I am sure everyone knows the feeling. You start reading a book, only to notice after a couple of pages (sometimes it takes a couple of hundred pages), that it does not meet your expectations and that to continue reading it is most likely an utterly waste of time. :wall:

So what do you do?

Personally I just throw the book away and start a new one, because I think life is too short to read bad books. But I know of others who just finish every book they've started (may it because they paid for it or because they want to give it a second or even third chance).

Mostly, if I find that the book has a hackneyed plot or I find that the riding quality is too poor, I will ditch it immediately.

If the pace is slow, then I keep going (or read ahead a bit). Some of the better books I have read had a slow start but were worth reading till the end.

Life is too short to spend reading bad books.

If the book isn't that great, but shows promise in the first couple of chapters, I'll stick with it for a while. But if I'm completely lost by the end of Chapter 1, it's gone.

Too many interesting books around to stick with books you do not like for whatever reason.

For me it does not matter if a book is bad or it just does not resonate however famous the book or writer is, or how much I liked other books by him/her. If a book does not engage me, I do not read it, period.

There are books that require a (relatively) long time for me to read since they are dense and I want to appreciate their flavor, and books that I read in several sittings depending on available time, but in either case the book engaged me enough.

If somehow a book engages me, but then it becomes boring or predictable (it happens once in a while), I just fast read through it to see if it gets interesting again and continue to read it from there or just get to the end and see what happens.

Life is too short to spend reading bad books.

If the book isn't that great, but shows promise in the first couple of chapters, I'll stick with it for a while. But if I'm completely lost by the end of Chapter 1, it's gone.
well said

I think the worst book I ever plodded through was The Silmarillian by J.R.R. Tolkien pubish by his son after he died. It was so dull and long. I read it because of who the author was.

Another book I hated was [batlefield Earth[/i] by L. Ron Hubbard. But by the time I got to hate it, I was too far in to stop.

Generally, I do try to finish a book once I start it. Not always do I manage.

I think the worst book I ever plodded through was The Silmarillian by J.R.R. Tolkien pubish by his son after he died. It was so dull and long. I read it because of who the author was.

Did you try The Tale of the Children of Hurin? I've heard it's good and actually very readable also for non Tolkien-fanatics.

I was very close to ditch Next from Michael Crichton, which was definitely not as good as most of his previous works.

I have not yet. I have a small backlog of books to finish first. But I definately want to read The Tale of the Children of Hurin. What I might do is reserve it from the library and get it when I get it.

I generally try to finish the books I start, but the older I get the less I concern myself with whether I finish a book that I find boring or otherwise annoying. :shrug:

If that book was written by an artist in the field, I will read all of it wether I like it, agree with it or not. It is a way of learning to better oneself to see through someone else's eyes. Of course the violent types throw me off but I still want to see why would a human want to be so unless I've already seen it elsewhere. Déjà vu throws me off also.
There is always a pearl to be found in everything. A new word, way of expressing an idea, a sentence or artistic view to revisit a subject are always worthwhile.

I see your point, yvanleterrible, and I don't speak against it, but I personally would prefer to move on to something that has a higher percentage of worthwhile content, than to dig through a proverbial pig sty to find only a single small pearl -- it'd have to be a pretty nice pearl to justify the muck. :nice:

Besides, I, at least, don't mean that I toss a book if I don't find it absolutely riveting from the first word, it has to be pretty bad for me to give up on it. :huh:

I read Children Of Hurin... And yes I did finish the Silmillarillionalonahsilmill.. I'vr read LOTR and the hobbit 16 million times and I tolerated the Sil.. Children of Hurin was a bummer. I finished it becasue I bought it new from Borders but I was glad it was over. I dump a book right away if the writing is cheesey. I can put up with a lame plot if the writing is beautiful. Pat Conroy is a great example of that. I read Prince of Tides because of the beautiful prose even though dumb old Barbara Streisand kept trying to be lowenthal (Or whatever her name was) and Nolte kept trying to be the hero of the book) He really is a great writer. As for Tolkien.... Well.... His writing.... Yet I keep coming back to the LOTR! Hurin... Don't bother unless liked Silmill.. And even then its kind of drudgery.

I wish there was a delete button on my reader becasue sometimes I forget which book i started and wanted to dump from the memory when i finally hook up to my computer.

