Books on the Nightstand discussion

I have a little guilt in quitting a book midway through, but I have more relief because that way I can read other books I am looking forward to experiencing.

If I'm reading an acclaimed, "serious" book, I don't expect to be able to gobble it down like candy. I pace it out. 20 pages, or even 10 a day. Then I set it aside and read something lighter.

I've gotten through a lot of long, serious books in this way, and given myself plenty of time to ponder them. I feel as though I'm much the richer for it, and I have immeasurably expanded my "reading comfort zone". I think you're cheating yourself if you only read books you can blast through.

After much hand-wringing I just abandoned A Suitable Boy. It taunts me from the living room table and I don't want to pick it up. In fact, I've been doing everything *not* to pick it up. I really wish it had been broken into three or four volumes because in one it's just too overwhelming for this reader.

I used to feel horribly guilty if I gave up on a book, but the older I get, the more obvious it is that I'll never have enough time to read all of the books I want to. I do usually give a book a good shot before putting it down (unless it's horrible from the first chapter)- I'll read at least 1/4-1/3 of it, or a few hundred pages if it's long. And I'll often put something down and pick it up again later if it seems like I might just not be in the right head space for it the first time, or if it's been recommended to me by people whose opinions I pay attention to, or who share my taste.

I felt the same way as Jen, but as I have gotten older & as my pile of books has grown, I will give up on a book….it depends on on where I give up….I read Seabiscuit: An American Legend & I was having a hard time staying with it but once I hit page 100, I started to love it….but usually if I find that my mind is wandering & I am 50-75 pages in & not feeling it, I either set it aside & try later or I just give up….

I often "give up" repeatedly before eventually finishing a book. I may not be in the mood or it just may be that some other "bright, shiny object" strikes my fancy. I started The Secret History three times before I read it all the way through. Now it is one of my all time favorites. Sometimes reading the first pages several times cements certain elements in my mind that make it easier to continue. Usually if I get to page 100 I'm committed but I have abandoned later than that before. The nice thing about being a grown-up is there is no assigned reading!

I blame my Catholic school upbringing for slogging through countless books that I should have dropped. I hang on to the bitter end, and then resent the book and the time I wasted on it.

There are no book police who will come to arrest me, so why not quit? I think it is that word quit. I am not a quitter, so maybe that is why I slog through. Am getting better at quitting though. Each year there are more books that end up on my DNF pile, though I still wait for the nuns to find me and crack my knuckles with a ruler.

Elizabeth wrote: "I blame my Catholic school upbringing for slogging through countless books that I should have dropped. I hang on to the bitter end, and then resent the book and the time I wasted on it.

There are..."

I don't mind a little slogging if there is a payoff at the end but wasted slogging is hard to swallow. If only we knew ahead of time....

I follow Librarian Nancy Pearl's "Rule of 50" and have found it ever helpful. I do resent a book if I continue and then it never gets any better (The Thorn Birds!! Oh, the wasted time!!) Here's the rule of 50:

If you're 50 years old or younger, give every book about 50 pages before you decide to commit yourself to reading it, or give it up.

If you're over 50, which is when time gets shorter, subtract your age from 100 - the result is the number of pages you should read before deciding whether or not to quit. If you're 100 or over you get to judge the book by its cover, despite the dangers in doing so.”

― Nancy Pearl

I've started using the Nancy Pearl rule, too. So many books on my nightstand that unless there is a compelling reason to continue -- book group book, or a friend tells me you need to get 100 pages in before it really grabs you...then I abandon books 50-60 pages in.

When picking books, I also often use the screening rule Ann and Michael talked about in one of the episodes: read page one and then read page 60 or so. That has been helpful as a quick tool in bookstores...unless of course a bookseller recommends something personally in which case, more often than not, I just happily say "Ok, I'll buy it! "

Kalen wrote: "After much hand-wringing I just abandoned A Suitable Boy. It taunts me from the living room table and I don't want to pick it up. In fact, I've been doing everything *not* to pick it up. I really w..."

Eric wrote: "If I'm reading an acclaimed, "serious" book, I don't expect to be able to gobble it down like candy. I pace it out. 20 pages, or even 10 a day. Then I set it aside and read something lighter.

I've..."

I started A Suitable Boy in February or March and gave myself a year to read it. I went so far as to set a schedule so I'd only have so much to read each month and I'm currently 3 months behind. I even bought an extra copy of the book and cut it into three separate books so I could carry it around easier. It's not that I don't like it, it's a good book but the size is so daunting. I still plan on finishing it but I'm pretty sure it will take a while. There are so many other things out there I want to read and to have something that size staring at me only makes me depressed.

