How do you know when to stop reading a bad book?

[Audrey]

I can't seem to do it. I just took a stack of books to the second-hand book shop because they were too bad to recommend to friends, and i realised i had finished every one. Why? They were pretty bad all the way through, but i guess i was just hoping there would be a pay-off in the end. When do you know it's time to stop?

[Cecily]

Logically I know that life is too short to read everything worthwhile, so why waste time on something one doesn't like?

In practice though, I don't know when to stop a bad book. It feels like cheating somehow. Sometimes I compromise and read to the end faster and with less attention than I normally read.

I did recently give up on Jason Connolly's Summer Things (http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/44...), so perhaps I'm learning.

[Beth]

If I'm not liking a book after about 50 pages I give up on it.

[Jenny, honorary mod - inactive]

C F S R! That's exaclty what I do! I don't give up because for some reason I can't, so I just read it a bit quicker and take it in less :P what a cheat!

[Fiona (Titch)]

I give the book to either pages 50 - 100 and if I like the book will carry on til I either finish the book or its gets boring.

[Heather]

I am never able to stop reading a book. I will keep plugging along until the end even if I am not liking it too much. I dunno, I guess I just figure that if I spent the money on it, it's my own fault for having it around in the first place, so darnit, I'm getting my money's worth!

[Audrey]

A friend of mine told me today that the exact number of pages you should read before discarding is 100 minus your age, factoring in the amount of time you have left to waste on sub-par literature. I just try to fool myself that you can learn just as much from bad writing as good so i plug away. I think though, if the author is popular and well-read, i don't feel guilty giving up but if that's not the case, i feel i have to show respect for the author by giving them a chance to win me over.

[Tracey]

I can not read something I do not enjoy! If I am bored after the first 50 pages I don't carry on!

[PollyPips]

I stick to the 100 pages rule. After that i'll put it down and start on something else. I dont get rid of the book tho as i believe it's just that i'm not ready for that particular book at that time.

[Sam]

I'm like CFSR and Jenny no matter how much I'm not liking a book I have to finish it although will read faster than normal just to get to the end. There have actually been occasions where I have been glad I ploughed through and others I have regretted so so so much

[Jaime]

I will stop reading a book if I'm over 100 pages and it is not catching my interest. If I can't concentrate on what I'm reading and I find my mind wandering, it just isn't worth it to me. I do not have a lot of time to read and cannot waste it re-reading passages because I was thinking of something else.

[Lydia09]

I sometimes cheat and read the ending of a bad book! If I don't like it in the first 50 pages, I'll read the ending just so I know what happens!

[Rachel]

I'm another who is stubborn and has to finish, though i tend to skim through the second half if i'm really not into it. when i finish i always think 'thank god, now i can move onto something good'

[Epee]

I find it hard to give up a bad book and I keep it around reading a page or two every now and again. Sooner or later though it will get buried under other books that I want to read and then I can 'forget' about it.

[BurgendyA]

Too be honest it depends of the degree of how awful the book is. For example, if the book is not interesting at all. I mean if it does not grab me within 2 or 3 chapters then I put it down for good.

[Ally]

...it's when another new book is winking at me from the shelf that promises so much more! - although I tell myself that I'll pick the bad book up again some day, which of course I never do...yet I still can't throw them out or give them away as I haven't finished them yet!

Ally

[[deleted user]]

I would not give up till at least a hundred pages in. Some books just need time to pick up momentum.

[Mary]

Is this a record? I picked up a book that my husband is reading -Our Kid by Billy Hopkins - read the first page and decided that was enough! He's on page 45 and determined to continue.

[Ally]

...oh, I've also remembered that on some rare occassions I've skipped the first few chapters of a book that started badly and jumped straight in at about quarter of the way through. Sometimes you just have to get right into the story & you can always go back and re-read the beginning later.

Ally

[Pollyanna]

I often stop if nothing has actually happened after about 4 chapters (although it would be more for a book with very short chapters) for example I gave up on Atonement because nothing much seemed to be happening for ages. I like a book that has me wanting to turn the page and wanting to read for hours on end otherwise I feel that I am just wasting my time.

