How long do you spend on a book that has potential but is not fullfilling it?

[Shannon]

Do you hang in there for a set number of pages/chapters or just give up as soon as you loose interest?

[Michelle]

Shannon wrote: "Do you hang in there for a set number of pages/chapters or just give up as soon as you loose interest?"

I don't have a set number of pages or chapters that I go by. I just put a book "on hold" once it becomes a real struggle to stay even the slightest bit interested.

[Shannon]

I always struggle to know when I should give up. Guess I'm scared I might miss out on something good though that rarely is the case with books that bore me.

[Michelle]

Shannon wrote: "I always struggle to know when I should give up. Guess I'm scared I might miss out on something good though that rarely is the case with books that bore me."

Right now, I'm reading Kushiel's Dart, and its just not grabbing me- yet. Its over 800 pages. So, I know what you mean about being afraid that you'll miss something. With a book that large, I may give it at least 1/3 to 1/2 the book. But I'll definitely read other books along the way.

[Joseph]

In the past I very rarely if ever gave up on a book, but in the last year or so my TBR list has grown so much that if I find I just cannot seem to be getting in to a book after an hour or so of reading I have no problem dropping it to pick up another. I'm a quick read, so if I find I haven't gotten through the first hundred or so pages after an hour, I'll usually drop it, but if I find I've read more than half the book, I'll keep going.

[Tiffany]

I find that if a book doesn't catch me and if I don't have friends telling me how good it is then I end up putting the book back on my shelf TBR at a later date and time. I have to be caught within the first chapter or two. Otherwise I leave it sitting there.

[Dee]

i just finished reading Little Bee and hoenstly, if it wasn't the last book I needed to complete a reading challenge and/or i had had time to read or wanted to read one of the other two options, I probably wouldn't have finished it

normally I use the 20% rule (since most of my reading is on my kindle)...the only exception is if someone says, it starts slow (i.e. to build the world) but it gets better around x point...

a book like that for me was Outlander - the first 200 pages are ridiculously slow, and I probably would have given up, if my mom hadn't said, keep reading until you get to the wedding (about 35% in) and then it started getting really good...the series is now one of my favorites of all time

[Batsap]

I almost always will battle through to the end of a book I'm not particularly enjoying. Then afterwards I'll complain bitterly about it... But it just feels messy to leave the damn thing unread.

[Tiffany]

Batsap wrote: "I almost always will battle through to the end of a book I'm not particularly enjoying. Then afterwards I'll complain bitterly about it... But it just feels messy to leave the damn thing unread."

Yes, but if you have finished the book then you deserve to get to complain. My other question would be who enjoyed the book enough in the first place to publish it??

[Classyreader]

I have only put down one book unfinished. It was so horribly written. I am talking grammatical errors as well as general silliness.

[chucklesthescot]

As soon as I get bored with a book, I move on to the next read. I've always got about 700 books on my tbr so I don't have time to waste on something I'm not enjoying-unless I need to finish it for a reading challenge.

[Ann]

I don't have a specific point when I give up on a book. It really depends. Sometimes it's only a few pages in, sometimes even shortly before the end. I try to read at least 100 pages but sometimes the book is so boring that I can't make it to that.

[Ellie]

If it's for a book group discussion or I'm menat to be reviewing the book for somewhere I will battle onto the end. If I reading just for me I probably will give up about page 100 if it's that bad...unless I really can't bring myself to read another page!

[Tracey]

Michelle wrote: Right now, I'm reading Kushiel's Dart, and its just not grabbing me- yet.

I had heard such glowing reviews of Kushiel's Dart that I wanted to love it, and I just couldn't; I found it off-putting, and at a certain point when something horrifically traumatic happened in the story I closed it. And Swapped it.

[Tracey]

Nicky wrote: "Until recently, I would force myself to the end of a book regardless of how little I was enjoying it. But then I realized that there are so many books and so little time that it really wasn't in my..."

Exactly the same for me. I used to keep plowing on, and finally decided there were better things I could be doing - and reading. I don't have a set point where I'll quit; it depends on why I don't want to read the book. I quit T.A. Pratt's first Marla Mason book after about a chapter because I hated the character and hated the writing. But I lasted about three quarters into Yasmine Galenorn's Witchling even though it was purely awful, mostly out of morbid curiosity. I managed to finish Kara Dalkey's Crystal Sage, but I regretted it. I won't waste that much time again.

[Maggie the Muskoka Library Mouse]

I try to give a book 100 pages to capture my interest. Once I make it past that mark, I generally stick with it to the end. :)

[Shannon]

Tracey wrote: " I quit T.A. Pratt's first Marla Mason book after about a chapter because I hated the character and hated the writing. But I lasted about three quarters into Yasmine Galenorn's Witchling even though it was purely awful, mostly out of morbid curiosity."

I had the same problem with both of those books.

[Ashley]

I read somewhere that you should give a book between 50-100 pages before giving up. For me, it just depends on how "bad" the book is and if I purchased it full-price. If I bought it at B&N, I'm more likely to push through and tough it out. But if I bought it at a yardsale for cheap, then I'll most likely give up sooner. I tend to read other books if it's boring and if I come back and I'm still not interested, then I'll just put it on my "couldn't finish" shelf on GR and move on to the next!

[Kathryn]

I can't not finish a book. However, I often put books down, sometimes for months, before I finish them.

[Erin *Proud Book Hoarder*]

I don't have a golden rule or yard measure, I can just tell when it's time to turn it in. This doesn't happen often.

[Wendy]

I generally read at least 50% of a book before giving up on it. There are so many books out there it seems a waste to me to continue with a book that I'm just not connecting with.

[Lára]

Depends on numerous things. Sometimes it´s just couple of pages from the beginning, sometimes a percentage of the book or even couple of pages before the end.

I don´t really remember two books I gave up on from the same reason or at the same percentage.