Challenge: 50 Books discussion

I hope this is allowed, sorry if it isn't, please let me know and I'll delete it!

A question for the group: What do you do if you start a book and find it to be absolutely horrible? If you decide not to finish a book do you count it at all? Partial credit maybe? Just curious :).

I'm just counting the books I finish -- I didn't finish two books this month that I spent considerable time on, but I just said "enough!" I am thinking about counting one, because I just had like 40 more pages and I knew where he was going with his interminable chatter.

I think everyone has their own rules for this. Maybe you can count it if you think you could hold an intelligent conversation (think cocktail party, not book club or Lit. class) with someone. Would that work?

I don't think we should be penalized for trying new genres or for giving up on an unfulfilling book, since there are thousands of books out there for us to devour.

I think everyone can have different standards for themselves: we're not competing with each other or getting a grade.

I think your question is a good one. I would hate to think of someone wasting time on a bad book just because they wanted to write it on their list.

i don't count the books I don't finish and I am harsh. If I don't like a book in the first few pages, I stop. I did not finish Atonement because as soon as I had started reading I knew it wasn't for me. it saves my time for better books!

Tamara,
I think that it is a personal decision. My opinion is that started books do not count. I have started many books and have not finished but do not feel that they count towards my total 50 books read. I also feel that audio books do not count...
I guess you need to evaluate why you are in the 50 books for 2008 group. Is it just a number or is it a personal goal of self betterment?
Hope this helps!

I agree with you Tamara. It is personal goal so you make your own rules.

How about starting a thread of books we didn't like and didn't finish.

I will start with one: Bel Canto couldn't stand it, couldn't get through it.

Hello.
I'm new to this group and new to reading challenges. The only reason I have jumped in and started doing challenges is that well...it's not a contest. No one is looking over your shoulder enforcing the rules. I have made a promise to myself to decide within the first 50 pages whether I'll finish a book or get rid of it. Life is too short! And I have an extremely low tolerance for boredom.
I'm not going to count any books I don't finish. A few of my Challenges require participants to make a list before they actually start reading, and then stick to the books on that list, but they also allow you to put down an alternate choice just in case you can't finish a particular book.

I'm so glad you said that! I keep trying to get through Bel Canto. I read a few chapters and can't finish it. I think I'll just pass it along.

Hi Tamara! What a good question! I have been muscling through books I don't really care for just to finish! But here's a thought, what if we add them and write a brief comment about why we couldn't finish it. Everyone will then have the opportunity to read about the experience. At the end of the year we can tally the books read cover to cover and the books not finished. Like I said, just a thought.

I like the idea of the thread of "books we just couldn't finish". I'd have to include "Charming Billy" and "The City of God". I got bogged down half way through in these two and just could not make myself go on! I didn't like any of the characters or where the stories seemed to be going. This rarely happens to me, but when it does it is very frustrating! I bought both of these books and wish I had just gone to the library instead!

My most recent book that I just couldn't stand was Alentejo Blue by Ali. Highly NOT recommended.

Thanks for all the replies everyone! I think you all make good points. And I agree we should have a "Books we couldn't finish" Thread!

I've been stuck between wanting to count my unfinished books because of all the time spent on them and not wanting to count them because I don't want to cheat myself!

I think I am going to make a separate list of unfinished books and keep note of how far I got into them and why I couldn't finish them.

As far as not counting audiobooks... I am counting them because 1. I work 12 hours a day sometimes and I hate that I'd miss out on reading those days and 2. I think even if you listen to a book vs reading it, you still get the content from the book. I am trying to avoid abridged audiobooks, though. But again, you all make the point that it is a personal goal so I guess I should just do whatever :) I was just curious what your opinions were.

I'm way too compulsive to give up on a book. Even if it's the worst book in the world, I keep on going. In my entire life, there's only been 2 books that I haven't finished. And plenty more that I SHOULDN'T have finished, but I did anyway. Because I'm crazy like that. haha

Hey Vikki, we all have our compulsions, LOL!
I just have to ask...what are the two books you didn't finish? Now I'm really curious to know.

I'm glad you asked. haha. THe two books that I never finished (although a part of me still plans to go back and read them fully one day) are:

Dreamcatcher by Stephen King (and normally I LOVE him!) and Little Dorrit by Charles Dickens.

I don't think I would count a book that I didn't finish, unless I was almost through with it and knew how it ended anyway. I try and determine early on whether I want to read something or not. There are just too many good books out there to push my way through slop. I won't do that unless the overwhelming consensus is that the book is a worthy read. In that case, my inability to connect with the author's style does not indicate that the book is unworthy of my attention.

I just had a similar experience with Edith Wharton's Age of Innocence. I had such a hard time getting through the book, wondering all the way how it ever won a Pulitzer Prize. I still wonder... lol But, in the end, I was glad that I read it. The book really did speak to the breach between what we often want to do and what we should do. This was just a small part of what the book was addressing, but it was what struck me as the most important. My favorite line, and I paraphrase, was when the narrator said that marriage can often be a dull duty, but that it should never lose the dignity of duty.

I love audiobooks. I listen to them on the way to work. I travel at least an hour a day and to be able to drive and listen at the same time is something that I treasure. Plus it allows me to read twice as much.

Sometimes I find that I'm not in the right frame of mind to finish a book so I put it down. I'll go back later and give it another try so I don't count it until that time.

I'm coming into this conversation late. Like everyone else I think it all comes down to personal goals. If I can't bear to finish the book I don't finish and don't count it or I will at least get to the last chapter or skim the last several pages to get an idea of how it's gonna end. If I can't get to the half way point I don't count it.

Good luck!