I feel for you on how it can be a letdown when reading a book you thought was going to be fantastic. Been there, done that. I keep a list of all the books I read and the books I don't finish. That way, I won't accidentally get the same book again. I started getting books through my local library system 10 years ago. As far as not finishing a book, I have done that 41 times, from non-fiction to fiction.
I love your specific number and reason for keeping track of those you don’t finish. I definitely wouldn’t want to get fooled twice by the same terrible book! I keep a list of books I read, and now I may a DNF list.
As someone who has started looking into email inbound strategies seriously, it is a very jarring feeling to receive an email and not have it resonate with what it promised. In a similar vein, if you read a book and it is not to your liking, put it down and pick something else. You save time, energy, and frustration. One book that I will forever loathe, into the annals of perpetuity, is "The Museum of Innocence" by Orham Pamuk. I was at Dubai International on a long layover and I bought the book on a whim, based on the blurb. The basic premise is that the protagonist missed the chance to marry the woman he loved and he starts a creepy museum of things she owned, including cigarette butts.
Needless to say, I was like "WTF, mate?" on the flight from Dubai to Chennai. All the way.
YES. This is what happened with the Cassandra Khaw book. I thought surely the horrific ending will redeem these awful characters, but it was all a bust. And with the Faber novel I suffered through half of it before I skipped to the last three chapters and skimmed to see if there was anything worth reading. I could have kicked myself for reading as much as I did, but I knew if I gave up I would wonder if maybe it really was good and I just didn't stay long enough.
I felt very conflicted last week with a book I was reading - it had a great story but I didn't care at all for the writing. I did finish it - with some relief, I must say - and was pleased I'd stuck around until the resolution. I rather regret having spent time on that book rather than a better one.
I had to put a past Booker prize winner to one side a couple of days ago because I just couldn't make my brain work hard enough to get into it (my bad...). It's not yet back in the bookcase, so there is hope for it to be given another try. For now I'm just frustrated that I found it so difficult!
I'm glad to report that I'm now in absolute raptures over my recent phone-box-community-library haul of 'I Capture The Castle', which is an utter delight.
If one's brain has to work *that* hard to enjoy a book, I say toss it! There's something wrong with that book, not your brain!
I have a Little Free Library on my property, which stays mostly full of children's books, but every now and then I find a great book in there. I will have to check out "I Capture the Castle" then place it in the LFL when I'm done. :)
I wish I could have responded, HELL NO! When I was a little girl, my mom told me, "There are too many good books in the world to waste time reading one you don't like," which she has repeated to me many times since. It's great advice (especially for a little perfectionist who had a lot of trouble "giving up").
I know Nancy Pearl even recommended taking the number 50 and adding your age to it, and making that the page you should read to, to give a book a chance, but you know what? I am not willing to push myself through 90 pages, or even 50, or even 25! If I am not into a book immediately, five pages in, I stop. I read a lot of books (and a lot of books I love) this way.
This is extraordinary - I had literally never considered it acceptable to not finish a book! If I’d chosen/bought/been given a book, I considered myself to be committed to read the thing. My three subjects at A level were English Lit, German and French, and I fell out of love with reading for years after that - I enjoyed some of them immensely, but resented some of the stuff we covered. And frankly, literature in just the one language would have sufficed, without Böll or von Droste-Hülshoff or Camus or de Maupassant.
Back then I didn’t have a choice - those were the books I HAD to read. And now I come to think about it, thanks to you, Holly, and everyone who’s replied to your post - of course I can now choose what not to read. (Gosh, I feel ridiculous now...!)
Me too! This is the same dad who worked 60-80 hours a week and spent 40 years with the same company. So I’m not sure I believed him when he told me it was okay to quit reading a book!
I used to bite down and muscle through books when I was younger, but now I realize that time spent on books I'm not into is time I could be spending on books I would be into. Having said that, there is a difference between abandoning a book that isn't right for you and a book that poses some challenges. Sometimes it takes a while to determine which of the two you're dealing with.
Very good point, Pablo. That's probably why I slogged through the horror story. It's not my usual read, so I wanted to be sure I wasn't judging too harshly.
I’ve abandoned a few books over the years, both fiction and non fiction. Most recently I dropped a floofie book called Weather Girl, which is set in Seattle where I live. Loved all the local references, but I could NOT will myself to care about the characters.
Last year I was reading a very dense book called The Color of Money. It was interesting and informative, but not exactly relaxing material. Halfway through I switched to the audio version and listened to it while gardening. So much better!
I'll let you know if I ever decided to pick it back up and find I was wrong, but there's also the principle of the thing--where I live, you absolutely do not call crawfish "crawdads!"
So glad there is another soul who didn't feel all the love for Crawdads. I think I DNFed that within 10 pages. I have no qualms about not finishing books and while I used to adhere to the "give it 50 pages" rule, that's gone out the window now that I'm 53. You're right, you definitely get through way more books this way and reading becomes much more enjoyable.
I feel for you on how it can be a letdown when reading a book you thought was going to be fantastic. Been there, done that. I keep a list of all the books I read and the books I don't finish. That way, I won't accidentally get the same book again. I started getting books through my local library system 10 years ago. As far as not finishing a book, I have done that 41 times, from non-fiction to fiction.
I love your specific number and reason for keeping track of those you don’t finish. I definitely wouldn’t want to get fooled twice by the same terrible book! I keep a list of books I read, and now I may a DNF list.
Such a good idea to keep a list of books not finished!