[Yorky]

Sometimes its hard to tell if its that im not liking the book or just not in the mood for that particular type of book? Different moods I want different types of books. I have given up on some and then months later picked it up again and read it to the end.

[m_forooz]

when I find myself reading only the first and last sentences in a paragraph, games up

[Karen]

I don't have a certain page rule. When I was younger, I would finish a book no matter what--no matter how bad it was--always with the hope that it would get better and I'd be rewarded in the end. I could never imagine not finishing a book!

But now that I'm 40, work full time, have two kids, etc. My time is way too valuable to finish bad books. I will read maybe a quarter of the way through a book that I am not enjoying. Then I may go to Amazon and read the NEGATIVE reviews and see if the complaints are similar as to why I don't like it. If I tend to agree more with the 1-star reviewers and it doesn't look like there is a good payoff in the end, I won't finish it. Time to move on--my TBR list is way too long and I won't get that time back!

Karen

[Elena]

M wrote: "when I find myself reading only the first and last sentences in a paragraph, games up"

It is the same for me!

[Afsana]

Usually within the first few pages I can have an idea of whether I like it.

some grown on me and if after a few chapters its really bad then might give up , those bad but you still want to know what has happensI flick forward and reads bits here and there from the book. The bad/boring books just takes me a long time to end but do finish it.

[Afsana]

Yorky wrote: "Sometimes its hard to tell if its that im not liking the book or just not in the mood for that particular type of book? Different moods I want different types of books. I have given up on some an..."

that is a good point but I usually have an inkling which one it is!!

[Stuart]

I will usually persevere till about page 50 with a bad book. If it is not too bad, just being a little slow then maybe page 100. I will not finish a book for the sake of it. My take is that when reading for pleasure, if the boredom sets in then you need to stop.

[Afsana]

Stuart wrote: "I will usually persevere till about page 50 with a bad book. If it is not too bad, just being a little slow then maybe page 100. I will not finish a book for the sake of it. My take is that when re..."

yes that is true you are reading for pleasure but there is a part of me thats wants to finish the book as I have bought it and it would be a waste otherwise

Though there have been several books that I haven't fished or a few after first few pages just gve away but I do try to finish

[Lorin]

Beth wrote: "If I'm not liking a book after about 50 pages I give up on it."

If you're a writer, one good reason to keep reading a really bad book is to boost your confidence. If that crap (ooops) can get published, then there has to be room for good writing.

[Vikki]

I used to never give up on a book and would force myself to finish it. I'd be crabby about it cussing the whole time and would look at the other books I had waiting with longing and desire.

I'm not sure when I realized that reading is my solitude time, my enjoyment and one of the few things I do just for ME, but once I did learn that....I learned to stop reading books I'm not enjoying.

I do give it my best effort though to see if starts to grab me. I don't have a page limit I think I just have to feel it. I'm trying to get into The Historian right now and I find myself thinking of other things while my eyes are still following the words. I hear it is a great books so I'm going to give it a little more time.

Wish me luck!

[Karen]

Vikki,

I hear ya! I just bought The Historian and hope it's as good as the reviews! Let me know, I haven't started it yet.

Karen

[Jenny, honorary mod - inactive]

The Historian is one of those books where I probably should have stopped reading it. Reading the words while thinking about something else was a problem for me too! My mum loved it though.

[Karen]

Hmm, well I really hope I like it. I must admit that the size of it is intimidating.

I just read The Blind Assassin for a book club I'm in and surprised that I really didn't like it at all! So I hope this isn't another disappointment.

Karen

[[deleted user]]

Burgendya wrote: "Too be honest it depends of the degree of how awful the book is. For example, if the book is not interesting at all. I mean if it does not grab me within 2 or 3 chapters then I put it down for good. "

Same here to some degree. If I dislike the storyline, I drop it right away. If I just can't get into the book because of writing style, I skim to and/or just read the end. Can't waste too much time on a book I don't enjoy.

[Chris]

Life's too short to keep going if you really hate it. I try to give it a good go and if it still doesn't work there's plenty more that will!