I'm so picky about the books I buy, that I haven't come across a book I couldn't finish in decades! There have been a few that felt like a looooong way to go for a pretty tired punch line (McDewitt's Chindi comes to mind), but the last book I started and couldn't finish was The Hobbit, and that was more to do with the fact that it was just plain boring, coupled with the fact that I'm just not a fantasy book fan.

I guess there's a reason why these posthumous Tolkien books were not published while he was alive. His son Christopher is really doing him a disservice by not letting go of his work.

I guess there's a reason why these posthumous Tolkien books were not published while he was alive. His son Christopher is really doing him a disservice by not letting go of his work.

The reason that many of these Tolkien works came out posthumously is because Tolkien simply didn't finish them. He was a very meticulous (sp?) writer - which tended to give his books "depth" (that there was a story under the story).

The Silmarillion is really a work by one of his sons, using JRR's notes as a basis. The Book of Lost Tales series is the unfinished, unvarnished, version of JRR's notes. But that set is mainly for those of us who like to read history - in this case, the history of a fantasy world.

Christopher is doing JRR a great service by publishing out all these stories and notes. We would not be able to read them otherwise.

Of course, my stand is that JRR's works shouldn't be under Copyright anymore since he's dead.

I basically agree with Roy White. If I think the writing is bad, I stop inmediately. If the book is slow or the plot uninteresting but I like the writing, I usually am more patient.

Life is too short to spend reading bad books.

Life's too short to dance with ugly guys
Eh -- actually it was a bumper sticker :oops2:
I think Kim Stanley Robinson is a wonderful writer. The first couple of books were great. But the third one I tried, about climbing a long tedious mountain on Mars -- I just couldn't push that rock up that mountain. Sorry Kim!

Some writers will produce solid winners for me and others offer clunkers. I tend to read one author until I exhaust his work, then move on to another author. When I find one I like I am greatly pleased.

I think the worst book I ever plodded through was The Silmarillian by J.R.R. Tolkien pubish by his son after he died. It was so dull and long. I read it because of who the author was.

Another book I hated was Battlefield Earth by L. Ron Hubbard. But by the time I got to hate it, I was too far in to stop.

Generally, I do try to finish a book once I start it. Not always do I manage.
The Silmarillian is easily one of the five worst books that I have read all the way through. (Not counting the required reading in college.) I read it because of who wrote it and have never touched another Tolkien book since.

As for Hubbard, I hurled the book with great vigor for life is too short to drink bad wine or read books such as that. Therefore, I admit my mistake and move on; glad that I gave myself more time for better books.

I usually read a bit of a book before I buy it, especially if it's by an author I haven't heard of before. Once I have started a book, I usually finish it. Exceptions include the third Dune book and (I think) the second Thomas Covenant book, and I haven't had anything to do with either author since. (I liked Dune itself, though.)

I enjoyed The Silmarillion, but I don't regard it as a finished piece of fiction. It's an author's working notes. I like reading stuff like that. I liked the appendices at the end of The Lord of the Rings, too. I don't sit down and read that sort of writing all the way through, though. I tend to read it in bits and pieces, between other things. I haven't compulsively read all of Tolkein's working notes (e.g. some of the later Unfinished Tales, etc), at least not yet.

I'm so picky about the books I buy

Ditto.

Some 7 years ago I happen to be a bit less careful and ordered 6 paperback books by S. Donaldson The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant (1st and 2nd trilogies of the series)....poor me :( I managed to read only 100 pages of the first book, could not stand the whining protagonist. So, I ditched the books, although I paid lots of money for them. I lived in Israel then and was ordering books from Amazon.com.
Another big frustration was The Redemption of Althalus by Eddings&Co. but I was preparing for some tests and didn't want to read something good :), so I read the book ...and it went to oxfam second hand book shop on the next day I finished it.

There are only 2 books I literaly forced myself to read in the past 6 years, albeit I didn't like them. They were gifts from my older brother and I thought I must read them because they must be good if he has chosen the books for me. The books are The Wind-up Bird Chronicles by Haruki Murakami and The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera. I am not going to repeat the same mistake again though, twice is more than enough :)

Ditto.

Some 7 years ago I happen to be a bit less careful and ordered 6 paperback books by S. Donaldson The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant (1st and 2nd trilogies of the series)....poor me :( I managed to read only 100 pages of the first book, could not stand the whining protagonist. So, I ditched the books...

This is one series that I actually dropped dead in its tracks. I simply couldn't stand the protagonist.

