the Sue Grafton series. I tried reading A is for Alibi as well and never got through it. Jim -- I can't imagine reading 800 pages of a book you weren't enjoying! That would be torture for me. I give a book to the halfway point an if I don't like it, I give up. It reminds me too much of school when I had to read something I just didn't like. I promised myself that after reading my way through The Scarlet Letter in 11th grade that I would never continue reading a book if I didn't enjoy it.
for me it was the house of dream it is a brenda joyce novel it just did'nt hold me I wanted to know the outcome has anyone read it.
I'm fortunate in that I seem to be pretty intuitive about what I will like and what I won't, so it's fairly rare for me to find a book that is a complete dud. However, in spite of my diligence in being selective about the books I choose, I still occasionally run across one that is simply torturous to read, but I still have yet to deliberately not finish it. I think there are three reasons for this:A. I'm like Photojim in that I'm always hoping it will get better.
B. My OCD-ness drives me to want to know what happens in the end.
C. The reviewer in me doesn't feel like I can accurately and completely assess a book's content without reading it cover to cover.
I'm just happy that I don't pick up books that are difficult to finish very often.:-)
I have had to train myself to stop reading a book I don't like... it happens very rarely though. I used to be like Photojim and HAVE to finish a book I had started but I just have tooooooo many books to read. Also, I have a confession to make, (hangs head)... if a book is not to my liking I will go to the end, read it, and then decide whether it is worth getting through the rest of the book. I know, I know not what we should do... but I am a closet end-of-the-book reader.Last book I started and didn't finish, Little brother by Cory Doctorow, from August last year.
![Macwolf01 [Elise] (macwolf01) | 1012 comments](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1277511172p1/2680059.jpg)
I know I'm going to offend but The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger is one of only a handful of books that I couldn't finish. And I finished barely, The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, I kept putting it down and I finally forced myself to finish but I won't be picking up the next ones
LibraryLass wrote: "Also, I have a confession to make, (hangs head)... if a book is not to my liking I will go to the end, read it, and then decide whether it is worth getting through the rest of the book. I know, I know not what we should do... but I am a closet end-of-the-book reader..."Another "closet end-of-the-book reader" here :)
Me, too! It drives my husband crazy to watch me doing it but I just can't help it.....and while I'm confessing, can I join the "didn't finish The Time Traveler's Wife group"? I so did NOT like that one.
Tammy - i'm in that group too...I was trying to listen to it in audiobook and just couldn't get into it...maybe better if I actually read it
Delicious Dee wrote: "Tammy - i'm in that group too...I was trying to listen to it in audiobook and just couldn't get into it...maybe better if I actually read it"It's bad listening to it as well? (snicker).
When I bought it my hubby read it first and said I might like it - so I tried. I skimmed, I skipped ahead, I read the end, I slowed down... I used all my tricks to find a part that grabbed my attention but couldn't do it. I think her newer book sounds more interesting - and the reviews sound like the people who LIKED Time Traveler didn't like it. (Which to me says I'd probably like it better!)
i think because it had two narrators tellig it, it was confusing for me to listen to...i'm used to audiobooks just having one person...plus i couldn't just sit and listen to it in one sitting, which might have helped...IDK...I might try it again when I have a longer time to listen to it
I couldn't finish The Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson. I read about half and put it down reluctantly because I knew I probably was going to miss something, but I just couldn't take all the things associated with him being burned. As far as the Grafton series, I started that series with S is for Silence, and it was the audio. I'm not sure I would have liked it as much in book form.
I tried two books by Karen Rose and couldn't finish either one.
I never used to put books down, but there's so many I want to try, and I don't know if I'll be around long enough to give them all a go, so...
Wow!! Do you mean to tell me that the book police won't come and get me and lead me off in handcuffs if I quit a book before I finish it? I guess I have always thought of that as the unforgiveable sin or something, haha
There have been a couple of non-fiction books that I haven't finished, but I don't usually count that as reading. But not finish a book I voluntarily started? I just can't do it. How can you leave a book before the end? Nope, don't have it in me.Have I ever thrown a book at a wall I was so frustrated? Yep. Then I picked it back up and continued reading. I've certainly thrown a few away to save others from accidentally picking up a piece of garbage.