[John]

I was just reading a book where I had to go back and re-read half of the sentences. Time to quit and move on!

[Lea]

Well...I have a hard time putting down books because I hate not knowing what happened. But if I get to a point where I'm thinking about other stuff while I'm reading, or I've started another book before finishing the current one, I figure it's time to quit. That's when I skim and read the ending to find out what happens. I have yet to encounter a book where I did not care enough even to skim the ending.

[Lorin]

I'll amend what I wrote earlier---that I sometimes finish bad books because they are a reminder that if THAT can get published, surely mine can too. Here's the change: I turned 70 yesterday, and it occurred to me that I can choose how I spend my time. Period. If even an award winning or nominated book doesn't grab me, then I don't need to keep reading it. Period.

[Afsana]

Lorin wrote: "I'll amend what I wrote earlier---that I sometimes finish bad books because they are a reminder that if THAT can get published, surely mine can too. Here's the change: I turned 70 yesterday, and i..."

happy birthday

[Lorin]

Thanks Afsana! And what a great name....

[Afsana]

Lorin wrote: "Thanks Afsana! And what a great name...."

thank you,

It means short story!! which is ironic as am 4ft 10

[Larry]

When I begin to lose the will to live!

[Karen]

I've yet to learn how to abandon a book. I'll always finish it might be months later but even if it's really bad I need to know how it ends. On one occasion it took me about a month in total to read a book I kept putting it down and reading other things. The book was the first part of a trilogy and I have no idea if the other two parts were even written

[Veronica]

I used to feel obliged to finish every book I started. Like Lorin, a couple of years ago I realised that life is too short to waste hours of my life reading a book which is neither enlightening nor entertaining me. (note: it was The Time Traveller's Wife that made this click for me -- I finished it, but I shouldn't have). Since then, bad books are ruthlessly tossed aside. The most recent one I dumped was Diana Gabaldon's Outlander (a book group read which I would never have chosen to read myself). That was _so_ bad, there was absolutely no justification for continuing. But I did give it a fair chance (skim-read to about page 200).

I'm not completely cured though; I finished the 1500 pages of A Suitable Boy even though it took me three months because I kept getting terminally bored and reading something else. I still don't really know why I carried on, except that people kept telling me how good it was, and occasionally I came across 30 pages or so that kept me interested :)

[Karen]

I've finally learned how to abandon a book,although it might be a bit early to say I'm cured.

Started reading House of Leaves but have given up. first hundred pages were fine but then you start getting parts that are in boxes or upside down and even some that are backwards, you really shouldn't have to use a mirror in order to read a book.

[[deleted user]]

I'm having this problem at the moment, I don't know whether I want to continue to see if the book is any good or if I want to just give up on it!

[Gitte]

I agree with 50-100 pages - books are meant to be enjoyed! I find that forcing myself to continue reading a book I don't like/enjoy/learn something from makes me forget why I love to read... By the way, isn't it just great when a book really reminds you why you love to read?

[Melanie]

I also go with the 50-100 page rule, with one twist: If the book is really boring me, I'll skip to the last two chapters of the book to see what happens: If is seems like somewhere in the book there was a real change/twist in the plot, I'll sometimes go back and skim read the middle :-) That way I'm sure I don't miss out on a book because the beginning sucked:-) But it's pretty rare for me to quit a book, seeing as I read really quickly (1-2bks a day when I have work, and up to 4/day on weekends), and I don't like giving up.

I think the last book I gave up on was a book on child abuse(criminal justice major), and I couldn't stomach going past the first 3 chapters in which the author supported the abusers (3 chapters only because I kept on thinking that I must be wrong and that the author was going to turn it around into an indictment... In vain!)...

[Kimberly]

I give up around the 5th chapter or around the 50th page depending on the book.

[Cheryl]

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.

I find myself checking out goodreads' and amazons' reviews thoroughly at that point, looking for readers saying something like "Slow start but I'm glad I finished."

I'm a new member here so let me ask - do you think it'd be a good idea for me to start a discussion so we can help each other? That is, something like "If you don't like the beginning of each book, let us tell you whether or not we were glad we stuck with it"?