Unfinished books.. will you pick them up again?

[Fi.]

Captain Corelli's Mandolin - I just cannot get into that book, no matter how hard I try and I've given up on it permanently. Strangely enough, my mum also couldn't get into it so we have 2 useless copies of the book between us

[SueB]

Captain Corelli's Mandolin - I just cannot get into that book, no matter how hard I try and I've given up on it permanently. Strangely enough, my mum also couldn't get into it so we have 2 useless copies of the book between us

 

OMG another one of mine too!!!

I also cant get into any of the Dan Brown books either......

[Rawr]

The Discworld series, only finished Mort, just haven't been able to get into them! I had to persevere with The Strange Case of Dr Jeckyll and Mr Hyde too and was severely disappointed with it!

[NovaLee]

There have been a few here and there that I've put down for one reason or another with the most recent being A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving. It just went on and on and on and on with tedious detail that I gave up before I was even half way through.

[Beccles]

I have suffered some bad Stephen King but when I am in the mood I will start off where I left off. I rarely dump a book half way through and do try and persevere.

[partyanimal1980]

my most recent book was called 'Then we came to the end' by Joshua Ferris it was an amazing reas, really really funny but i put it down after reading half way through and could never find the time for it again, i want to buy this book again and i want to read it all the way through!!!

[KW]

No. They gather dust, then find their way to the trash can.

[Katrina1968]

I've actually just picked up a book that was put aside. Its Sarum by Edward Rutherfurd. After I finish that, I'm going back to Pillars Of The Earth, by Ken Follett. Assuming I dont straight into London, also by Edward Rutherfurd!

[funrun]

Yes I have put books away and try to pick them up when I am in better mood to read them,some I still can not even though I have tried so many times so I just give up on them:motz:

[Book Fiend]

Captain Corelli's Mandolin - I just cannot get into that book, no matter how hard I try and I've given up on it permanently. Strangely enough, my mum also couldn't get into it so we have 2 useless copies of the book between us

 

Oh this is one of my favourite books but I know loads of people who say they can't get into it (in fact the only person I've ever found who enjoyed it was the person who recommended it to me!) I plead with you to try again though because it's soooo beautiful!

 

I've tried about 3 times to read Catch 22 but can't get past about the 2nd chapter. I will try again though (eventually.....)

[Lucybird]

Captain Corelli's Mandolin - I just cannot get into that book, no matter how hard I try and I've given up on it permanently. Strangely enough, my mum also couldn't get into it so we have 2 useless copies of the book between us

 

I love Captain Corelli's, but I did find it difficult to get started on it, the first chapter is a bit hard going.

 

The Discworld series, only finished Mort, just haven't been able to get into them!

 

I'm the same, only managed to read Mort. I liked the Johnny books too.

[joe]

If I cannot get into book and do not finish it I usually give it away

[ned]

I find it to be like a bad film, it bores you and you laugh at how bad it is but you have to stick with it to see how it ends.

[KimmyS]

Good question. Generally when a book doesn't "speak" to me first time around, chances are it will fail to do so next time.

 

I did it twice though that I picked up a book again which I didn't finish the first time around and I kinda liked it next time,

[Katrina1968]

I like to give a book at least 5 chapters to capture me, if it doesnt, there's really no point in wasting my time. HOWEVER, having said that, if I actually BOUGHT the book, I have been known to muddle through it. I hate to waste money on a book that I paid for only to have never read:motz:

[Jue xxx]

I gave up on Anna Karenina, and remember feeling really guilty for it! It's had so many great reviews on this forum that I found myself forcing myself to read on, in case I was missing something, but I just couldn't get into it. I've marked the page I stopped at, in case I decide to give it another go in the future.

 

However, I loved The Time Traveller's Wife, Life of Pi, Never Let Me Go and Captain Corelli's Mandolin, all of which have been mentioned in this thread, so it just shows that everyone's different!

[aquarius91]

I have issues with not finishing books. Even if I really dislike the book or find it boring I just have to stick with it, which is a waste of time really. I find myself wanting to get through it just so I can move onto the next one, which I'm sure defeats the object.

 

I'm not a fan of loooong and constant descriptions of things, I mean really long, a couple of sentences sure, they've got to set the scene, but when its paragraph after paragraph of describing how something looks I just find my mind wondering and that is when I get bored of a book and just want to finish it.

 

I did enjoy The Time travellers wife. I don't think I anywhere near appreciated as much as other readers have. Some people rave and rave about it.

[Jue xxx]

Yes, why do we feel so guilty for not finishing a book? I have struggled through so many of the ones I haven't enjoyed, rather than giving up on them and starting on a new one that I might like!

[Mexicola]

I've often gone back and given books that I'd previously abandoned another try, and I'm very glad of it.

 

I once read a few pages of To Kill a Mocking Bird before deciding that I couldn't really get on with it and giving up, only to pick it up again a year or so later and to not only enjoy it considerably but for it to become one of my all time favourite novels.

 

I think you have to be in the right mood/frame of mind for certain books, so is always worth giving some books another go at a later date (unless it really is just plain )

[Chrissy]

I've often gone back and given books that I'd previously abandoned another try, and I'm very glad of it.

 

I think you have to be in the right mood/frame of mind for certain books, so is always worth giving some books another go at a later date (unless it really is just plain )

I think there is also an age for some books. I remember being blown away by John Fowles 'The Magus' when I was in my late teens, but when I tried to read it again in my thirties I found it laboured and trying too hard to be clever.

[Vladd]

I started A Dead Man in Deptford by Anthony Burgess put it down one day and just haven't gone back to it. Maybe I'll start it again someday.

[Kimmy619]

I am thinking of giving up on my current read " A Sheltering Sky". I am avoiding reading as I don't want to read it as I am not enjoying it at all. I will probably try it again at a later date.

[IfDreamsCameTrue]

I remember once when I was reading a book series and got to book 3 and couldn't get into it anymore and just left it on my nightstand not reading it.

 

Then about a year later I heard they might be making it into a film so I was really interested in the books again. But, I couldn't pick up from where I left off because I couldn't remember the first two properly.

 

Naturally, I had to start from the start, which isn't so bad. They were good books. Just, as I was reading them, I vaguely remembered what was going to happen. Kind of spoiled some surprises.

 

Series: Maximum Ride

 

(Typical teen book.) (Kind of)

[Univerze]

Sometimes yes, sometimes no. When I put it down with the thought I will read it another time, I usually do, even if it takes years. Sometimes I find that I am just not in the right mood for a certain book and that I'd rather read another, then it's pointless to keep struggling through the first one. Maybe, second time around, I will finish it quickly.. so yes, then I do finish them another time.

There are also books I don't finish.. but then usually when I quit reading, I know it's the end for that book.. Then it doesn't appeal to me, or it just doesn't read well.

[jankensan]

I have a 42 page rule (after all the meaning of life is 42!) If I don't like it by page 42 I give up. 42 pages is more than enough good faith to allow an author. It works well for me as even though I might not finish the book, at least I gave it a good chance...

 

And when I give up the book goes out to the charity shop or given away to friends, I don't hang on just in case, there's just too much out there to read to do that!