One book that I SHOULD have dropped was Wizard's First Rule by Terry Goodkind. I vow to NEVER read a SINGLE word of Mr. Goodkind's ever again. Utter garbage...but I finished it anyways lol. :toilet:

I loved Stephen R. Donaldon's Thomas Covenant books. I really devoured them. I also enjoy Terry Goodkind's books as well.

To each his own. But the problem with large fansay books like these is that if you only stop at 100 pages, you miss a lot. Some have a large setup before it gets into the action. So give them another go and see how you really like it once you get into the action past the beginning setup.

although said about ideas, dorothy parker said, "... those are ideas that should not be tossed aside lightly. they should be thrown with great vigor." the same for bad books.

I loved Stephen R. Donaldon's Thomas Covenant books. I really devoured them. I also enjoy Terry Goodkind's books as well.

To each his own. But the problem with large fansay books like these is that if you only stop at 100 pages, you miss a lot. Some have a large setup before it gets into the action. So give them another go and see how you really like it once you get into the action past the beginning setup.

In the case of Goodkind I hear that the series gets better after the first one (which I've read). I just couldn't get past how much he seemed to rip ideas from other authors. Maybe I'll try book 2 in the series.

In the case of the Thomas Covenant books I think I read 3/4 of the book and just could not finish. Try as I might I could not overcome my loathing for Thomas Covenant and the writing seemed really dry and stilted to me. MAYBE I'll give those another go at some point.

Now that I've ragged on two authors, I'll propose two that I find vastly superior. I really enjoy the Song of Ice and Fire series by George R.R. Martin. The books deal with very mature themes so be warned if you're not old enough to view Rated R movies. If you like high fantasy with a plentiful helping of medieval-style atmosphere, then you'll love George R.R. Martin.

Another series is The Book of the New Sun by Gene Wolfe. I just finished these (including the Urth of the New Sun, a fifth book in the series of sorts). The writing is masterful and the story haunting. Loved every page. Be warned that these books are also not for the faint of heart. If you hated your college English classes then you might want to stear clear!

In the case of the Thomas Covenant books I think I read 3/4 of the book and just could not finish. Try as I might I could not overcome my loathing for Thomas Covenant and the writing seemed really dry and stilted to me. MAYBE I'll give those another go at some point.

Ditto here. I read the whole first book, started the second, and gave up. Hated the character, didn't like the writing, couldn't keep going. Friends have told me I might like the second trilogy more, but there are too many good books that I know I like for me to have made time to give these another go.

Then again, though I liked Brust's Jhereg and Yendi, I really didn't like Teckla when I first read it, nearly 20 years ago. Recently, on a recommendation that the rest of the series is better, I re-read the first three books, and found that I liked Teckla more than I expected to (though it's still probably my least favorite of the series). So maybe I ought to give Stephen Donaldson another try....

The only thing I decidedly put down was written by some French guy in the sixties. I don't want to remember his name. He was using sexist terms and was totally misogynistic, it wasn't just a character flaw like is often the case. I tore the book up. Just can't believe how stupid and blind some people are...

Haha! Good thread! I really try to give all books I've bought a go, even if they kinda stink I try to stick with it. I do like the analagy of life being too short to read bad books, but I'm such an optimist I usually hope the book will pick up and redeem itself. For a while there I was keeping a journal of all the books I read and rated them as well. That's kinda fallen by the wayside, but there were a few stinkers in there that I couldn't finish (tough, considering my OCD behavior).

It really sucks to have purchased a book and then find that it totally falls short of your expectations. I just had one I started to read a few weeks ago that I just couldn't finish, try as I might. Guess you're right, there are too many books out there to saddle your mind with something that doesn't suit you (would you wear a goofy shirt you ordered off the Interenet if it made you look like a loon?).

I continue reading it, then try to share it with someone else, so we can discuss the horror of it :)

Kinda evil, come to think of it, but... :D

I loved Stephen R. Donaldon's Thomas Covenant books. I really devoured them. I also enjoy Terry Goodkind's books as well.

To each his own. But the problem with large fansay books like these is that if you only stop at 100 pages, you miss a lot. Some have a large setup before it gets into the action. So give them another go and see how you really like it once you get into the action past the beginning setup.

