Yesterday I was at the bookstore and flipping through the Book Lust journal by Nancy Pearl, a librarian known for her book recommendations. In the first couple of pages, she suggested a guideline when you’re not fully enjoying a book. If you are 50 years old or younger, give the book 50 pages before you totally give up on it. If you are older than 50, subtract your age from 100 and read that many pages before you quit.
I’ve always been a Give-It-Three-Chapters kind of reader, although there are times when I push through a book hoping it will get better. It usually doesn’t, and that’s when I wish I had stopped reading after the third chapter!
How far do you read a book before you give up on it? A couple of chapters? Half-way? Or do you force yourself to finish no matter what?
I read about 50 pages before I give up. There have been a few books where I read the first chapter, get irritated with it, guess what’s going go to happen, then look at the ending and see that I’m right– and then give up, having eked all the pleasure I’m going to out of that story. I’ve also left plays during intermission if they’re terrible. Why torture yourself?
wtg marie
Oh boy, that’s a complicated formula. . . which you just can’t apply to everything. Me, it all depends.
If there is something in the story that is not working for me, I give up whenever I see it. If it’s just boring me, I sometimes try to push on, sometimes look at the end to feel like I can say I finished it, but I might try it again at a later time — maybe it just was the wrong time for it (and that has worked for me in the past, went on to liking it).
When I first started reading lots of romances, I pushed myself to finish it, but after a while I told myself, self, there are other books here you can read, you don’t have to force yourself. LOL In the end, not everything works for all of us, and sometimes, we aren’t always in the mood for something. Sometimes, you just have to try again later. But I say it’s up to you when to give up, no equations needed.
Lois
Margaret, I haven’t tried to skip to the end of a book I don’t love. Probably because by the time I’m giving up I don’t care if the couple gets together!
Lois, that’s usually how I feel–that there are other books I can read and I don’t need to finish one that isn’t working for me.
I feel so bad about giving up on a book. I usually try to force myself through it, but sometimes, I just don’t make it. I don’t have a set rule about when I give up. I guess I just stop when I can’t take it anymore. And I do tend to skip to the end when I’m ready to give up just to see how it ends.
Sometimes, it’s my mood and not just the book though, so I often try to go back to a book after a break to see if that helps. The breaks can last anywhere from days to months!
I may set aside a book for awhile, but I never give up completely. I have to admit there was one book that I received as a b-day gift… I tried reading it, it actually took me a year to finish it. I could only take so much of it…