Readers.....do you often start, but not finish, a book?

[Ottakee]

I have found myself doing this more and more lately.....I start a book, give it a few chapters and then abandon it if it isn't holding my interest.

I think this might have serveral reasons behind it.

  First, I am requesting a lot of books I hear about on here or ones that overdrive's suggests based in other books.....so the types of books I am requesting is a lot broader than it used to be.

Second, I.am at a different stage in life and sometimes just don't want to work through a really deep book, or deal with a mindless one, or read books with certain topics.

Finally, I am trying to keep my reads to "clean reads".   I don't want excessive language, adult situations, etc.  Sometimes they are an integral part of the story and handled tastefully and that is fine but language and adult scenes as a central part of the book are not for me.

Finally, sometimes I am just coming off reading/listening to a powerful, thought provokibg book that needs to be digested and mulled over.....so I just want something mindless and no think for a while.

And I guess the ease of requesting audiobooks and Kindle books from the library makes it easy to "try out a book" and return it if it doesn't fit...all for free from the comfort of home 

 

[AK_Mom4]

I do this.  I honestly give a book a solid try, but find that the convenience of returning ebooks and getting new ones just makes it not worthwhile to slog through a bad book.

On the plus side - I read far far more books on my iPad than I ever did physical books.

[Guest]

I go through jags where I find it hard to settle in to a book. I had a brief spell last year where I started and abandoned several books; I just kept hating them. I do also have the problem of “reading hangover” where I just have to cogitate on a book for a bit before I can go on to other books. (Sometimes this is when I will just read some pure fluff for a bit. 

It’s interesting you posted this question because I almost posted about being torn when I hate a book. Sometimes it is worth it to keep reading; other times I wind up mad at myself for wasting my time. 

[Pen]

Yes.  And I allow dc to do that too.

[Lady Florida.]

I wouldn't say I do it often but I have no problem abandoning a book if I don't like it. I know there are people who feel they must finish a book if they started it. My view is that life is too short and there are too many other books that I WILL want to finish, to waste time on a book I'm not enjoying or can't get into.

[purpleowl]

Not too often, but every now and then. I think maybe I'm more selective about what I start reading? I try to pick something that I'm in the mood for. 

In addition to some of the reasons others have mentioned, I have stopped reading books because they were poorly edited. If I want to take a red pen to every other page, it's distracting and I will probably just stop. I forced myself through one like that because I thought the topic was really interesting, but my poor husband had to listen to my yelling at the book every few minutes. 😄 

 

[Stacia]

Yes.

I even have an "abandoned" shelf on my Goodreads page for this very purpose.

[Liz CA]

I research before I select (rarely ever go by Overdrive rec's) but occasionally I get a dud and life is short.  🙂

[LaughingCat]

Yes, but if I don't completely hate it, I will often jump randomly ahead and read a bit here and there to see if it is just a boring start -- and fairly often the later part will draw me in enough that I go back and read the whole thing.

[mumto2]

I have no problem moving a book to my abandoned shelf on Goodreads most of the time.  Sometimes I put them back to want to read if I wasn’t in the right mood or had time to read a particular book.

[SKL]

I really prefer not to do this, but there have been times when I just could not force myself to read any more.

More likely I "take a break" from a book and forget to go back to it.  But usually I power through.

[Carrie12345]

I don’t often abandon a book due to not liking it. I guess I’m nosey and just have to know what happens! But there have been some. I always thought “throwing a book across the room” wasn’t a literal thing people did... until I tried to force myself through Don Quixote.  (Sorry!)

I do have books that I forget about and don’t get back to for weeks or even months. Probablyy because I tend to juggle so many simultaneously.  Right now, I think I have about 4 going, which is on the low side for me.  Different titles/genres/topics to suit whichever mood I’m in when I finally sit down to read.

[PrincessMommy]

10 hours ago, Quill said:

I go through jags where I find it hard to settle in to a book. I had a brief spell last year where I started and abandoned several books; I just kept hating them. I do also have the problem of “reading hangover” where I just have to cogitate on a book for a bit before I can go on to other books. (Sometimes this is when I will just read some pure fluff for a bit. 

It’s interesting you posted this question because I almost posted about being torn when I hate a book. Sometimes it is worth it to keep reading; other times I wind up mad at myself for wasting my time. 

this has been me lately.  It's refreshing to see I'm not the only one because I was wondering if something was the matter.  Lately, I've been struggling to find any book that holds my attention.  I blame it partially on audio books.

[Chris in VA]

I do. I'm notorious in the family for skimming to get to the end, or for skipping to the end and "backtracking," a practice that appalls my dd. 

