Fantasy Aficionados discussion

I used to never give up on a book but find myself doing this more and more often. How many have you given up on? Do you have a page number to arrive at before you let yourself off the hook? What are some of your dnfs? And why couldn't you finish them?

I value my time too much to keep reading a book I dislike. I don't really have a page number I declare surrender on, mostly it varies. I do try to give a book a fair shot, but if I hate the main characters it's likely to be abandoned fairly early.

Recently I abandoned Outlander. It had such good reviews. I hung in there for about half the book but HATED IT. Mainly because it became nothing but pure romance, with the heroine turning into a stupid fool too busy worshiping at her lovers feet to think of being competent. Ugh.

I was just commenting the other day about how I never used to do this but find myself giving up on books all the time now. Normally, I try to at least get to 100 pages if I'm not liking a book but I've given up on a couple books by the 50 page mark recently. I think it's just that at this point in my life, I have read so many books that I definitely know what I like, and I have a standard. The writing needs to be solid, I need to feel interested in the characters and plots or at least feel that there is enough potential there to keep me going, I need good dialogue and just generally need to be getting some enjoyment out of the reading experience. So if a book isn't living up to these standards, I tend to move on to my next TBR. Nights of Villjamur, The Greyfriar, and Finnikin of the Rock are all books I gave up on this year.

I agree with the 50-100 page trial. If the plot is too shallow or confusing, if I am not caring about the character, or if the point of view is not consistent, I will go on to something else.

I try to give about 100 - 150 pages but sometimes it's just too much.

I am rather moody with my reading and something needs to catch my attention before I just get rid of it.

I used to read them all the way regardless. Now I give up and move the next one.

I rarely quit a book before the end, but I often stop reading series after the first book if it didn't move me.

Marked it was SOOO badly written, so I quit torturing myself after 15 pages.

Think of a Number bored me senseless after the first 4-5 chapters so I gave up.

Usually I finish a book, especially if I promised to review it or if it's for bookclub, but if i'm bored or REALLY annoyed, I quit.

I have recently given up on alot of books. Usually i give a book about 100 pages but if the writing is terrible i might not even get that far. I am considering putting two of the books i am reading now on the back burner, since they are not that interesting to me.

I give up on a lot of books (around 10 already this year). If I catch myself skimming or flipping ahead, it is a sign that the book just isn't worth reading. My TBR list is huge, and I see no point in wasting my time reading a book that is boring and/or poorly written. I do try to give them a good shot (50 to 100 pages minimum), but I'm more willing to give up on library books. Decisions about renewing or returning a book do encourage reassessment (I always have far too many library books, so I renew a high percentage).

I rarely give up on a book. If anything, I put it down until I'm in the right mood. I think it's because I'm sort of picky about what I will read. If I finally decide to read it, I don't want to quit.

Jean wrote: "I value my time too much to keep reading a book I dislike. I don't really have a page number I declare surrender on, mostly it varies. I do try to give a book a fair shot, but if I hate the main ch..."

I agree with you about Outlander. I have tried more than once but it just annoys me too much. I rarely give up on a book but that one, well...and it was recommended by a librarian who told me it was more historical fiction than romance which I try to avoid. If you can't trust a librarian, who can you trust? Normally, though, I rarely give up on a book although I often get sidetracked and I may put a book down for months only to take it up again when whatever distracted me is finished.

I agree that sometimes you're just not in the mood for a certain book but I definitely do give give up on books more than I used to. I don't have a certain page number though. I give a book a fair shot but when you know you know, I think, that an author is just not for you.

Mach wrote: "I have recently given up on alot of books. Usually i give a book about 100 pages but if the writing is terrible i might not even get that far. I am considering putting two of the books i am reading..."

Out of curiosity...which books are they?

Shannon wrote: "Out of curiosity...which books are they?
..."

The Dragonbone Chair and Neverwhere.

Mach wrote: "The Dragonbone Chair and Neverwhere."

Oh the Dragonbone Chair is sooo tedious! I have tried to read it four times and given up each time. Permanently shelved in the 'dull as dirt' column now!

I generally don't give up on books unless the writing is truly appalling and then the tedium is further compounded by a dreary/poorly realised plot, so it takes a lot to make me give up. I prefer actually finishing the book and then hurling it across the room in a fit of disgust. Very satisfying. Dhalgren hit the wall recently, so did Rachel Vincent's 'Stray'

I don't like to give up on books, but The Windup Girl is possible candidate.....