That's my point. I usually force myself to give book a chance and read but I failed with Thomas Covenant books, saying that after I managed to finish Redemption of Althalus speaks volumes :) (I mean it is not for me, it might be good for others)

Terry Goodkind...I have not read him yet. I will try him sometime when he finishes his series, however....I frequent two big fantasy forums

ASOIAF (http://asoiaf.westeros.org/)
MalazanWorld (http://www.malazanworld.com/forums/)

The amount of sh"£ poured on TG on these forums is unimaginable :)
He is considered the worst writer ever in fantasy. People who love all different types of fantasy and different writers (some might love Martin and hate Erikson and vice versa), all agree in a general concensus that TG is an utter rubbish and should even exist :) I don't know any fantasy writer who sparks so much hatred from fantasy lovers :knife:

Amazing that he manages to sell so many books, with that being the case. :nice:

Amazing that he manages to sell so many books, with that being the case. :nice:

:freak:

I agree, it is a mystery :blink: that I am going to try to solve once he has finished the series :cool:

:laugh4:

So what does anybody think of PC Hodgell (http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/h/p-c-hodgell/)?

I do not have a good rapport with the fantasy genre, but my daughter is very big on Hodgell. I read one, I forget which, and I kind of got lost keeping track of who was who and who could do what.

Science fiction is easier and more comfortable for me, but I wondered. Is it just me? Or is she hard to read?

I like Hodgell a lot, but I agree she can be a bit hard to read. Some of her names are similar in ways that can be confusing to keep track of. But I really enjoyed her books when the first couple came out, and I've been delighted to find more recently.

She's more of an "atmosphere" author than an "action" author. Your daughter might want to try Patricia McKillip, if she hasn't yet. Jessica Amanda Salmonson might be another good choice. Maybe Tanith Lee. Or Meredith Ann Pierce.

I like both science fiction and fantasy, though I have my preferences within each, like anyone. I don't much care for most "military" sf, and there's a comparable variety of fantasy that doesn't do much for me, either. Recently I started Sheepfarmer's Daughter by Elizabeth Moon (from the free Baen library), and dropped it within the first couple of chapters. Not enough character development or interesting ideas for me. Someone who likes lots of action and stories of a life of adventure might enjoy it a lot more than I did, though. (On the other hand, I finished an ebook recently that had plenty of ideas and tried to have interesting character development, but I just really didn't enjoy the writing or the book -- I don't even remember the title or author now, though I usually make a point of remembering such things. It was recommended here, as it had been nominated for an award and the author was making it available for free online.)

An interesting science fiction/fantasy hybrid I've read several times is Melissa Scott's Five Twelfths of Heaven and sequels.

I've read The Deed of Paksenarrion (of which Sheepfarmer's Daughter is the first volume) and really enjoyed it. I'd agree that the character development is pretty much non-existent in the first couple of chapters, but that changes drastically as the story progresses -- you wouldn't even know it was the same character by the third book.

Paks starts out as pretty much an idealistic and a somewhat naive character, and Moon lets her go through some tough things before that starts to crack. Eventually the whole character is broken down to component parts and rebuilt from the ground up. I'd suggest you consider going back and giving it, oh, half the the first book before you give up on it completely. That should be well more than enough to hook you if it's going to. It does start slowly, and focuses mostly on action at the beginning, but I think it settles down to a better mix a bit farther on, and I found it a very satisfying read. I've bought two paper copies so far (gave one away), and I'll purchase the trilogy again from Baen as an e-book when I get ready to re-read it next time.

However, don't bother with the second trilogy, The Legacy of Gird, which is set much earlier. It mostly tries to explain some of the back-story for Deed, and, while it was more entertaining than The Silmarillion, I still didn't like it nearly as much.

Hm. I'll consider giving it another shot later.

BTW, the book I finished but didn't care for was Blindsight, by Peter Watts. I finally found the title (after several unsuccessful search attempts here, at Amazon, on Google, and on Wikipedia) by searching for "vampire genetic aliens". I wanted to like this book, and if someone had given me the premise and some of the interesting ideas up front, I'd have prediced I would like it, but on the actual read I just didn't care for it. I suppose the effort to create a narration character incapable of empathy was too successful, leaving me unable to empathise with anyone in the story. :(

Thanks, Neko, for the author tips. They have been relayed to my daughter.:crowngrin

Another author I have enjoyed is Sam Llewellyn. He writes sea stories of the coast of Cornwall. His writing is highly involving. I read his books maybe five years ago. I find if I re-read an author about every ten years, I have forgotten enough to make it a fresh read. Bonus: there are usually new books to be read. The mild downside is that I have inklings of prescience while reading that usually turn out to be correct.

