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How Often Do You Give Up on a Book?
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I quit books all the time. Life is too short and there are too many good books out there to waste time on a bad one. I'm very picky. If it doesn't grab me fast, I pitch it and go to the next one in the stack. What turns me off? Anything from wooden dialogue to meandering story. However, they sometimes get a reprieve; sometimes I can tell something is not bad, just not what I want that week or that day. And I'll go back to it after a while. Sometimes I'll pick up a book a year or two after the first attempt and it will pull me in then. Go figure...
Thanks Sam. I have a follow up question; when you decide to give up on a book, do you give up on the author as well or are you willing to give them another shot?Have fun.
G
If find with indie authors I can't get past the first chapter. The writing is that bad.
If it just doesn't give, and doesn't give, and doesn't give anything I connect with in a good way. How long depends on the book. I'm not interested in challenges in that way anymore. There are so many books out there that really make it with me. So many books and so little time on this earth....
I try to make a sincere effort to Finish the books that I start. Some start out slow and to be honest are a slog to get through at the beginning, however; most of the time it pays off to continue on. Several authors that I have come across are just impossible to comprehend or write in such a disjointed style that after 30, 40, or 50 pages you know you are beaten and just give up on them. Libraries are full of something new to try.
My reading habits vary like the leaves on a tree. I seem to go through periods. Some periods I mainly focus on music and read only light, fiction-style, entertainment books. Then my music phase passes and I watch a lot of videos, but to suppliement the brain-washing of that medium I will then read highly-technichal or historical books. I do try my best to finish every book I start, but sometimes it simply isn't in me. This is why I added a special goodreads shelf (that I'm rather surprised is not a normal category) of "read-some." That way I can always go back and find books that I wish to finish, when the mood comes upon me. The Brother's Karamozov by Dovstoevsky and "The Confessions" by Aleister Crowley are both rather lenghty books and though it took several attempts Im more than happy I was able to finally complete them. Other books in my "read-some" category I eventually just dismiss as never going to finish, but I still leave them in my "read-some" category. I do want my goodreads to me as acurate as possible and "read-some" is a great way to see if I've been getting lazy, falling out of my reading-zone for a bit, or if I'm just picking crappier books.
That is a great question, and I'm sure you will get all minds of answers. Sometimes a book will not grab me during the first quarter, and I will abandone it, only to never return. Although sometimes I will gut it out, and be glad I did because the story was well worth the effort.
I can generally tell if a book doesn't grab me in the first couple of chapters, and I then usually don't persist. I find it hard to 'force' myself to persist with something I'm not enjoying, when I could move on to something else.
I once had a reading program where I went to a small local library and took the first book on the shelf (starting with the A's) by each author and forced myself to read 20% of the book-then made a go/no go decision. Probably finished about one out of five but discovered some authors and works I would never have otherwise picked up.
Sam wrote: "I quit books all the time. Life is too short and there are too many good books out there to waste time on a bad one..."Story of my life too....
Mod
When you have to read books not of your choosing, it is still valuable. You learn to be patient and tolerant even when the opening pages are drab and dull. Books sometimes get better as you flip through them.
Yes, I do quit from time to time......Usually, I need to be no further than page 10 to know that I do not like the writer's style. I also find that when I pick up a series, such as Cussler, where he has handed it off to a co-author, it will either be a short read or perhaps a finish.....though I will no longer even attempt one of his co-authors. I dropped two of Ludlums books over the last year or so after 25% of one and about 3-4 chapters in another, but still try others.Since I either pay a buck or less for hardbacks at a Friends of the Library book store, or nothing for ebooks at the actual library, I feel no loss at not finishing a book, though only about 1 out of a 75 or so., Many I manage to finish before tossing the author, but that usually takes two reads.
Sanchit wrote: "Sam wrote: "I quit books all the time. Life is too short and there are too many good books out there to waste time on a bad one..."Story of my life too...."
I usually make a "go" or "no go" decision at about 20% of the book. Figure if the author hasn't caught me by that time, we just weren't made for each other.
I must admit, I never quit a book I've started. It does slow my pace considerably, as my reading slows if I not that into the story, but I always get to the end.
I rarely give up on a book I take on to read. Maybe once every 5 years or so. Right now, I'm reading a historical novel by Patrick Garland that --- while it has many good and interesting points --- I have found glaring historical inaccuracies in it that at times make me want to give up on the novel. Notwithstanding that, I think I will persevere.
Roger wrote: "I must admit, I never quit a book I've started. It does slow my pace considerably, as my reading slows if I not that into the story, but I always get to the end."Same here as well, plus I'm very choosy about the books I buy. I buy books I know I'll finish.
Mod
Okay but have you considered...
Gave up on Dracula??
Well maybe under certain conditions, I...
Gave up on Dracula?!
Do you finish every book you start? If you don't what makes you turn away from a book mid read? I'd like to know because I want to avoid doing things in my own writing that turn people off.
Thanks in advance.
G