I made it through the Dragonbone Chair, but I confess to some skimming. I'm still going to pick up the sequel.

abandoning a book is fairly common for me. But then again I have partly read books scattered all over the house. Lots of time the book I am reading depends on my mood. Light fluffy books are like mints and often get me through when I don't have the patience for the good stuff.

Darrell wrote: "abandoning a book is fairly common for me. But then again I have partly read books scattered all over the house. Lots of time the book I am reading depends on my mood. Light fluffy books are like m..."

I think that describes me! Now, at least.

Louise wrote: "Marked it was SOOO badly written, so I quit torturing myself after 15 pages."

Jean wrote: "Recently I abandoned Outlander. It had such good reviews. I hung in there for about half the book but HATED IT. Mainly because it became nothing but pure romance, with the heroine turning into a stupid fool too busy worshiping at her lovers feet to think of being competent. Ugh. "

I don't blame either of you. Heh.

I'm usually good at gauging if I'm going to hate a book via first impressions or within the first 50 pages - sometimes my trainwreck syndrome wins out in the end and I finish it, anyway (usually with raeging as a result), and sometimes I think to myself, "This isn't worth it," and put it down.

I went through a huge slump last year where I couldn't finish anything. Went through a few this year and found out that I would've been better off without reading them. :O One book I'm not sure if I want to try again is The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo - picked it up on a whim and was so bored, but a part of me doesn't want to give it away because what if it's actually good?! Arrgh.

I'll not comment on which books as it's a sure thing that the books I dislike someone else loves. It's the whole taste thing again (Coke vs. Pepsi, Lager vs. Ale, Bourbon vs. Sour Mash....Star Wars vs. Star Trek). I used to be a "finish no matter what" reader. That was when I was younger. More and more I find I'm not willing to spend my valuable (I realize more and more "limited") time on books that I don't care for. I'll still give a book that's been recommended a long try, but when I dread getting back to it, or (like others) I find myself skimming more than I'm reading....or when blood starts to shoot out of my eyes in frustration, I'll put it down (or throw it across the room, whatever seems appropriate).

I think that a reader's time is valuable. If you don't want to finish a book, you don't need to feel bad about that. However, on the other side, I've found that if I stick with a book, or go back to it when I'm ready, I can get past the part that's not getting my attention and find some goodness further on. It helps that I have to finish some of the books I read, since it's my (unpaid) job to do so. The book I'm reading right now didn't catch me right away, but now its claws have sunk into me, and I'm eager to keep reading.

I have read books to the end that I wished I hadn't. But I have also had close calls. I hated, I mean it was torture trying to get through, Assassin's Apprentice the first time I read it. But it came so highly recommended, not to mention I had broken my glasses that weekend and that might have been a factor, that after reading another book inbetween I rescued the book from my donate stack. And I'm glad I did. I never LOVED it but it did lead me to new favorites. Then there's the case of The Blade Itself. I bought it awhile ago. Read a few chapters and hated it. Donated it. And then I joined this club. And you all, okay not everyone, liked this book. So I gave it another chance. Bought it again. And loved it. Now I am reading Kushiel's Dart. Almost gave up. But Carey reminds me of how I first felt about Hobb. And pushing through I'm starting to like it. I'm pretty sure I won't love it. But she might be an author worth reading again. So when is it too soon to give up? I don't know. I think my new plan is to try books twice. If after a few chapters I can't get into it, stick it back in my tbr stack for one more try. And then, good bye.

I've thrown in the proverbial bookmark for The Imperfectionist. I also remember doing it with The Historian. Especially The Imperfectionists which was poorly written. The first fifty pages are a horror show of grammar.

Traci is the flowery writing getting to you? If that's the issue, then she might not be the writer for your tastes.

No. I like the prose of Carey's writing. I like the worldbuilding. I'm starting to get the religion and political aspects of the story. During the first few chapters I had a problem with the dry narrative. It seemed strangely unemotional to me. But I'm actually liking it now.

I am not that fond of a lot of political machinations in stories, but I liked that aspect in Kushiel's Dart. It took some getting used to, and keeping up with who was who, character and countrywise.

I find certain writing styles are absolutely unreadable for me. For some reason that includes Simon Green. I've never gotten past the first few pages of any of his longer books and skimmed through one or two short stories.

Most books I'll put down if I find I'm starting to skim ten or twenty pages at a go, though sometimes I'll do a quick skim until the end. I'm less inclined to finish something I don't like these days simply because there's so much on my reading pile waiting for me.