Hm. This thread is only six days old and I seem to have lost track of the topic already, haven't I?

That's my point. I usually force myself to give book a chance and read but I failed with Thomas Covenant books, saying that after I managed to finish Redemption of Althalus speaks volumes :) (I mean it is not for me, it might be good for others)

Terry Goodkind...I have not read him yet. I will try him sometime when he finishes his series, however....I frequent two big fantasy forums

ASOIAF (http://asoiaf.westeros.org/)
MalazanWorld (http://www.malazanworld.com/forums/)

The amount of sh"£ poured on TG on these forums is unimaginable :)
He is considered the worst writer ever in fantasy. People who love all different types of fantasy and different writers (some might love Martin and hate Erikson and vice versa), all agree in a general concensus that TG is an utter rubbish and should even exist :) I don't know any fantasy writer who sparks so much hatred from fantasy lovers :knife:

So I imagine that you would recommend the Steven Erikson books, eh? I finally found a copy of Gardens of the Moon at my local Borders but haven't picked it up yet...

So I imagine that you would recommend the Steven Erikson books, eh? I finally found a copy of Gardens of the Moon at my local Borders but haven't picked it up yet...

Nope, I would not :D

I have not started on the series yet. There are only 7 books (the last book was published two months ago) out of 10. I am waiting for S.E. to write 9th book then I am going to reading the series.

Malazan forum consists of 2 parts. One part is for malazan books and another is general part. I visit only the second part.

As far as I know, Gardens of the Moon is a bit difficult book. Probably the worst in the series. Many people start to read it and give up. Quite often it is compared to the first book in Black Company series by Glen Cook, which I read and I can imagine what sort of difficulties one can encounter in this book. You are being thrown into the middle of action, chaos, without any explanation or background knowledge...Eventually everything becomes clear in the later installments but I know that it discouraged some readers from carrying on.

Hm. That's interesting. I gave up on the Black Company books after the first one. I don't even remember, now, what the story was about, but I think I didn't like any of the characters that much, or something like that. I remember thinking the philosophy of the book didn't agree with me, if that makes sense. Again, stories about soldiers and war, in general, don't do much for me, unless there's an awful lot else going on. (C.J. Cherryh's "Company Wars" books come to mind as exceptions, particularly Rimrunners, which I wouldn't have thought I would like, if someone were to give me the bare description, but which I did like quite a bit, because of the psychological stuff happening during the story.)

Unfortunately, not being interested in "military" SF or Fantasy cuts out a lot of the Baen line. :(

I might suggest you take a look at David Weber's "Honor Harrington" series. It's technically milscifi, but it's mostly about the characters' evolutions, and the mechanics of government society and the military (not in that order -- as the series progresses, the scope gets bigger as the main character rises in the hierarchy, and has more visibility of it all). On Basilisk Station is the first in that series, I think it has a lot to offer even the militarily disinterested. That title, at least, is in the Baen Free Library, with all the benefits that go along with it. :wink:

Besides, David Weber appears to be incapable of writing bad stuff. You may decide you're not interested in the subject matter, but his style is quite good, IMHO.

Besides, David Weber appears to be incapable of writing bad stuff. You may decide you're not interested in the subject matter, but his style is quite good, IMHO.

David Weber writes good stories, but I'm not sure I'd say he's a good writer, from the viewpoint of writing good English. He does tend to have "stock phrases" which he uses rather to excess. For example, Honor Harrington never merely "folds her arms" but always "folds her arms under her breasts" (where else is she going to fold them?) - count the number of times that phrase is used in any HH book :grin:. Similarly he has an obsession with "plumbing connections" when putting on spacesuits. In the later books she is described - frequently - as being a "multi-millionaire, several times over" which is a somewhat "redundant" expression, to say the least. She always speaks in a "soprano voice". etc. etc. etc. etc.

Despite these literary "shortcomings" he does write truly excellent books, and I'd recommend them without hesitation.

I was in the third grade. Things were bad. I had to sit in the row farthest from the windows. It was arithmetic time. I had my book open in front of me. The room seemed to grow musty and confining. Then things got much worse. From nowhere came an unwelcome urge. My mouth began watering uncontrollably and I had the most disagreeable sensation. With no control on my part, vomitus erupted all over my arithmetic textbook and the unfortunate little girl sitting in front of me.

