melissel Posted July 4, 2009 Share Posted July 4, 2009 I'm struggling with this because I hate to do it, but I'm a sort-of memoir right now that I'm really disappointed with. I have some sort of weird issue with not finishing a book, but I also think life's too short to spend on crummy books (or TV, or whatever). What's your take on leaving a book unfinished? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OrganicAnn Posted July 4, 2009 Share Posted July 4, 2009 I usually stick it out or give up at the beginning (within 30 pages). Not usually in the middle. I know there were a couple of books that really petered out in the middle. I'd say I finish about 80% of the books I start. But I try to choose wisely. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janet in Toronto Posted July 4, 2009 Share Posted July 4, 2009 My personal rule of thumb is 80 - (my age) = the number of pages I should force myself to read. After that, I have no qualms about dropping a book. As you said, life is too short, and I have too many books in the {virtual} stack. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LG Gone Wild Posted July 4, 2009 Share Posted July 4, 2009 Loads. I don't know why I do it. I can't finish cups of coffee either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spy Car Posted July 4, 2009 Share Posted July 4, 2009 I usually stick it out or give up at the beginning (within 30 pages). Not usually in the middle. I know there were a couple of books that really petered out in the middle. I'd say I finish about 80% of the books I start. But I try to choose wisely. It's funny, I was going to say almost exactly the same thing, including (believe it or not) saying "within 30 pages". Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julie in Austin Posted July 4, 2009 Share Posted July 4, 2009 If I'm not actively looking forward to picking it up again, I don't. I probably abandon half the books I start. I do try to give them about 50 pages, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theresatwist Posted July 4, 2009 Share Posted July 4, 2009 I try not to quit in the middle. With fiction I've started to read almost exclusively classics (influenced by SWB among others). The great thing about that is that they are classics for a reason. I had a hard time with Moby Dick a few years again, although I plan to give it another go soon. (I feel like I need to take a course in whale anatomy first *rolls eyes*.) But, otherwise with the classics that hasn't been a problem thus far. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KingM Posted July 4, 2009 Share Posted July 4, 2009 (edited) . Edited July 4, 2009 by KingM Didn't realize spouse was logged in Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melinda in VT Posted July 4, 2009 Share Posted July 4, 2009 I finish probably 90% of the books I start, unless it's a self-helpish kind of book. (Those I am more likely to skim or read only select chapters.) In general, I pick the books I read carefully and there is a reason I want to read them. There were two books (one on physics, one on numbers with a lot of physics) that I slogged through in the last two years. (I keep hoping if I keep reading about physics I will eventually start to understand it.) And I griped about Les Miserables a lot last year--every time Hugo went into one of his 50-page tangents, as a matter of fact. But I had selected it for a reason and I didn't want to quit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KidsHappen Posted July 4, 2009 Share Posted July 4, 2009 I don't finish about 1/4 of the books I start in the last year or so but I always stick it out until about the middle because I wanted make sure that it is not just a mood I am going through or that I have been busy or something else unrelated to the book itself. There is also the issue of the fact that many books have somewhat different material in the front half compared to the last half and I may only be interested in what is in the last half so the first half is a strugle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happi duck Posted July 4, 2009 Share Posted July 4, 2009 From a Starbucks cup I keep in my freezer (don't ask:tongue_smilie:)... "Life's too short to read a book you don't love. At age 50 or younger, give a book 50 pages to see if you like it. Over 50, subtract your age from 100 and that's the number of pages to read before you bail on a book you're not enjoying. And when you turn 100, you get to judge a book by its cover!" Nancy Pearl (librarian and author of Book Lust) Also, my mama taught me at a young age to try lots of different library books..."if you don't like it, return it!":D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sparkle Posted July 4, 2009 Share Posted July 4, 2009 I occasionally will leave a book unfinished if it really isn't interesting. I can think of four books in the last 6 months or so, that I haven't finished (out of 50+ books). One was just because the writing was so terrible, and the other three I lost interest in, but may go back and pick them up again later. