You read a book and it stinks. What do you do?

[yvanleterrible]

Originally Posted by HarryT

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

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

[BettyE]

Originally Posted by wyldkit

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

[bookfiend]

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...

[BenG]

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

[LDBoblo]

Originally Posted by BenG

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.).

[rixte]

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.

[Jack Tingle]

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

[Verencat]

Originally Posted by wayspooled

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. 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.

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!

[Moejoe]

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 )

[corroonb]

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.