I forget her name, or even her appearance. Whoever you are, I am deeply sorry. She and I became the center of attention. The janitor appeared with rags and bucket. The teacher, with a look of disgust, shook my book off into the wastebasket.

The little girl and I got to go home. The classroom reeked for days as my sodden arithmetic book slowly dried on the radiator by the window. My flu got better and the little girl cleaned up pretty good, but my arithmetic book carried the stench for the rest of the year. Even now, when I think of numbers, the fetid odor fills my nostrils.

When a book really stank, as this one did, I became allergic to arithmetic, I did. :true:

He does tend to have "stock phrases" which he uses rather to excess.The phrase "palm uppermost" is my personal least loved stock phrase, he seemed to use it at least thrice per book for the first five novels or so.

Yeah, you have a point. :grin:

Ok, fair warning. Since at least I can try Weber without having someone's flu detritus all over it, how bad can it be? ;) I'm on holiday this week -- maybe I'll download one and give it a try.

I usually read the book unitill I absolutely cannot anymore or forget to open it up again after I closed it for a couple hours.
There is no planned quitting on the book.
Funny that Goodkind was mentioned here, I read first book and liked the scope of it. Tolerated 2nd and stopped in disgust on the 3rd (10th page) aka cannot anymore - never to touch him again ever.
As far as bad english go, weber and ringo are prime examples. I do give them benefit of doubt, since vorkosigan saga started out quite bad as well. Now Bujold is a pleasure to read just for her prose.

I think that more readily describes what I do, as well. I just don't get around to finishing books that aren't enjoyable to read. I often have more than one in progress at a time, and some I just never get back to.

Neither of the choices heh...

I think I remember throwing away a book once.

But I have hundred I didn't choose to read very far. :)

My favorite coffee cup has the logo on it, "So many books... So little time."

I'm also in the, "life's too short to read bad books," camp, but only because there are so many good ones out there. The trick is in finding the difference.

Nancy Pearl, the librarian who wrote Book Lust says if the book doesn't have your interest after 50 pages, you should toss it.
And if you're over 50 years old, subtract your age from 100 and only read that many pages before you give up. :)

I tried reading the lasted offcering from J.R.R. Tolkien thanks to Christopher Tolkien's publishing of his father's notes. It's just dry and boring as all can be. I didn't even get past chapter 1 as I skimmed it and it's more like a reference book then a novel. Glad I got it from the library. I do not understand how it could have been a best seller it's that bad.

I tried reading the lasted offcering from J.R.R. Tolkien thanks to Christopher Tolkien's publishing of his father's notes. It's just dry and boring as all can be. I didn't even get past chapter 1 as I skimmed it and it's more like a reference book then a novel. Glad I got it from the library. I do not understand how it could have been a best seller it's that bad.
If you're talking about The Children of Hurin, you have to get to about chapter three before the story really starts moving, but overall it's a lot more like Silmarillion than LotR. It's worth reading, if you feel like giving it another shot some time.

I'm in the "gong it and move on" category. I'll cut some extra slack to an author with a proven (to me) track record, but not a lot. Even my favorite authors have put out the occasional clunker.

As far as bad english go, weber and ringo are prime examples. I do give them benefit of doubt, since vorkosigan saga started out quite bad as well. Now Bujold is a pleasure to read just for her prose.

Weber writes bad English, but I can overlook it because he's an excellent storyteller. For me, the story is the most important element of a book - if it "hooks" me, I can overlook "literary failings".

After a lifetime of finishing almost every book I started, I've only recently been able to put down books if I'm not enjoying them or at least getting something out of them. But I continue to feel terribly guilty every time I do, and I suspect that I will at least attempt to finish every one of them eventually.

After a lifetime of finishing almost every book I started, I've only recently been able to put down books if I'm not enjoying them or at least getting something out of them. But I continue to feel terribly guilty every time I do, and I suspect that I will at least attempt to finish every one of them eventually.
Why? Once upon a time, I suppose, publishers were in it for the love of the books. They published works that they wholeheartedly believed deserved to be published. You can still find that in the small press world. If that's the case, sure, it might be worth looking for what the publisher saw in it.

Most of them, now, make their decisions based on what will sell. It doesn't have to be good, it just needs a good hook, or a good media tie-in. "Hey, we'll publish this book because the author's a recovering alcoholic who was abused by a wandering gorilla tribe! Who cares if it's any good? We'll get lots of publicity! They won't know it stinks until after we get their money."

