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

[rainofthenight]

I rarely give up on a book, but when the plot is too predictable or too many clichés come down my way, then I do put it down. But even then I have the tendency to pick it up again and brace myself for the worst. I have to finish it, no matter how much time goes in between reading sessions. Those times can be extremely long though...

[emzebel]

Another who used to be adamant about finishing almost any book I started here. Then about a year or so ago I just stopped. If I'm not into some aspect of it by 50 or so pages, I'm done, particularly if there's an aspect to it that I profoundly dislike. If it's something that has been recommended to me, or where I think "really, this *should* be a good book" I might give it more of a chance, but the whole point of reading for me is relaxation and entertainment (with maybe an ocassional side dose of education), so if a book is doing none of that for me, then there's no point.

I fully gave myself permission to just stop last year. Which meant that I read a lot more books that I really loved instead.

[fashion_piranha]

You have such a productive book blog that I'm surprised you might have even more books that you didn't make it to the end!

[katemacetak]

I don't have a lot of time for pleasure reading, so I'm pretty picky about whether or not I should finish a book. If the writing is bad and it doesn't improve in about 50 pages, I usually put it down.

Generally if I just don't feel compelled to read a book, I give up on it. Like if I have some free time, and I keep deciding to check my livejournal rather than read the book, I usually realize I should just start something else.

[wyvernfriend]

I have huge difficulty stopping reading, sometimes though I really regret keeping reading, I have given up on a few and I felt very guilty about it.