But what disturbs me the most is the thought of reading the end of a book before I've earned the right to be there. WTF?!?! I don't skim or skip either. I read EVERY WORD. How can you possibly give a fair assessment of a work without having read it as the author intended? The only variation from the author's work I think is acceptable is a translation to another language.
Let's face it folks, most of what we read (at least in this group) are romances. Romances by definition follow a set of rules. You already know who the HEA will involve by page 50. How can reading the ending possibly change your perception? If you are reading a mystery, knowing who did it without working for it is just plain laziness.
Sorry, just my two cents worth.
I have quite a few books I've not been able to finish. More in recent years though. I used to be one of those "don't care how bad the book is it HAS to get better and how dare you not finish the book" kind of people." Not anymore. I have often found that if I can't get into the book for whatever reason, even if it does get better, it doesn't get better enough to make it worth the time I wasted on it. I have way too many books sitting here waiting for me to read them to waste time on a book that doesn't grab me. And there are so many books being published every single week that I don't own yet but want to own to force myself to read something I'm not liking.
I'm a first chapter or two person. If the book doesn't hook me from the get-go, I stop. There has to be SOMEthing about those first two chapters to make it grab me or I won't continue. Even in a book with a lot of world building and information dumps being done that drag a book down usually will have something about that world building to intrigue me enough to keep going. If not, I stop.
I used to feel guilty about not finishing a book but I have since given myself permission to not finish something I'm not enjoying.
The only exception is review books. Under no circumstances whatsoever will I quit a book before it is over if I have to review it. Even if it is the absolute worst piece of garbage I've ever read (and I've had a few of those) I will finish it because I owe the author a fair review of the entire book, not just part of it. So that's the only time I do not give myself permission to stop reading.
My late grandma gave me the best tip for picking out a book - I use it all the time and it rarely fails me. She was a lifelong voracious reader of "category" romance novels - Harlequins, Silouette, etc. What she did was read the back cover, read the inside front cover blurb and then read the first page of book, all while still in the bookstore. If the first page grabbed her, she bought the book.I do this all the time (reading the first page, I mean) and it works pretty well for me. The books I've been unable to finish have been, for the most part, ones that have been recommended for me, or new genres or authors that I am trying out.
Photojim wrote: "There have been a couple of non-fiction books that I haven't finished, but I don't usually count that as reading. But not finish a book I voluntarily started? I just can't do it. How can you lea..."Hi Photojim,
First a question: how come you don't count non-fiction as reading? Does it depend on the non-fiction? I could see a reference book, but how about a true-crime, or a biography? I'm interested to hear your answer, 'cause I think I might agree with you.
Second, a comment about skim-reading a romance novel. We all know that there is a HEA, that's a given. And again, we all know these books all follow a certain formula. What differs is the execution of the formula, and how the author arrives at the HEA. For those of us who "cheat" that way, IMO we do it if we don't think the formula is executed very well.
I just finished a book where I committed both mortal sins - reading the end AND skipping ahead, more than once. Not because I wondered who would end up together, but to see if a) the story got any better; b) if they were EVER going to have sex; and c) how the HEA was done. I ended up being disappointed on all fronts, so have set the book aside to re-read later. Maybe then my expectations won't be so high because right now I'm feeling pretty gypped.
And finally - the ultimate sin - READING THE END. I don't know about anyone else, but I don't do it as a way to cheat reading the rest of the book. If it happens to me I've read part of the book, gotten excited/frustrated/impatient, flipped to end, had a quick look, then went back to where I was and soldier on. And I try never to do it in a "whodunit".
Wow, I do go on. Sorry for length of my reply!
No probs Tammy, I agree with nearly all you said.Photojim, I read the end of books only when I am struggling to get thru them... I look to see if there is enough magic in the HEA to read through the crud in the middle. I don't consider this to be laziness.
To me, being able to put a book down unfinished is the same as if I was watching a movie/tv programme I didn't like... why put myself through it, especially when there are soooooo many good books to read.
As the saying goes... life is too short to read bad books.
