UK Amazon Kindle Forum discussion
Agony Aunt
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When do you give up on a book?
Stop reading when the value of your time exceeds the author's insight. No guilt there.
Perfect summing up of my feelings Paula.I can see be putting off a book and then not feeling motivated to start another, Alex.
Perhaps looking through the recommended books and the just finished, just started thread in the group could help? I find I'm more likely to enjoy a book through a recommendation than just from a blurb or whatever.
I find I'm the opposite. If I really, really enjoy a book I usually delay starting another for a while. Not long, maybe a day at the most, to savour and enjoy the feelings the book has left me with.
I have had about 3 days now where I have not read a word of either of the books I am reading! Sometimes, you just have to be in the right frame of mind too eh?
I usually make a decision after the first chapter. There are lots of books I don't read any further. Actually, I'm quite a fussy so-and-so ;)It doesn't mean they need to be fast-paced or jump straight into the action, but they do have to be interesting.
And, of course, I never review a book I don't finish.
On occasion I have finished books I would have normally put down - usually because of having no other books available. I was in that situation in a caravan a year or two ago and read a fantasy book by Raymond E. Feist. Popular author, but I very much disliked his writing - no depth of character, not engaging. I felt he was not engaged with the characters at all. Put me off reading any of his other books. Maybe he's better in other genres.
Sometimes I give up in the first chapter if I particularly dislike the writing style. If I get past that I normally persevere to the end. I have given up on some books at about the same point that I think the author gave up writing it .....
I gave up on a couple of books recently about half way through because I just wasn't enjoying them enough, and I am wondering if I go back to them later will it be different, as both of them have been recommended here. I have been in a reading slump recently and only reading light and easy stuff..
Sometimes a book is loved because of its nature rather than its pace or action.I love The Lord of the Rings and The Wheel of Time because of the way they are written, and their themes, but they can go through huge chunks with little action and a ton of description. One of the WoT books has a 98-page intro before it gets to chapter one ;)
I'll always give a book my best shot, but if something is unbearable by the end of the first chapter, than that's it!Before I got my Kindle, I was more careful about the books I chose, but since the arrival of squillions of free e-books, I became less discerning and downloaded quite a lot. Many of those have been 'binned'. These days, unless I see a free book by an author I know and like here on Goodreads or maybe Facebook, I don't go for freebies and I never bother looking at the free lists at all.
I think writing styles and tastes have changed since LOTR and other classics of that nature were written. People have less spare time for reading so slower-paced books are less popular. Among older folk, though, who know the value of the 'slow burn', they'll never go out of fashion.
I know when a book hasn't 'grabbed' me as I will drift off and think what else I could be doing with my time.When I am really enjoying what I am reading Phil reckons the house could burn down around me and I would only move to save the book being burned!
Not a great many books fall into the latter category but wow what fun I have seeking them out!
I read for entertainment: if I'm not being entertained I'm pretty ruthless and give it the push!!!
I sometimes read a book to analyse what's not good about it (in my view). I often don't make a conscious decision to stop reading a book... I just pick up another and read that instead... and another...and another.
The first free book I read was well wriien, but as the book progressed the plot annoyed me and the ending made me angry because I felt cheated (a valuable lesson). The second was so awful that I downloaded it when it was free and kept it to show people how not to write.
There's the "I'll try this ...... I'm not in the mood for this type of book at the moment" books that aren't bad books, just ones I'm not in the mood for at that moment.Then there are ones that I know I won't like that get binned straight away. I just pretend I didn't download them
It's not often I give up and put the book into my "not finished" collection, but I did one of them last week. Helen Smith's Being Light. It looked OK and had lots of good reviews / recommendations, but I just coulnd't get into it. I did give it a few chapters, but decided it's not for me.
But I've been struggling to decide on my next book. In the end I chose one that I'd know I love - Cecilia Peartree's Death at the Happiness Club.
If I'm perfectly honest... if a book doesn't grab me by the first page, I generally put it down! However, I also go back to it at some point, even if I have to force myself to finish it.
Katy wrote: "If I'm perfectly honest... if a book doesn't grab me by the first page, I generally put it down! However, I also go back to it at some point, even if I have to force myself to finish it."
Yeah but at the speed you read...:)
How's the knee now, cutie?
Haha, good point Patti ;)The knees doing great, thanks! I've switched to using one crutch instead of two, mainly because I'm inpatient! Can't quite walk on it yet, but I'm getting there (:
Oh good. I'm so pleased you're doing well. Exams must be nearing the end as well?
I've got two weeks off, then 3 exams, and then I'm done! (:
Yay!I'm yaying the end, not the three exams!
Haha, thanks!After the 22nd of June, I'll have loads more time to focus on the group! ;)
Oh good. I'll start on a list of chores for you. ;)Rosemary is pants at hoovering...
I hate to give up on a book, but when I do it's usually because I've stopped caring.
I have only giving up on 2 books, 1 was a patricia cornwell book but it was from the middle of the series and it wasn't stand alone so I gave up. The other was just the other day and it was a free book for kids but it was the most rubbish thing I've ever read, it's not even on Goodreads and once I realised that it was bye bye book. If it had of been on Goodreads I think I would have persevered though.
