Do you ever do this? Stop reading a book without finishing it? If so, when do you do it? What makes you decide to just drop the book and give up on it?
I personally have a hard time just 'giving up' on a not-so-good read. I always hope that it will get better, or will pick up, or I will somehow end up liking it. Sometimes though, I have to admit, a bad book is just that - a bad book. If I feel like the story isn't going anywhere, or the direction it's going to isn't something I am remotely interested in, I feel like it's time to put it down.
One example I can think of that made me give up on it is the very popular, The City of Bones by Cassandra Clare. I'm not sure to this day why people love it so much, as I couldn't get into it at all, but to each his own!
I don't really do this often, because I feel like every book has something to offer, but I know I've thought about it a lot. I also have to admit there have been books that I first wanted to put down but ended up sticking with stuck, and ended up adoring. So for the most part, I try to keep at it.
Do you have any particular books that made you just simply give up on it, or get close to giving up on it and putting it down? I'd like to hear your thoughts.
Jillian, the biggest issue for me is being a mood reader, I can pick up 2 - 5 books and just can't get into them, but I usually know within the 1st chapter. This also sometimes means I am on the verge of a reading slump.
ReplyDeleteFor me between 100 and half way of the book is the possible decision to stop reading but I DNF and walk away guilt free. I wish there were some books I had did that with actually. A popular one for me is Gone Girl. I hated the middle but continued because it just had to change and it didn't, could have did without that.
I think what book lovers/bloggers have to do, is get to the point of walking away GUILT FREE.
This is so accurate. Now that I think about it, I guess I'm a bit of a mood reader myself. Sometimes I'm into a certain genre, other times, I just can't even go near it!
DeleteIt's hard to walk away guilt free sometimes, but when I am able to do it, it's kind of liberating!
Yes. I do it allll the time. I'm just like Marce. I have to pick up several and see which sticks (ie I'm in the mood for). I also give up when I've tried something time and time again and it just doesn't engage me.
ReplyDeleteThat makes sense. I guess I am a mood reader myself now that I think about it.
DeleteI rarely consciously decide to walk away from a book. I typically start a book, make great progress on it for a few days, then something else grabs my attention. I drop the first book for the second book and repeat the cycle. I hate it. But thinking about forcing myself to finish a book seems like a bad idea because if it's forced, then I just don't read at all. I would love to stop doing this because I own so many great books that deserve to be read (and should be read after how much I've spent).
ReplyDeleteHowever, I did consciously decide to walk away from Little Women. It wasn't that I didn't like it, I just couldn't relate, so I walked away. I don't feel guilty about it anymore. Initially I did because I felt like I should finish this beloved classic. Then I decided that I don't have to love the same books everyone else loves. I can read my own set of classics and still be a well-rounded person.
Good luck coming out of your slump! They're the worst.
Good job just walking away from a book even when everybody is telling you to read it! :)
DeleteI used to be all about finishing books but now I give myself 50 pages and if I'm not interested by then I give myself permission to put it down. That way I don't have to feel bad about not finishing and I don't end up wasting my time on something I'm not enjoying.
ReplyDeleteHmm.. 50 pages. I don't think I can set page limits, but maybe I should try doing that and see if it works for me! Haha. I hate wasting time on bad books.
DeleteI hate giving up! Everytime I put a book aside I'm thinking that it might get better. You never know, right?
ReplyDeleteMe too. I get so frustrated though when it really ends up bad, and I feel like I just wasted my time hoping for the better.
Delete+JMJ+
ReplyDeleteAs I type this comment, my unfinished copy of Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Seas is staring at me reproachfully. I started it last year, plugged through most of the book, and stopped when I realised I wasn't getting as much out of the story as I could because I had only the vaguest ideas where the characters were at any point of the plot. So I decided I would read it with an atlas by my side. And I found a good atlas. So why am I reading neither the novel nor the atlas???
I have no idea why I put this novel down when I was really committed to finishing it, but I do want to keep going because it's not the sort I want to start from the beginning again.
I say, read it when it starts calling you to death again. I think if you try to get back on it sooner than when it's ready, you'll just end up putting it down again.
DeleteI am a big believer in giving myself an out otherwise I'd never even start anything for fear of *having* to finish it. No no no. Give yourself 50 or so pages and then call it. Some books just have an annoying style or don't seem to go anywhere or just don't click, you know? There are just too many books out there waiting to be fabulous, why waste time with something that isn't?
ReplyDeleteI think almost every reader has had to give up at least one or two. I try to never do it though, it bugs me. I did give up 2 last year but read 130 others.
ReplyDelete