Tammy - First, don't apologize about the size of your reply. I've always heard that unless your reply is freakishly long or exceptionally short, it's what you say with it that matters. ;-) (Sorry, I'm a guy. I'm genetically prohibited from allowing anyone to say, 'sorry this is so big' without making a comment of some type.)Photography books are my primary non-fiction reads. That is certainly more educational than anything. Occasionally I'll read a self help/how to/reference book about something else, but again this is for educational purposes. I can count on one hand the number of biographies I've read in my entire life. I can count on no hands the number of biographies I've enjoyed. True crime? Not for me thanks.
I guess what I'm trying to say is that reading is what I do for fun. If it's not fun, I'm not gonna' call it reading. Think I'm just arguing semantics? Let me ask you a question, what is the difference between someone who goes target shooting and someone who climbs a tower and goes on a killing spree as a sniper? The physical actions are exactly the same but the intent and end results are dramatically different. I don't want to make what I do with a biography and what I do with a novel the same thing. So let's call it something else shall we?
LibraryLass - I agree with/understand much of what Tammy says as well, but I've taken a position and now I must stick with it. I agree that laziness was probably the wrong word for it.
But I do disagree that not finishing a book and not finishing a movie are equivalent. Then again, I've never sat down to watch a movie and turned it off because of __________ (fill in the blank). I've never walked out of a movie theater either. I'm not talking about flipping channels and stumble upon something. I'm talking about sitting down 'to watch a movie' - I've loaded a DVD, streaming an instant watch, or whatever. I've been interrupted, sure, but always go back to finish later.
TV is like a magazine - OK if you have nothing better to do, but how often does that happen? Yeah, no problems with turning off a tv show midway through.
Tammy wrote: "And finally - the ultimate sin - READING THE END. I don't know about anyone else, but I don't do it as a way to cheat reading the rest of the book. If it happens to me I've read part of the book, gotten excited/frustrated/impatient, flipped to end, had a quick look, then went back to where I was and soldier on. And I try never to do it in a "whodunit"...."I've done that many times as well. Often because the book is so blasted boring or irritating I skip to the end to see what happenes and if it is better or not. Just last summer I did that with a paranormal romance novel that sounded so good from the blurb and all but was exceedingly dull once I started reading it. I read aout 100 pages (trade sized paperback with normal fint size so I read well into the book) before I couldn't stand it anymore and skipped ahead. The ending did not fit AT ALL with what I had read almost halfway into the book. So I had to go back and finish to see how that ending came about. Sadly, all that did was make me hate myself for wasting even more time on the book. LOL
I have to agree with Photojim. I find myself unable to leave a book (or a movie) unfinished. I just don't feel good about it... Besides, even if you end up not liking the book (or movie) that doesn't mean it doesn't leave you with anything. It's a story. You can't like every story, right? And even if you say that it didn't actually leave you anything, well, then, you'll probably forget about it sooner than later, won't you? All you'll remember is that you didn't like it!As for the skimming/skipping or reading the end... well what's the point of that?
If it tires me so much that I want to leave it aside, that's what I do, but I always come back sooner or later.(I have began reading a couple of "heavy" books that after a chapter leave me exhausted and I've put them on hold for sometime later, or end up reading a chapter at a time for a long time until it's finally done. Same thing with movies. I just CANNOT turn it off once it's begun. It's impossible. I've found myself suffering during movies from the idiocy of what I was watching but could not turn the thing off until the end titles appeared! Torture! But I simply can't do it...)
If I'm too anxious to see what happens, on the other hand, I still can't skim or skip or read ahead from where I am, because it feels a little like cheating and the pages in between are there for a reason, no matter how much it frustrates me sometimes.
Plus, sometimes even if it doesn't look like it, the story may be worth it. It may even be the very last sentence you read (or scene or whatever analogy for a movie)but for that sentence alone the whole book is worth reading.
That's my two cents on the subject.