I just don't have any patience lately. I do it with movies, too, on the TV. I have a station here that is all horror movies (I know...); the titles are up in the corner in Arabic, so I don't know what they are. I keep my phone beside me and google the characters' names that I hear along with horror movie, and most times the title will pop up. I go to Wiki and read part of a plot summary (up to the part I've tuned in to). If it looks sketchy (like, I won't watch SAW movies, for example) then I read til the end of the article and usually turn it off--my curiosity is there, but ain't no one got time to see what doesn't need to be seen.

I've done something similar with books, too. Terrible. 

Edited February 5, 2019 by Chris in VA

[TravelingChris]

Sometimes I abandon books- and mostly they are book club books.  More often, I simply misplace the book and have to start rereading when I find it.  (Oh and this is true of Kindle too since I misplace it too).

[marbel]

Sure. Unless it's something I have to read for a purpose (school, homeschooling, work-related), I feel no obligation to finish reading something that's not enjoyable, interesting, or useful to me. I will occasionally read ahead in a novel to see the ending but most often I just stop. Or with non-fiction, I might skim chapters to see if anything useful comes up. But in general I don't see the point of wasting time with a bad book.

Edited February 5, 2019 by marbel

[ashfern]

I didn't used to but now that I'm reading more variety I've done it a couple of times. I need to do an abandoned shelf on goodreads. 

[VaKim]

Yep. I do it all the time. Life is short and books are plentiful.

[Baseball mom]

Yep! Reading is my escape & downtime so I read what I enjoy!

[BooksandBoys]

5 minutes ago, Baseball mom said:

Yep! Reading is my escape & downtime so I read what I enjoy!

This. 

I love to read so much, but I’m not wasting my precious reading time on boring/upsetting/poorly written/poorly argued books. 🙂

[Ottakee]

Glad to see I am not alone.

[Kareni]

Another yes. Prior to having a child, I never abandoned a book. After becoming a parent, my reading time became too valuable to spend on a dissatisfying book.

Regards,

Kareni

[LuvToRead]

Yes!  I used to not, but I heard a podcast (book riot maybe?) where someone called in and literally laid it all out.  I can't remember the details, but it was something like "I read a book a week, so 52 per year.  I plan on living another 40 years, so I have about 2000 books left to read.  How do I choose?"  That really put it in perspective for me.  I can't read all the books, so I do abandon books without any guilt.

[Terabith]

Not often, but sometimes.  

[Faith-manor]

I got weighed down in First Man. The thing is, I wanted to love it and there were a ton of good things about it. But at some point the never ending litany of acronyms and numbers concerning every last one of the experimental aircraft he flew, caused it to bog down enough that I kind of lost it.

Maybe someday I'll finish. But, I'm having a much nicer read with Gene Kranz autobiography.

The first attempt I made a at "Godel, Escher, Bach: The Eternal Braid" ended with me having too much college homework and practicing to do. I put it away about half way through, forgot about it, graduated, married, and had kids. I picked it up again when the kids were little and managed one more chapter. But then it was another five years before I finished it.

I'm not generally like that, however, sometimes your brain simply needs to give up on something for a while or altogether. Life is short.

[Ali in OR]

I almost never abandon a book, but like others, I'm choosy about what I'm going to read. And I enjoy many different types of (well-written) books, so not picky in that sense. Just picky in only starting books I already have an interest in. The last book I abandoned was one that just felt evil to me. Not good vs. evil--just a vivid description of evil and that was stuff I did not want to put into my brain.

[Lady Florida.]

Reported the above spam.

[klmama]

The only books I remember not finishing are Silas Marner, The Good Earth, and Pride and Prejudice.  I even was enjoying P&P, but I just couldn't keep it going.  

[kbutton]

Yes for all the reasons mentioned. Sometimes I skim to the end depending on why I'm struggling to read it.

I will ear read books I wouldn't necessarily have the patience or interest to read because I can do it while driving or working around the house, but since our library is getting rid of most of their physical books on CD, I'll probably listen to fewer of them, sadly. I doubt I would listen to enough to make an audible subscription worthwhile. 

[Robin M]

Yes, to all the above.   I have to be in the mood to read certain things, especially if it's historical fiction or a chunky book because of time invested.  I'll get so involved in chunky books or book series that I get a book hangover because I spent so much time in that world and usually resort to a really light read and rereading something I enjoyed in the past to clear my reading palate. 