If it's bad, I skip it. If it's really bad, the author goes on my "avoid like the plague" list. There are just too many books out there that do deserve to be read.

I only recently found myself in this situation, with one of the free Dr. Who e-books recently linked to on this site. Of the four I downloaded, one of them bored me to tears!

I felt very satisfied finding the book in my file manager, and hitting the delete button. Gone, neat and clean. Next?

I only recently found myself in this situation, with one of the free Dr. Who e-books recently linked to on this site. Of the four I downloaded, one of them bored me to tears!

I felt very satisfied finding the book in my file manager, and hitting the delete button. Gone, neat and clean. Next?

Most of the Dr. Who books are pretty terrible. "Fan fiction" in the worst sense of the word.

Actor movement, decor and explosions are more essential to television than story. Although for Dr. Who I would have thought a story to be more important.
Take for instance the series 'Red Dwarf', which is hilarious, that would make for terrible reading. It's been completely built on character differences and 'réparties'. Not all fiction is intelligent and some only at some times.

Take for instance the series 'Red Dwarf', which is hilarious, that would make for terrible reading. It's been completely built on character differences and 'réparties'. Not all fiction is intelligent and some only at some times.

Actually the "Red Dwarf" books are wonderful. Extremely funny.

Actually the "Red Dwarf" books are wonderful. Extremely funny.

Oh! Thank you Harry, I'll look for them.

After a lifetime of finishing almost every book I started, I've only recently been able to put down books if I'm not enjoying them or at least getting something out of them. But I continue to feel terribly guilty every time I do, and I suspect that I will at least attempt to finish every one of them eventually.

I'm like you. I tend to feel guilty if I *consciously* decide not to finish a book. I usually finish them. There are some, though, that I just "set aside" while I start to read something else. Then, I never get back to them.

Betty

I'll usually give a book a second chance, thinking that maybe the first time caught be at a bad moment. However, there is no third chance... As others have said: so many books, so little time...

I think it's easier to ditch ebooks since I usually have at least a couple dozen others books at hand.

I think it's easier to ditch ebooks since I usually have at least a couple dozen others books at hand.
I feel much the opposite. If I pay for an ebook and don't like it, then delete it...I've just flushed some cash down the drain. If I have a paper book and don't like it, I can make it a gift for someone or put it to one or more among dozens of practical uses (paperweight, doorstop, weapon, emergency toiletries, firewood replacement, etc.).

It depends on my motivation for reading the book. If it's by an author I really like, I usually will slog on to the end, in the hopes that it gets better. Or if I've been told explicitly by people who rec that it's slow to pick up but worth it.

I also try to do the Man Booker longlist reading every year - I don't give up on those books, since I don't feel I can fairly judge a book I didn't finish. A couple of times the ending has been enough to make it worth it, but rarely.

Usually what happens though is I sort of put my books into a TBC pile that means I might try to pick them up again, someday, when i'm in a different mood.

You left out a key step in the poll. I'll often read all they way through. If, by the end, I feel the author was dishonest in some way, his name goes on a short list of authors' I'll never buy again, on principle. If he was just a bad writer, or a good writer who wrote a bad book, he goes way down on my list of authors to follow. In effect, he goes into negative territory below "unknown author".

Regards,
Jack Tingle

I think I remember throwing away a book once.


I did that once - last book of the Dune series, when I finished reading it. I hated the end, threw it as hard as I could. It flew out the window, and just then I remembered that it wasn't mine.:smack: I lived in a third floor apartment, and it was raining, so it was pretty damaged. Now I try to throw books on sofas or cushions only.:o

When I don't like a book, I stop reading it, put it on my nightstand and use it against insomnia. Sometimes I'm lucky enough to finally like it! ;)

I used to have a rule of thumb:

A novel would get 50 pages before I dumped it. That was, I'd give it 50 pages and if it wasn't interesting enough to me, I'd dump it. A short story I'd give a couple pages, depending on the magazine, book.

Now I give novels 1 page to hook me and a short story 1 paragraph, two at most. I just don't have the time to waste on dull stories any longer (unless it's Don Quixote :) )

If I don't like a book, I usually stop reading within the first few chapters. Except if it's a "classic", in that case I'll usually try to finish it. I never throw away books and rarely give them away either. If I really dislike a book, I'll give it to charity. I used to read the Star Wars books when I was a teenager and I gave about 30 of them to Oxfam when I got fed up with them.