You'll love this one...!! A book club & more discussion
Chit Chat About Books
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How do you know when to stop reading a bad book?
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Deedee wrote: "Rule of thumb: 10% of the book before tossing. If I'm thinking of tossing a book, I'll pick a random page in the middle of the book, and then decide...."Wow, that's harsh - but each to their own.
Nancy Pearl, Seattle uber-librarian says that if you are under 50 years old, you should read 50 pages. If you are over 50, subtract your age from 100 and the result is the number of pages you should read. Once you reach 100 years old, you can judge a book by its cover.
Deedee wrote: "I stop reading a book if, around the halfway point, I'm not interested in it. it's rare when I find a book I don't like, but if I jump at the chance to switch books, or it takes more than a week to read (at the VERY most), then I stop."That's about the way I do it, too. If I've struggled for a week and only made it halfway through, it just isn't holding my attention.
Kate wrote: "I used to try and 'tough it out' but, as many mentioned before, life's too short to waste on bad books. I like the idea of skipping to the end to see if it at least ended well. If a book is too ..." I can't believe someone else did this, too. Once I found a book so filthy and violent that I not only threw it away so no one else would read it, I remembered how my son, who was a garbage collector used to bring home "stuff"so I tore out the center of the book!
Oh I was just dying to ditch 'The Heir' by Grace Burrowes - characters excellent but total lack of plot and I felt like I was wasting my life HOWEVER I had bought the book and so was damn well going to finish it...
If the first few chapters doesn't do it for me then I'd skim through and if that doesn't do it still I go to the last page to read the ending and be done. Sometimes it's the character. While I loved the Confession of a Shopaholic movie I hated the book. I couldn't stand the character although the writing was just fine. So I skimmed just so I can get an idea of the progress and read the end.
When you are reading it in the bathroom and every time you head in there, you look for a magazine to read instead.
Melinda wrote: "Deedee wrote: "I stop reading a book if, around the halfway point, I'm not interested in it. it's rare when I find a book I don't like, but if I jump at the chance to switch books, or it takes mor..."hahah!me too!actually i don't throw them away, i just locked it up!
Has anybody read the Plenty trilogy, starting with Take Back Plenty, by Colin Greenland? It's too complex to be skimmable, and the reviews are mixed & confusing.
Hey guys. Shifted this into it's own folder as it is proving so popular. I figure we can work it like the recommendations and have a new thread for each book we're struggling with!
I'm one of the guilty ones who struggle though a terrible book because I feel like I'm failing if I don't. It's definitely something I need to work on. I even found myself reading a book on my Kindle by an author that I absolutely love & ordering it my local bookstore to keep on my shelf when I realized I hated the book. And the crazy thing is that I still bought it!!!?!?!? I continuously ask myself "Why in the world did I just do that??" This has to stop. Then worker at my bookstore told me not to force myself to read a book I don't enjoy. So from here on out, that's something I'll be working on. Those few spoken words may just give me the push I need. So I'm saying to you, "Don't force yourself to read a book you don't enjoy."
I like audios too - there are few I've given up on. The Brothers Karamazov
Don Quixote
I have no idea why everybody likes those books.
I did not finish the audios.
That's how I feel too - life is short and I'm not spending any of what time I have left reading books I don't like.
As for forcing myself . . . good gawd! There's enough the world forces on us - why force ourselves?
I do have a compulsion to read the forewords, etc. Even if they're terribly boring, I just don't feel right about diving into Chapter 1 without reading what's said in the beginning.
Sometimes an audio is spoiled for me by the reader him/herself.I, for instance, get some books through LibriVox - the readers are volunteers and I appreciate they've done this work.
But what I don't appreciate is people who do not bother finding out how words are pronounced. And you don't dare say anything about it or they think you're being bigotted, of course.
I went through a few chapters of War and Peace - there was one reader who mangled a lot of the English language.
Had she actually listened to the other readers she might have realized it. But she went on and on, re-writing the English language to suit her own.
Grrrrr!
Another thing I don't like are English/British readers who speak in too prim and proper a manner - it drives me nuts. It distracts from the story when somebody makes it sound like an address from the Queen.