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hapax Legomena Posted July 4, 2009 Share Posted July 4, 2009 (edited) Some books hold our fascination more than others, but always bear in mind the words of Horace, "Sometimes even the noble Homer nods” (Ars Poetica I.359). Edited July 5, 2009 by Hapax Legomena Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ravin Posted July 4, 2009 Share Posted July 4, 2009 I can only think of three. The Beach (I don't remember the author, but it was made into an equally crappy movie starring Leonardo DiCaprio.) Eclipse by Stephanie Meyer. I probably should have stopped sooner than I did. Ugh! The Dragon Prince by Melanie Rawn. DH insists that it gets better and is really good through the rest (and the books that follow), but I quit about 50 pages in. I don't always finish nonfiction books, but usually because I've gotten sufficient information, not because I didn't like them or thought they were poor reads. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ladydusk Posted July 5, 2009 Share Posted July 5, 2009 Melanie Rawn I really enjoy Melanie Rawn's work. It has been years since I read the Dragon series books, but they were good once you got going. One of these days she's going to write The Captal's Tower and finish the Ruins of Ambrai series (it has only been 11 years or so [sigh]). These are intricate and fascinating and if she can tie things up it will be somewhat miraculous. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
creekland Posted July 5, 2009 Share Posted July 5, 2009 I almost always finish all books, but yesterday I gave up a second time on Peter Jenkin's Walk Across America. According to the book cover, this book spent 3 months on the NYT Best Seller list, so obviously it's me... but I'm just finding that book incredibly boring (sigh) and can't get into it. Earlier yesterday I was berating myself for having started the book (a year or so ago) and not finishing it - I think I made it through 10 chapters. By afternoon yesterday it was back up in my bedroom...on a shelf, not my nightstand. It was his first book... The one (of his) I really want to read is Looking for Alaska as Alaska is the only state we haven't been to (yet). I thought it would be important to read his first book prior to a later one. Now I don't care... I started the Alaska book last night. It was written about 25 years after his first book and definitely shows improvement in the writing. In general, I prefer Bill Bryson as a travel writer I think. I like humor in books more than just facts/figures. The last travel book I read - Queen of the Road by Doreen Orion - kept me very interested even though she's probably 100% of a different traveler than we are. Her writing was just that interesting and fun. So back to your question... I hardly ever don't finish what I start, but there are times... And I do screen carefully in general. I have many books here I haven't even started (gifts)... as I don't get THAT much time to read books. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elegantlion Posted July 5, 2009 Share Posted July 5, 2009 I generally don't give up on books. I have one classic I started about 18 months ago. I still have it placed lovingly on the bookshelf above my nightstand, I haven't given up on it, I'll get to it later. :lol::lol::lol: I have another non-fiction book on writing that I find absurd, now I might have given up on that one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paisley Hedgehog Posted July 5, 2009 Share Posted July 5, 2009 .. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melissel Posted July 5, 2009 Author Share Posted July 5, 2009 Thanks everyone, I think I've decided to force myself to let it go. The odd thing is that the first 30 or so pages were pretty good, but then her writing started to make me crazy. She'll wax on about something in her garden or some bit of small-town history, or whatever, and then end with this weird, flat sentence that was either unnecessary or disconcerting and would really jolt me out of my engagement. Then I started to think to myself when she was going on and on about something, "Good grief, who cares?!" I guess that's a bad sign, eh? :lol: I'm trying to screen carefully, but I'm also trying to give some books a little leeway because there have been some things that I thought would be dead boring that I ended up really enjoying. This one was totally the opposite, actually. Gah! Frustrating. So back to the library it goes then. Thank you all! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Georgiana Daniels Posted July 5, 2009 Share Posted July 5, 2009 I usually give a book about 3 chapters--if I'm not hooked by then, chances are I won't be. Since I started doing online reviews, I've realized there are SO MANY BOOKS fantastic books out there, that it doesn't hurt to move on if one falls flat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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