As someone who has started looking into email inbound strategies seriously, it is a very jarring feeling to receive an email and not have it resonate with what it promised. In a similar vein, if you read a book and it is not to your liking, put it down and pick something else. You save time, energy, and frustration. One book that I will forever loathe, into the annals of perpetuity, is "The Museum of Innocence" by Orham Pamuk. I was at Dubai International on a long layover and I bought the book on a whim, based on the blurb. The basic premise is that the protagonist missed the chance to marry the woman he loved and he starts a creepy museum of things she owned, including cigarette butts.
Needless to say, I was like "WTF, mate?" on the flight from Dubai to Chennai. All the way.
OMG! That sounds awful!!! (But I'm dying laughing over here!) So did you finish it??!
I did.
Regrettably.
Tragic!
I voted no, but the truth is I agonize over every book like this.
•What if it gets good in a few pages?
• If everyone else liked it, am I missing something?
So there’s usually a 2-3 week period between my saying “F this,” and putting the book down and giving myself permission to get rid of it.
YES. This is what happened with the Cassandra Khaw book. I thought surely the horrific ending will redeem these awful characters, but it was all a bust. And with the Faber novel I suffered through half of it before I skipped to the last three chapters and skimmed to see if there was anything worth reading. I could have kicked myself for reading as much as I did, but I knew if I gave up I would wonder if maybe it really was good and I just didn't stay long enough.
Great post!
I felt very conflicted last week with a book I was reading - it had a great story but I didn't care at all for the writing. I did finish it - with some relief, I must say - and was pleased I'd stuck around until the resolution. I rather regret having spent time on that book rather than a better one.
I had to put a past Booker prize winner to one side a couple of days ago because I just couldn't make my brain work hard enough to get into it (my bad...). It's not yet back in the bookcase, so there is hope for it to be given another try. For now I'm just frustrated that I found it so difficult!
I'm glad to report that I'm now in absolute raptures over my recent phone-box-community-library haul of 'I Capture The Castle', which is an utter delight.
You win some, you lose some, I suppose! :D
If one's brain has to work *that* hard to enjoy a book, I say toss it! There's something wrong with that book, not your brain!
I have a Little Free Library on my property, which stays mostly full of children's books, but every now and then I find a great book in there. I will have to check out "I Capture the Castle" then place it in the LFL when I'm done. :)
I wish I could have responded, HELL NO! When I was a little girl, my mom told me, "There are too many good books in the world to waste time reading one you don't like," which she has repeated to me many times since. It's great advice (especially for a little perfectionist who had a lot of trouble "giving up").
I know Nancy Pearl even recommended taking the number 50 and adding your age to it, and making that the page you should read to, to give a book a chance, but you know what? I am not willing to push myself through 90 pages, or even 50, or even 25! If I am not into a book immediately, five pages in, I stop. I read a lot of books (and a lot of books I love) this way.
Fellow recovering perfectionist here 🙋🏻♀️ It feels good to hear “Me too” on this one!
I feel LIBERATED!
This is extraordinary - I had literally never considered it acceptable to not finish a book! If I’d chosen/bought/been given a book, I considered myself to be committed to read the thing. My three subjects at A level were English Lit, German and French, and I fell out of love with reading for years after that - I enjoyed some of them immensely, but resented some of the stuff we covered. And frankly, literature in just the one language would have sufficed, without Böll or von Droste-Hülshoff or Camus or de Maupassant.
Back then I didn’t have a choice - those were the books I HAD to read. And now I come to think about it, thanks to you, Holly, and everyone who’s replied to your post - of course I can now choose what not to read. (Gosh, I feel ridiculous now...!)
These responses are setting me free, too!
Well done for giving up 3/4 through. Your dad was right, but I always feel guilty about stopping, like I am letting myself down or something. Bonkers.
Me too! This is the same dad who worked 60-80 hours a week and spent 40 years with the same company. So I’m not sure I believed him when he told me it was okay to quit reading a book!
I used to bite down and muscle through books when I was younger, but now I realize that time spent on books I'm not into is time I could be spending on books I would be into. Having said that, there is a difference between abandoning a book that isn't right for you and a book that poses some challenges. Sometimes it takes a while to determine which of the two you're dealing with.
Very good point, Pablo. That's probably why I slogged through the horror story. It's not my usual read, so I wanted to be sure I wasn't judging too harshly.
I’ve abandoned a few books over the years, both fiction and non fiction. Most recently I dropped a floofie book called Weather Girl, which is set in Seattle where I live. Loved all the local references, but I could NOT will myself to care about the characters.
Last year I was reading a very dense book called The Color of Money. It was interesting and informative, but not exactly relaxing material. Halfway through I switched to the audio version and listened to it while gardening. So much better!
I don't know why I don't listen to more audiobooks. I have a 5-6 hour drive this weekend and may download one.
Thank you for giving me permission to not even START the Crawdad book. People keep recommending it to me, too, but I am suspicious!
So hard to know when to give up on a book. But my rule of thumb is it gets 50 pages and if I’m not into it by then it’s out the window with you!
I'll let you know if I ever decided to pick it back up and find I was wrong, but there's also the principle of the thing--where I live, you absolutely do not call crawfish "crawdads!"
LOL well there you go!!!
So glad there is another soul who didn't feel all the love for Crawdads. I think I DNFed that within 10 pages. I have no qualms about not finishing books and while I used to adhere to the "give it 50 pages" rule, that's gone out the window now that I'm 53. You're right, you definitely get through way more books this way and reading becomes much more enjoyable.
Yes--the older I get the less patience I have for books that don't pull me in quickly.
Yeah, life is WAY too short!!