I'm quite ruthless about it. If a book hasn't engaged me by after a hundred pages I usually put it aside.
I frequently don't continue after the Kindle sample chapter; but I don't count this as 'giving up' - it is just 'extended browsing'!
J.S. wrote: "I frequently don't continue after the Kindle sample chapter; but I don't count this as 'giving up' - it is just 'extended browsing'!"I expect a lot of that goes on. The samples on Amazon are a great idea !
Yea I'll finish a sample but not necessarily buy the book. I think I can handle this cause the sample is like a little book of it's own
I wonder how may other authors have caught on to the potential of the sample chapter? (Confession: I deliberately "timed" a big reveal in The Ghost of Mandy Rosental to kick in right at the end of the sample.)
I never review a book I haven't read so I tend to persevere. If it's that bad, people should be warned! Occasionally I give up but before I do I take a few of what archaeologists call a 'sondage'. That's digging a test pit. I will read a few pages from several later chapters and if it hasn't bucked up by then it gets the bum's rush!
Ignite wrote: "I never review a book I haven't read so I tend to persevere. If it's that bad, people should be warned! Occasionally I give up but before I do I take a few of what archaeologists call a 'sondage'..."I like the archaeology-inspired approach! :)
I have considered doing an Archaeology masters Ignite or a part time course or something, but I'd want to focus on the Physical Anthropology side of it, I'm sad to say I'm just not that interested in bit of old pots. However, I might be if I learnt about it!
I like archaelogy, that's the first job I ever wanted to do :)
I am a lazy reader. If the writer has not grabbed my interest in some way by about thirty pages then I give up.If I ever get asked the question again, I'm going to drop 'lazy reader' and replace it with JS's reference to 'extended browsing'.
Actually the Kindle sample feature means that I very rarely if ever have to give up on a book. I give up on plenty of the samples though!
I found I'd deluged myself with samples, so I don't bother with them much anymore.Now I only grab a sample if I read it straight away.
I had about 300 samples in a sample collection a few months ago. It was redickalus!
I don't get samples either. I can usually tell from the amount featured in the 'Look Inside' thing.
I actually can't be bothered with samples anymore. I did the same as you Patti and ended up with too many samples that I just ignored. So I just deleted them (after transferring em to my wish list) and now I just buy what I want.I rarely use the look inside feature too. Mostly because I buy books by authors I know I like these days
I do that too Elle, but think of all the authors out there that I don't yet know that I'm going to like!I've taken many a punt on the indies here and come away with a huge silly grin on my face when I've found yet another stunning book. You can't beat that feeling!
Must admit, I've downloaded far more samples than I'm inclined to read. Having just managed to wade through The Anniversary, waiting for Something To Happen, and nothing did, I must admit to being too tolerant of people who write well while having nothing to say
I give up if I'm getting no enjoyment whatsoever from reading the book.
I find I have to be in the right mood for a new book i.e something by an author I haven't read before. However, if it's a new book by an author I know i.e. Stephen King, then I will look forward to starting it and be thinking about reading it while I'm at work etc. If a book is an effort to read or I find I've read a chapter and it hasn't stuck, then I generally pick up something else.
I find I dislike starting a new book just before bedtime.If I wake in the morning and the book hasn't left an impression, I don't bother going back to it.
Patti (Stir Crazy) wrote: "I find I dislike starting a new book just before bedtime.If I wake in the morning and the book hasn't left an impression, I don't bother going back to it."
D'you think that extends to blokes too? Cd be the start of another novel there!!
Do you want copyright on that, Patti?
Patti (Stir Crazy) wrote: "I find I dislike starting a new book just before bedtime.If I wake in the morning and the book hasn't left an impression, I don't bother going back to it."
I generally always start a book before bedtime which is a serious problem because I have a problem where I generally read books in one go.
Tired reading Elle is forever tired.
If a book has left an impression in the morning it means I fell asleep lying on it!
I'll try to finish a book. Not b/c I paid for it, but b/c I did this with at least 2 books that bored me for the first 100-200 pages, but then got so good I was glad I'd hung in. For a well-known author, I'm more likely to hang in. For an unknown, if it's a really bad book, I'll probably quit after 40%. I don't think it could pick up much after that.
Hm. Actually very interesting point Jenny.I'm so much more likely to finish a book if I've read the author before.
Me, too, Louise-Lesley. The 2 where I hung in were The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo and one of Dean Koontz books (I forget the title now). Both got good, but they took so long to do so, I wouldn't have bothered if they'd been written by unknowns.
Louise-Lesley (Elle) wrote: "Hm. Actually very interesting point Jenny.I'm so much more likely to finish a book if I've read the author before."
I agree. If i've enjoyed an author's previous work I'm more likely to persist.
I am not sure that I am posting this in the correct place so please forgive me if I am not.
Earlier this week I finished a book that was ok and I sort of enjoyed it. I then started another that was at least to me just dull. So after 20% I gave up. The next book I tried just didn't work I just couldn't get interested in it. So I gave up on that one as well and started to read a book by an author I have read before.
There is lots of free kindle books some of it good some of it not.
My question is at what point do you just give up on a book and move on?
In the past I would stop reading a book that I found dull and then not start another for months. Don't really want to go back to that.
Alex