When do you give up on a book?

[jankensan]

42 Pages. Since 42 is the meaning of life I always give a book 42 pages before I give up.

[Guest Eliza1]

I know how you feel Ooshie, I'm one of the die hards too. I can't leave a book unread. It's not a principle, sometimes I'd love to just chuck it out the window but you get that naggling feeling in the back of your mind. I have to learn to let go

[Charm]

I used to finish every book I started as it would really niggle at me if I didn't. Now I follow the 100 page rule, if the book hasn't held my interest or is chasing my mojo away, I'll move on to another. So far this year, I've abandoned 2, I've been told both are worth continuing so who knows At the minute, I'm just concentrating on reading what I'm enjoying, life's too short to force myself to read something I don't want to!

[bunnybooks]

There is one book that I have tried to read ( and failed ) twice. It is Wild swans by Jung Chang. There is nothing wrong with the book and I enjoyed reading it but for some reason I can never get further than three quarters of the way through. I have recently tried to read The Lucifer code by Charles Brokaw and gave up halfway through.

I think I may have given up as, even at halfway through the book I hadn't really learnt anything more than what I knew in chapter one. I also found that I didn't like the main character, a bit of modesty wouldn't go amiss!

When I'm reading books I need to like the main character, otherwise I don't care what happens. Also I think there needs to be something happening most of the way through, to keep my attention, not just pages of filler.

[Shade]

I don't give up on a book. Even if it's the worst piece of work on the entire planet. I'm absolutely convinced that there is something to learn from every book. For example, how NOT to write one

[Raven]

I started reading The Reality Dysfunction, by Peter F. Hamilton last night and after only 16 pages I'm considering throwing in the towel.

 

The book is 1220 pages long, and is the first book in a trilogy, but it's not the length that is putting me off, it's the sheer delugde of techno-babble in the first chapter!

[JulietteJones]

I rarely give up on a book, unless it's utter crap. For example, (I'm loathe to bring up Dan Brown, but meh), I read The Da Vinci Code years ago and thought it was a ripping good yarn (it damn well was), but then when I picked up Angels and Demons... yeah well I read about 20 pages in, realised it was the exact same story as the Code, and have never (nor will I ever again) read Dan Brown again.

 

Currently I have a book called Funeral Rites by Jean Genet on the go... it has no chapters... the characters morph into others. Genet jumps from being himself to someone else entirely in the space of a sentence... I can't do it right now, it's too confusing and, quite honestly, a bit of a drag. So it's on hold with all good intentions of being finished.

 

In other words, I'll give up a book if I think it's trite and dull, I will put a book on hold (and feel the guilt every moment I think of it sitting there waiting for me) if I think it's a worthwhile read, but a little too obscure for what I'm feeling at that point.

 

(It took me a year to read Mervyn Peake's Titus Groan, and that has got to be one of my favourite books ever, it just had to be put on hold every few chapters)

[mtjm]

I give up on a book as soon as I become bored. I try to go 2 or 3 chapters after I get bored, sometimes I don't make it.

[smilerbabeuk]

I don't often give up on books, but I do so without hesitation or guilt if something really isn't grabbing me. The last book I gave up on was last week though. It was a thriller and I had the solution pegged within two chapters so I skimmed it to see if I was right, and I was.

[Pixie]

I rarely give up on a book, unless it's utter crap. For example, (I'm loathe to bring up Dan Brown, but meh), I read The Da Vinci Code years ago and thought it was a ripping good yarn (it damn well was), but then when I picked up Angels and Demons... yeah well I read about 20 pages in, realised it was the exact same story as the Code, and have never (nor will I ever again) read Dan Brown again.

Uh oh. I read Angels and Demons and enjoyed it, but have not read The Da Vinci Code. If it's the same story, I am going to be disappointed.

[Chrissy]

I don't have a problem about giving up on a book, but at the moment I feel that they keep giving up on me.

I am currently coaxing my reading muscles with an out-of-my-usual genre read.

[no-1-book-fan]

I'm with Stephen on this one. Usually when the plot and characters aren't developing fast enough for me to sympathise with them or get hooked up on it. That depends a lot on the topic and authorship as well!

[Brida]

As someone's previously mentioned, life is too short and there are too many great books to be read so I don't feel the need to force myself to read something I don't like.

I gave up on The Book Thief, even though I don't think it's a bad book, but I just don't feel like reading it atm. Maybe in the future I'll give it another go.

Sometimes I don't like the begining of a book, but I try to read a few more chapters to see if maybe it was just a mood thing, or an uninteresting start. Sometimes it works and I finish the book, sometimes it doesn't.

[adz3]

I give up on a book when either a)after a considerable number of pages I found the character and/or plot boring or b)I come across another book which is more interesting than the one I'm currently reading.

Luckly I'm never out of books that I haven't read so there's always a back-up book to come to my rescue.

[Lucybird]

Unless it's a very short book I don't let myself give up before 100 pages because many times I've found books difficult to get in to but ended up loving

[Avis Austin]

I always read book with full interest. Either it is a story or my course book. But its true! Often whenever I couldn't give full concentration on my reading I prefer to give up.

 

Free Books Online

Best Source of Online Books

[nursenblack]

I used to force myself to finish a book, but a couple of years ago I decided that if a book was just too too slow or not my type at around 100 or so pages I would give up. I did give up on Marked by P. and Kristin Cast after the first chapter or two though. Besides that one I can only think of three more. Not too bad, I guess.