Though I must say, most British readers are very good.
I don't know if there's a specific way to stop reading a book but in my case it has been about the feeling I'm getting from the book more than the pages that I read. For example; I read The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, as I read it I felt several times that I should stop, for me it was disturbing and not my kind of thing but I wanted to know who the bad guy was. Well, when I finished I was more disturbed, mad that I had not followed my instincs and felt like I have not gain anything from the book.So now, if I'm not feeling it I put it aside which is not often I may say. Anyway it's stuck in my Kindle forever so I may re-think it later on.
One thing I do to help myself before I read a book is to do some research, check customers reviews (without reading the spoilers, check the author and ask around. People are usually very honest about how they feel about a book.
I figure the forwards are there because they're meant to be read before the book. Otherwise they'd be afterwords, which I also read, after I've read the book. But I almost see your point, Denise. Otoh, whatever you do, do *not* skip the Prologue - it's almost always an important part of the story!
I find that if I don't like the book within the first chapter I put it down and find another book, because I know that I won't want to continue reading the book. That was one of the problems I had in High School English class. If I don't like it with in the first chapter than you have to force me to continue reading it.
Life is too short and I read too slow to continue reading a book that I am not liking at all. Like others I have a 75-100 page cut off. If I am not getting into the book by that point, I'll cut bait. If it's a shorter book (200-300 pages), and was highly recommended/considered a classic I'll probably scan through the rest to get the general idea of the book, but otherwise I'll just stop altogether.
I don't have any hard and fast rules. Sometimes I don't make it past the first chapter. Sometimes I make it half way through the book. I usually quit once I ask myself, "Why am I reading this?"If you aren't enjoying the book, turf it.
"Why am I reading this?" That's a terrific test, Janice. If one can't answer that well, then, yes, ditch it. There are so many more fish in the sea. Thank you for the slogan!
I try to make it to page 100... but sometimes it just isn't possible... It helps if someone I trust in his or her opinion on books tells me to keep on reading, that it gets better after a slow-ish start.
If I can't get into the book by page 100 I quit!
There are too many books on my TBR and wishlists to waste time on something that isn't holding my interest.
I used to feel guilty for not finishing any book I started. While not yet rid of this affliction, the first book that proved to be the straw for my back was Wally Lamb's She's Come Undone. I don't even want to provide the link for this book - that's how much I disliked it!A book I am fighting to get through currently is Tana French's In the Woods. Not too long ago I read Faithful Place by her and could not put the book down. This one, however, I haven't been able to pick up even after starting it at the beginning of summer and thrice renewing it from the library. I don't know how to stop reading it (even though I'm not actually reading it) without remorse. Maybe I'll get lucky and someone will reserve it so it cannot be renewed again!
Cheryl in CC NV wrote: "It's so difficult. Several times lately I've gotten a full halfway in to a book, or even more, not really enjoying it, but not at all hating it either, and not knowing whether to give up or not. ..."Probably I should read previous replies before adding my own comments, but I did so after I had posted this already... just wanted to add that I really like the idea of a discussion on whether to stick with a book or not even if the start hasn't been great.
Hi khi! Welcome to our group. :)
Janice wrote: "Hi khi! Welcome to our group. :)"Hello, Janice. Thanks for the warm welcome!
Another one I couldn't get through was The Poison That Fascinates by Jennifer Clement. I loved the title and it seemed like it would be an engaging read, but alas, alack I didn't find it to be so.
While I don't believe I'm getting pickier as I get older, perhaps my patience to slog through a grueling book is waning. I don't mind reading books that hold opinions contrary to mine, that make me think till my brain hurts, that make my heart ache from joy or sorrow, etc. It's the ones that feel like a chore and don't hold my attention (bad sign if I'm contemplating the dusting I ought to be doing instead!).
For me, I know it's time to give up on a bad book either when I'm putting off sitting down to read, or when I'm just totally indifferent to the fate of the characters. Sometimes, though, when a fellow reader assures me it's worth persevering, I keep going, so maybe a discussion like that would be helpful.