P.S.: I would comment on the size of my "two cents" but I'm thinking it'll make Photojim feel the need to comment on that again and I'd hate to make him repeat himself! :P
LOL, Thenia. I agree to a certain point with your comments. As I said in my earlier comments, it happens very rarely that I give up on a book that I've started (last August being the last time). I do revisit books I may have put down as it is often a "mood" thing. Case in point: About six years ago, I went to visit a nearby library (not associated with us) and picked up the first of the In death series. Took it home, tried reading it, didn't get into it.... I did this 3 times. Then about 4 years ago, I picked it up again and was completely consumed with the books and went back to my own library and INSISTED we buy the entire backlist of JD Robb books... now I have read the whole series and they are one of the few books I will re-read :))
There are many I will put aside for a time and then try them again later. But the few I've absolutely put down never to pick up again (and this is only as long as I've been keeping track) are:Angels' Blood
Women in Love
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas: A Savage
Journey to the Heart of the American Dream
I stopped reading them for different reasons, but the reasons were enough that I don't want to pick them up again.
Carolyn F. wrote: "There are many I will put aside for a time and then try them again later. But the few I've absolutely put down never to pick up again (and this is only as long as I've been keeping track) are:[b..."
I've never been able to make it through [book:Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas: A Savage Journey to the Heart of the American Dream|7745] either. I've tried a few times because my boyfriend loves it, but I always end up setting it down and forgetting about it. I've also fallen asleep during the movie everytime it's on - no matter what time of day it is! Saturday Night Fever has the same effect on me too.
I tried reading Confessions of a Shopaholic because my sister said I'd love it...I've stopped listening to her :)
Usually if I give up on a book it's because it's in a really long series that I'm tired of, so I take a break and forget what was going on. This usually only happens in fantasy series because there are too many characters/subplots to remember. Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time is the only one I can think of offhand. A few thousand pages in with no end in sight was too much for me. I'll try again when Brandon Sanderson finishes it though.
I think everyone has some valid points. There have been few books where I have skimmed and even fewer that I have not finished or skipped to the end. But I have done it. When I was younger, I wouldn't have dreamed of doing such a thing. I was in AP English and if could read some of the more depressing classics with their messages and Shakespeare (I actually like Shakespeare quite a lot - found him fascinating), then I could finish a fiction book. But now that I am older and there are so many books out there that I want to read, I just can't see going past around 100 pages or perhaps half of the book when it's making me miserable and taking of what valuable time I have on this earth. So the only time I ever skip to or towards the end is when I'm not sure if finishing it is something I want to do. And it seems like the older I get, the more it seems to be happening. Luckily, I mostly pick the right books. If I am reading a new author, and I don't care for the first book, I usually pick up a 2nd just to make sure I'm not missing out. After two, as a rule, they're usually history. Too many other authors, too little time.
You people are a bad influence on me. I'm reading the most craptacular book right now (Unearthed) and I thought, 'Maybe I should read the end to see if I can really suffer through this.' Fortunately I came to my senses. I'm sure I will grant this gem with the one star that it so richly deserves when I'm done, but I will have finished it first. After all, I'm only 1/3 of the way through the book. There's time left for it to get better.*edit - Holy crap! I just GR friends have read it and each gave it four stars? I mean really, even the cover is gag inducing.
Romance Readers Reading Challenges
Books mentioned in this topic
Unearthed (other topics)Playing with Fire (other topics)
The Warlord Wants Forever (other topics)
Night Embrace (other topics)
A Hunger Like No Other (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Jade Lee (other topics)Jade Lee (other topics)
Peter F. Hamilton (other topics)
Brandon Sanderson (other topics)
Robert Jordan (other topics)
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I remember as a high school student, I had a remarkable English teacher who taught me a lot about reading. She encouraged me to read books that normally wouldn't appeal to me and to finish books because a lot of times the ending does pay off. I generally follow these rules, but recently there were two books that I just could not finish.
For me, the first romance book I ever stopped reading was Undead and Unwed. The book seemed like it could be really fun, but I didn't get the humor at all. There was also so many elements to what was going on that things seemed scattered and I couldn't keep up with all the characters. I was surprised because it's such a popular series and I really thought I would love it.
A few weeks ago, I gave up reading Fallen by Lauren Kate. I was told many times that it's a story that starts off slow and then gets really good, but it was just too slow for too long. As I was reading it I could hear my college creative writing professor saying, "Cut the composition and get to the point!"