I used to never abandon books because I was really picky about what I bought. Before the advent of the ebook I'd read the back or the synopsis, the first page to see if it tickled my reading taste buds, then random pages before I picked up a book.  With ebooks I try to read the first few pages on Amazon and if I don't make it past the first paragraph, its a no go.  But lots of times it depends on my mood which is why I'll usually return a book to the shelf and try it again later.  If after three times over a period of time, I just can't get into it, then it's abandoned in my shelves.   Also over the years I found my reading tastes have changed so a book I might have enjoyed way back when, no longer interests me.   I go through stages when I'll only read mysteries or urban fantasy or historical fiction.  I also like to escape into my reads and being taken away to another world.  Plus  if I can't visualize what is taking place because of bad writing or storyline, I'll abandon it pretty quickly.  

I know what you mean about clean books. If the first page is riddled with swear words, it's not for me.

[Wishes]

There’s an interesting book called “The Shallows...” about how the internet is changing our brains. One of the changes brought up was that sustained attention to read books. 
 

https://www.amazon.com/Shallows-What-Internet-Doing-Brains/dp/0393339750/ref=nodl_

Edited May 29, 2020 by Wishes

[Laura Corin]

No, I rarely do that.  I'm pretty picky about where I take my recommendations from.  I think I failed to finish one book last year.

[Ausmumof3]

Yep.  I think I have too many choices now meaning it’s easy to move on.  And I’m actually ok with just reading and enjoying bits without needing all of it . Part of it is reading some more non fiction books where I don’t have that same drive to “find out what happens in the end”

[Ausmumof3]

6 hours ago, Wishes said:

There’s an interesting book called “The Shallows...” about how the internet is changing our brains. One of the changes brought up was that sustained attention to read books. 
 

https://www.amazon.com/Shallows-What-Internet-Doing-Brains/dp/0393339750/ref=nodl_

I wonder if blinkist does a version 😂

[KatieJ]

Yes, for all the reasons you mentioned. Occasionally, I will read the last chapter to put a closure on it for myself. 

I feel the same way about movies and series on Netflix, or whatever. I/we start it and if it is not worth our time, we move on, 

[Zebra]

I am so much more likely to abandon a book now than when I was younger.

We just have so much more access to books now, which makes it easier to abandon them.   When I was a kid we had to walk a mile and a half to the publc library and carry everything home...uphill 🤣   We had a tiny school library and at some point early on I had read every single book.   We couldn't afford to buy many books.   

I think my 10 year old self would die from the amount of books I have access to now.  

Also at my age I have read and heard everything.   Nothing is new.   It's harder to get through a book with the same old story.

And I think there is some truth to the lack of attention span that we've all developed because of the internet. 

Having half your mind on raising kids or a pandemic doesn't help either. 

 

 

[J-rap]

I rarely abandon a book, although I'm generally pretty picky about the ones I start.  I do feel a funny sense of obligation to finish books I start though, I don't know why.  If it's a book I received as a gift from a very close friend or family member, I'll finish it even if I don't like it, because I figure they picked it out special for me.  I did abandon one recently after it sat on my nightstand for one year and I only made it through the first two chapters.  (Yawn.)  I still feel guilty about not reading it.  Weird!

Edited May 29, 2020 by J-rap

[fairfarmhand]

I've struggled with this since covid happened and wrecked everything. I went from reading one or two books a week to nothing.

The only books Ive read in the last three months? 

The whole Little House on the Prairie series. It's like I can't concentrate on anything new, and I craved something familiar and comforting. I have listened to more podcasts, both the light, fun kind and a few more serious ones.

[fairfarmhand]

11 hours ago, Wishes said:

There’s an interesting book called “The Shallows...” about how the internet is changing our brains. One of the changes brought up was that sustained attention to read books. 
 

https://www.amazon.com/Shallows-What-Internet-Doing-Brains/dp/0393339750/ref=nodl_

I'm listening to the audio version of this book.

[SereneHome]

I haven't finished a book since Feb. I am too embarrassed to show up on Book / week thread even though everyone there is sooooo nice and supportive.

My husband is banning me from electronics starting at 9.30pm so I am hoping that this will kick me into reading.

I have stopped reading the following books last year Circe, High Mountains of Portugal, Educated and a few others. Life's too short!!

[mumto2]

@SereneHome  I hope you stop by BaW and let us know how the electronics ban after 9:30 works for you.😉  I sort of did that but seem to be watching DVD’s with Dh instead of reading.

At the start of the CV time I had great plans for my reading and quilting and I have not achieved any of it.  I abandoned several books that I had been really looking forward to and am now sticking to lighter reading.  I just got Network Effect, the new Murderbot book, which I have been looking forward to for months.  I hope to love it.  Barely any quilting,  basically my one accomplishment has been mask making.