Jessica wrote: "For me, I know it's time to give up on a bad book either when I'm putting off sitting down to read, or when I'm just totally indifferent to the fate of the characters. Sometimes, though, when a fel..."Since dusting is one of my least favorite tasks, I would take that as an indicator that I should close the book and call it done. LOL!
If I'm giving up on a book, it's usually when I start asking myself, "why am I reading this?" However, the book I'm currently reading, The Gaslight Dogs, was interesting in the first half of the book. Last night, I was bored with it and thinking that I should plod through since I only have two chapters left.
Sometimes I finish bad books simply out of curiosity. You know, like when you're reading the The Time Traveler's Wife and you can't help continuing because that voice in your head keeps searching, hoping, pining that the downfall of civilization isn't imminent, that somehow Nifnegger learns to write differently when Henry is speaking as opposed to Clare, that the ending where he touches the hand of an old woman before she dies won't be completely predictable... just to find out that yes, you and your cynical attitude has triumphed again, and it is indeed rewarding to finish a terrible book, just so you can gloat about how mouth breathingly numbing this piece of trash really is. Otherwise, for me the cut off is actually 150 pages, or halfway. Or when I feel like the book is an example of everything gone wrong with society, like On the Road and its fundamentally damaging view of male sexuality and hipness or perhaps Little Women and its childish view of how great it is to be weak and to just give up your dreams in order to sacrifice for others, because, you know, you're a woman.
It's also around that page when a really good book gets to the point where I cannot put it down.
Started and gave up on Burley Cross Postbox Thefttoday. For me its not even about the plot or lack of it - if I find the style too irritating (sorry Nicola Barker author of above book) then I can't get past the first couple of chapters as it's no pleasure to read.
I am reading Catch-22 and I really don't like it, but I keep reading it. It is hard for me to give up on a book I've purchased. It makes me feel that I wasted my money. I need to start valuing my time as much as I do my money.
Beverly wrote: "I am reading Catch-22 and I really don't like it, but I keep reading it. It is hard for me to give up on a book I've purchased. It makes me feel that I wasted my money. I need to start valuing my ..."The time bit is a really good way to look at it and may help make the decision to stop reading less painful!
I used to force myself to finish every book I started......and then I grew up.
There are WAY too many books and WAAAAAY too little time to waste on something you're not enjoying.
In fact, I learned an important tip that may help some people:
Abandon a book earlier rather than later.
If you keep reading an iffy book, adding "just a few more pages" to see if it will eventually take off, you may find yourself too deep into the page count to easily let go ("Well, I've come this far...")
I can often tell whether a particular book/writer is going to be for me in just the first few pages...
...and sometimes in the first few paragraphs.
I have rarely, RARELY ever found a book to improve that struck me as bad to begin with.
Don't torture yourself.
Worlds await.
Todd
Hi Will. Welcome to YLTO. You give some good advice.
@Janice: Thanks.I gave a quick look to your Bookshelf. While we disagree about "THE PRINCESS BRIDE" and the relative merit of book vs. movie (I'd rate the book higher)...
...your "output" for 2011 alone is intimidatingly impressive...
...and there are still 3.5 months left in the year!
Todd
i always give a book at least 5 chapters if i have no interest in the story,i will put the book away and pick it up another time.
Will wrote: "@Janice: Thanks.I gave a quick look to your Bookshelf. While we disagree about "THE PRINCESS BRIDE" and the relative merit of book vs. movie (I'd rate the book higher)...
...your "output" for ..."
Sorry to disappoint you about The Princess Bride. We'll have to agree to disagree. :)
I started out the year relatively low in expectations. I knew I would read 6 books for my book club so I doubled that to make my goal to 12. I had to adjust my goal a few times.
I generally give books 100 pages to excite me. If they fail to do so, I stop trying and pass them on to used book stores, the library, or people I think might get more out of them than I did.
You'll love this one...!! A book club & more
Books mentioned in this topic
The Princess Bride (other topics)Burley Cross Postbox Theft (other topics)
Little Women (other topics)
The Time Traveler's Wife (other topics)
On the Road (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
Colin Greenland (other topics)Christopher Moore (other topics)
It cetainly makes me hesitate before spending more of my hard earned money on any more of their books.