Do you keep reading....

[kindlekitten]

I liked Dexter when it was first on. I drifted away last season it started getting too weird

[James_Wilde]

Someone suggested they try harder if it's a) a classic that they 'should' like, or b) everyone else says it's the best thing since Gutenberg, and there's a certain amount of that in my makeup, too. I try harder with this kind of book. But I have now decided that there is absolutely no value in "Wuthering Heights" and that I'm not going to even consider trying again, and I've recently been finding myself very much out of patience with certain other books, mainly contemporary novels, that 'everyone' likes, but that just don't cut it for me.

The film equivalent of this was "Mamma Mia", which everyone in Sweden thought was the best thing since talkies, and my wife and I found as boring as watching paint dry.

[Latinandgreek]

Originally Posted by sakura-panda

I struggled with this book the first time I tried to read it, and put it down for a couple of years. The next time I picked it up, I had no trouble reading it and it became one of my favorite series.

Because of that, I tend to be cautious about whether or not I like a series even if I struggle with the initial reading. There are several books that I had difficulty starting, but then became a favorite book once I was able to get into it.

If I have trouble with a book, I will either set it aside to read later, or I will read it a little at time while I "take breaks from it" to read other books at the same time. (I think I finished about a dozen or so other books while trying to get through Moby Dick.)

Maybe I'll give it another try at a later date. I, too, have found that some books that I couldn't get into when trying to read them the first time turned out to be great when I gave them another shot years later.

I don't always stop reading a book if I can't get into it, sometimes I'll set it aside for later or take breaks much like you do, but those are usually books that did capture my interest but for some reason or another didn't suit my mood at the time of reading.

[JLeighs]

If a story isn't capturing me, I put it away for another day. If I'm still not into it by the time I have gotten halfway into the book, I'm done with it forever. At the moment, I'm trying to work up the courage to have another go at Madame Bovary. Good grief....it's putting me to sleep every time I open it.

[CazMar]

Originally Posted by James_Wilde

I always have a feeling that, having begun I should go on. It's got hold of me now. I'm reading Ken Follett's "World Without End". His characters are paper-thin and black or white with no nuances of grey, and at every stage you get the feeling that he's reading the manual from "Writing a Novel 101" .....

Ken Follett is one of the very few authors I have completely given up on. I am a compulsive reader but I got so fed up with his dreadful portrayal of characters that I threw the book down and declared that I didn't give a damn what any of them did! A pity because I am so interested in medieval history. Dickens portrays his characters in very black & white terms (especially the minor and often quite funny ones) yet he manages to make them fascinating. Dan Brown is another author I would never buy - a relative gave me one of his books and it was another "paint by numbers' potboiler. I love a good mystery/adventure story but these 2 are just boring!

[issybird]

Life is too short. Or, so many books, so little time. In a word, no.

I read about a page and a half of The Help before I ditched it. Awful.

[Fbone]

They're dumped like a wet towel.

I finish very few books I start.

[Latinandgreek]

Originally Posted by JLeighs

If a story isn't capturing me, I put it away for another day. If I'm still not into it by the time I have gotten halfway into the book, I'm done with it forever. At the moment, I'm trying to work up the courage to have another go at Madame Bovary. Good grief....it's putting me to sleep every time I open it.

I never liked Mme Bovary. I had to read her in university, but I could never understand why the other students liked that book so much.

[bjones6416]

I definitely give a book more than one chapter. A good example for me would be "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo." It started out very slowly, and pretty boring. Then it picked up, and boom! I couldn't put it down, and read straight through it and the next two books. Sometimes it just takes a while to get the stage set...

Edit: I liked "The Help," but it's very "regional," for lack of a better word. Maybe it resonates more with people who grew up in the Southern U.S.?

[mikemc2]

Originally Posted by gastan

I'll generally give a book 100 pages or so before I decide if it is worth continuing. I figure that if the author can't establish a plot, develop (at least the main) characters, settle into a pleasing style of writing, and grab my attention by then, they probably won't in however many pages are left.

I was ready to give on Johnathan Strange & Mr. Norrell after about 100 pages but I stuck it out, glad I did I ended up really enjoying it.

[Luke King]

If it's something that a lot of people have told me is good, such as "The Book Thief", then I will stick with it until it begins to get interesting. Sometimes, however, I've done this (such as with Twilight) and gone through to the end wishing I hadn't really bothered.

[ATDrake]

Depends on the book.

If it's something I sought out because it seemed like it would appeal to me (favourite author, favourite genre, certain theme/plot elements, interesting subject matter), I'll keep trying until it becomes apparent that it's just not for me.

If it's something I picked up while browsing (library, freebies) then I'll usually ditch it earlier on if it's just not working, though fave author/genre/themes or strong recommendation from trusted sources can extend the "trial" period.

I do usually take a break and read something else, then return and try again just in case it's my mood and not the writing.

But I have no qualms about abandoning reads that just don't grab me (unless I paid for them) or, for that matter, flipping ahead to see if they get more interesting.

Though that's a little harder to do conveniently on an e-reader than with a paper book.

[NightLight]

I keep reading, even if I already know how the list of ingredients on my cereal box ends.
I'm sick.
Stop me before I read them again.

[FF2]

Two books it took forever to read have been mentioned:

Focaults Pendulum - finished it over about a 5 year period.

Moby Dick - a number of starts

And I'll add that I can't recall how many times I read "a snot green sea" before making it through

Ulysses James Joyce

[Tattncat]

I generally will read everything I start, unless.....It's not only boring but objectionalble. So far in my 50 plus years of reading, I can only remember dumping one book.