I tend to be more turned off by florid, overripe, overwrought language than simple writing. I barely made it through The Turn of the Screw by Henry James for that reason. I think some writers can pull off the flowery style beautifully, but I definitely have to be in the mood for it. Overall, I prefer a succinct writing style.

I try to make a decision based on the Kindle sample. If I like the sample enough to buy the book, I try really hard to finish it. This is generally a good system - which has saved me loads of money - but notable failures (bought but unfinished) include Perdido Street Station and Consider Phlebas.

Valerie wrote: "One book I'm not sure if I want to try again is The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo - picked it up on a whim and was so bored, but a part of me doesn't want to give it away because what if it's actually good?! Arrgh."

The first 100 pages were extremely boring. But once you get beyond the back story I found the book fascinating. It was one I almost didn't finish but am glad I did.

As for me I think the only book that I've actually left unfinished was 1984. I just couldn't do it. I hated it. I hated the characters. The society. I know it's not meant to be a good society...but I felt that the character did nothing except whine. I don't like whiny characters.

Leighann wrote: "As for me I think the only book that I've actually left unfinished was 1984. I just couldn't do it. I hated it. I hated the characters. The society. I know it's not meant to be a good society...but I felt that the character did nothing except whine. I don't like whiny characters. "

I totally agree. Plus it was extra...grey. The story felt like it was in shades of grey and dull brown and yellowed white. Ugh.

I do think I am abandoning books more that I used to but it may feel that way because it seems like my book buying has gone up across the board.

With the advent of sites like GR and online blogs, book discoverability is at an all time high for me. I am learning about more books that I would just perusing a bookstore or a library on my own. So my awareness of books is higher and thus so is my consumption.

But even though I do a lot or pre-screening, inevitably I also discover that a lot of these books, even with their promise, just aren't capturing me.

Another contributor to me closing books much earlier and not even attempting to stick to them is that I find I have a very low tolerance to bad editing and grammar. Maybe the rise of self-pubbing has contributed to this, but there are just some books that are terrible --- I mean, poor word usage, words that don't even mean what the author thinks they mean, bad punctuation, bad continuity, sentences that don't even make sense, I could go on. And it isn't just self pubs I've seen a rise in professionally pubbed books that don't seem well copy-edited.

Tina wrote: "I do think I am abandoning books more that I used to but it may feel that way because it seems like my book buying has gone up across the board.

With the advent of sites like GR and online blogs..."

I can understand this 100%!

I'm still not very good about abandoning books. I keep saying I'm going to be better about it, but there are very few books I've given up on, and I still find it really hard to do.

That said, I have gotten much better about not continuing with series if I don't like the first. I have caved from time to time with people going "Oh, but it gets better, give it another chance!" - but only if the first book has some merit.

Tina wrote: " With the advent of sites like GR and online blogs, book discoverability is at an all time high for me. I am learning about more books that I would just perusing a bookstore or a library on my own. So my awareness of books is higher and thus so is my consumption...."

Ditto for me--it's GR's fault! ;) I had less hope in new discoveries or perhaps was more selective prior to GR, so when it was just random library books, I didn't give up very often. Now that I've discovered so many new and interesting authors, and my TBR pile has grown over 100 books, I have much less tolerance when I don't enjoy the story or the writing. I will flat-out skim if I feel like I want to try sticking with it because of recommendations or friends' suggestions. The other side is that knowing there is more I want to read, I think I might get book ADD more easily.

I'm glad to see I'm not alone in my book ADD. I have read so many 4 & 5 star recommendations I seem to have less tolerance for anything less.

Carol wrote: "Tina wrote: " With the advent of sites like GR and online blogs, book discoverability is at an all time high for me. I am learning about more books that I would just perusing a bookstore or a libra..."

So true. My TBR is over 800 books . . . and I seem to add 10-20 a day . . . At this rate I'm going to have so many things to read by next year, it'll take me five years to read them all!

Traci mentioned 'Assassin's Apprentice', which I'm reading now. I almost gave up on it too, but it drew me in gradually and before I quite realized, I had given up checking the page number. If I'm even checking the page number in the first 20 pages, it's usually a bad sign. But this one I stuck with and am enjoying it now.