I have two bookshelves on my goodreads account for this. I always keep track of every book I more than just sampled.

"Want to finish someday" includes books that I got part way through and I stopped, not always because I didn't like it but it just wasn't the right time for me to finish. "The Mill on the Floss" is on this list.

The shelf "Started Not Finished" is for books I have actually abandoned and have no desire to finish including "The Other Boleyn Girl." Since I work in a library there are a number of books that went into this category when I was reading Romance novels.

I do strongly subscribe to the Nancy Pearl rule.

Eric wrote: "If I'm reading an acclaimed, "serious" book, I don't expect to be able to gobble it down like candy. I pace it out. 20 pages, or even 10 a day. Then I set it aside and read something lighter.

I've..."

I agree, Eric, that it depends upon the kind of book. I have been reading a lot of classics lately and they often need to be read more slowly to really absorb the language and the layers of the story and characters. I am less likely to quit with those books and more likely to restart if I do stop reading them (whether because I'm not enjoying it or because of work or other obligations).

If it's supposed to be a fast/fun read and it's not working for me, I'll put it aside regardless of how far into it I am. I've become much better at picking books I will likely enjoy, so I usually will try to read them again. Often, it seems that I was just not in the mood for them or I got distracted by work.

I don't often give up on books and will usually continue with one that's "middle of the road" even if I have a few issues with it. However, I recently abandoned a book after about two chapters. It was written by a well known author whose other works I had read, but (probably giving the name away here) her previous success had been in a different genre. I was listening to it on CD and gave up after listening for maybe all of 15 minutes, which in pages isn't much. Frankly, I disliked it almost from the first sentence but wanted to give myself more time to warm up to it. Since it got worse instead of better, I said adios.

When it comes to really long books, I often hesitate to pick them up in the first place. I know that's ridiculous in some ways. Does it take any more time to read three shorter books than one mammoth book? But perhaps some really long books weren't well edited and should have been cut back to a more reasonable size. We stop reading because the story is lost in all the excess verbiage and we lose interest.

Andrea wrote: "Kalen wrote: "After much hand-wringing I just abandoned A Suitable Boy. It taunts me from the living room table and I don't want to pick it up. In fact, I've been doing everything *not* to pick it ..."

Hmmm, cutting up a book to make it more portable. I like that idea. The heft of War & Peace has been holding me back. I'm 1/3 of the way through. It won't fit in my purse. Almost too heavy for my lap -- and this is the paperback version. If it was hardback, I'd have to sit at the kitchen table to read!

That is one advantage to e-readers, you can't see how very long the book is.

Agree about audiobooks, that is how I've read all but the first book in Diana Gabaldon's Outlander series. A good narrator can make all the difference.

Before I tackled A Suitable Boy, I read everything on my nightstand first. When A Suitable boy was the only book remaining there, I began the journey. I lugged it with me everywhere...everyday on the train into New York. And when I finally finished it, I felt sad that it was over and was so tempted to go back to page one and start it all over again.

I love long slow reads. I rarely don't finish a book. Two I can think of are Ulysses and Finnegan's Wake, as they were impenetrable. Also Salman Rushdie's 'The Ground Beneath Her Feet' as I couldn't jive with his writing style, sort of like a way too rich fruit cake.

My reading time is after dinner while my husband watches all his news programs. If I'm not hurrying to "get the dishes done", it's usually a sign I'm not loving my current book. I will usually skim through such a book and get what I can from it. I recently totally gave up on The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Woa and also Billy Flynn's Halftime Walk.....could 't get into either one. So many people loved these books that I felt myself lacking insight (or something)!

If I can't get through a book, I try the audio version. Waiting for the library 's audio of The Sparrow, because I honestly don't get this one despite all the rave reviews.

Pam wrote: "If I can't get through a book, I try the audio version. Waiting for the library 's audio of The Sparrow, because I honestly don't get this one despite all the rave reviews."

That really is a good suggestion. I felt that I was wasting so much reading time during daily commutes, that I have trained myself to be a good listener. Now I find that I can often listen to books that I can't get through visually reading.

It has taken me three times starting before I have gotten into a book before with a several hundred page investment. I think the right head mode is extremely important. I wouldn't have kept trying but it was recommended by a friend whose taste I respect. I am now reading the same book a second time. So it was finally worth it.

When I have put the book down a couple of times and not to interested in getting back to it.