Discussion Question: At what point do you give up on a book? (TSS)

[fashion_piranha]

So I am reading a book right now and I'm really not digging it.  The characters are shallow, the plot is slow, and it's salacious beyond my usual tolerance level.  I will probably toss it aside, because it is just not worth the effort of completion.

Are you the sort of person who always finishes a book you start?
If not, do you have a certain cut

Comments

[fashion_piranha]

That is how I am. I used to be a hardcore MUST-FINISH-BOOK reader, but it's just not worth it half the time. I might try to finish it if I promised to review the book, but most of the time I decide I'm sick of the book and move on.

[sevedra]

I used to always finish, no matter how bad it was. Now, I have better things to do with my time than struggle through something that is supposed to be entertaining me and failng. I on't have a set number of pages or chapters. I just give it up when I realize I am not liking it any better the more I read it. If I find my mind wandering on to making grocery lists instead of concentratig on the plot, if I find myself rewriting the dialogue in my head, if i find myself rolling my eyes at the characters, or if I realize I am skimming the flowery annoying descriptions, I close the book and never pick it up again.

[senuneheti]

This. Sevedra, you said what I do better than I ever could have.

If I must read it for some research or something (like its central to understanding something that I'm studying) then I'll keep it in the Read pile and just cycle it down until I can face it again.

[phantomminuet]

I used to be meticulous about finishing the books I read when I was in my teens and 20s. But now that I'm in my 40's and closer to death, I've decided that life is too damn short to read bad books. I give them 50 pages. If they don't grab me by then, I'm done.

The only exceptions are my book group books. I will finish those out of courtesy to the person who chose it for the group.

[kai_nimura]

I toss a book aside at the point where,,

1. I get so mad I throw the book at a wall
2. Where the actions of a charather are so out of what that charather would actually do, that I queastion the writer's ability to write believeable charathers.
3, I can be distracted from reading by my hamster running in her wheel.
4. someone ruins the ending of the book by watching the movie.. or i give up and just watch teh movie,

[fashion_piranha]

Tragically, even if you had made it all the way to the end of New Moon, Edward and Bella would not have obliged you, so it's just as well you didn't finish that book :-p