Bad grammar and weak sentence structure aren't going to improve, so if they're bugging me by page 2, out it goes without even qualifying as a 'start'. I give most books I start 50 pages to engage my mental movie screen, but trite dialogue, glacial action sequences, and loads of back story can drive my bookmark away before then. I have occasionally given up on a book after the 50 page mark, when whatever was holding my attention fizzles away, but then I'll often skim the last few chapters just to have a sense of closure. Rarely, like less than once per hundred, the ending will so intrigue me that I'll go back and read the skipped chapters to discover how the author got from there to here.

As for 5-star reviews, I automatically distrust them, assuming they're from friends, mothers and sycophants. '3' is, I think, the new '1' - the lowest you can go without mortally offending an author with whom you're acquainted. A solid 4 or a 4.5 gets my attention.

As a side note, I for one take my five-star ratings seriously. I use such ratings for classics and all-time favorites. Even if I wanted to curry favor (which would be out of character), I would think a 4 would be quite enough.

Rob wrote: "As a side note, I for one take my five-star ratings seriously. I use such ratings for classics and all-time favorites. Even if I wanted to curry favor (which would be out of character), I would thi..."

I try not to give out fives too often. Because if I did, and then something came along that blew my socks off I'd have no way to indicate that by rating. Anyone who gets four stars from me is pretty much writing up to par and flat out enjoyable. Threes are sort of between okay and "meh". Two stars means there was something I blatantly didn't like about it. Can't remember if I ever rated anything one star . . .

The page number depends. If by page 80 I know a book is horrendous, I will stop. However, I did try to get to page 500 in a 800-page book which shall remain nameless because it came with such high recommendations from many people I trust. It was just a slog, and I gave it away, not caring about the end.

*singing* I know what book you are talking about...

Carol wrote: "*singing* I know what book you are talking about..."

*whistles innocently*

± Colleen of the Crawling Chaos ± wrote: "I'm still not very good about abandoning books. I keep saying I'm going to be better about it, but there are very few books I've given up on, and I still find it really hard to do.

That said, I h..."

Colleen, I'm like you. I hate not finishing books I've started and, honestly, there's only been a few that I've been tempted to abandon before the end. But, I usually plod on in the hopes it will get better. Sometimes it does and sometimes it remains a disappointment.

That's also one of the reasons I buy only the first book in a series to start off with because, if it fails to grab my attention and interest, then I won't continue on in the series. That, unfortunately, has happened a few times. In fact, right now, I'm about halfway through Across the Face of the World by Russell Kirkpatrick, the first book in his Fire of Heaven trilogy, and it is currently falling into the "read the first, won't read the next" category.

Even though I read 5-6 books at a time (not simultaneously, of course, but you know what I mean...) so I don't get stalled out and simply stop reading if interest in one particular book wanes, I still find myself abandoning books more and more. I don't want to say what I've recently given up on, which is part of my not wanting to be negative about other authors' work in public, but it happens, for sure. "Life's too short" is a perfectly reasonable explanation. Not everyone has to like everything...if at some point I find myself asking myself "Why am I doing this to myself?" I put it down--that could be page 10, or page 100--no set limit, like I used to do with Netflix. If the movie sucks for the first 30 minutes...stop...eject...return.

Cheryl wrote: "That's also one of the reasons I buy only the first book in a series to start off with because, if it fails to grab my attention and interest, then I won't continue on in the series. That, unfortunately, has happened a few times. In fact, right now, I'm about halfway through Across the Face of the World by Russell Kirkpatrick, the first book in his Fire of Heaven trilogy, and it is currently falling into the "read the first, won't read the next" category. "

OMG, Across the face of the world is sooooooooooooo boring. So very boring. I have given away book 1 and I still have two more but one one will take it.

MrsJoseph wrote: "Cheryl wrote: "That's also one of the reasons I buy only the first book in a series to start off with because, if it fails to grab my attention and interest, then I won't continue on in the series...."

Kindling.

I liked book one, though only by skipping the crappy geographical parts, but not enough to keep reading.

Cheryl wrote: "That's also one of the reasons I buy only the first book in a series to start off with because, if it fails to grab my attention and interest, then I won't continue on in the series.:"

Lately my experience has been when reading various series, the first book is slower, mostly set up. The second book is much better, things are starting to happen. Books 3 & 4 are great. Book 5 things start to go downhill. Around book 6 you pretty much need to give up.

Now there are exceptions, obviously. But the more I think about it, especially my more recent forays into Urban Fantasy that has been the rule. So I can;t necessarily judge by the first book. It is by the second book I really know.