Thursday, February 16, 2012

I Resolve to Finish Less Books

Lately I've been noticing just how many books I read in their entirety and don't really care for. Of the 13 books I've read so far this year, I didn't actually like three of them - these were 1- and 2-star reads for me, but I kept reading and kept reading, in most cases hoping the book would get better.

Because sometimes books do that. You hit the 70 or 100 or 120 page mark and suddenly, boom, everything falls into place. Like magic! Sometimes this happens. Usually though, it doesn't.

And honestly, I love books. I love stories. I eat fiction for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Which is part of the reason why I hate so much to find a book that I don't like: there are so many books I like or love that it seems a little ridiculous to finish books I don't care for.

My goal for the rest of February and also March is to not finish any books that are 1-star reads for me. Ideally I'd like to cut out 2-star reads as well, but ONE STEP AT A TIME. So, what about you? Do you finish books you don't like? What about ones you're just a bit ambivalent about?

11 comments:

  1. I agree with this, but sometimes I feel bad if an author sent me a book and I don't finish it.
    I'm in a situation like that right now, where I really am not into the book I'm reading, but an author sent it to me, so I'd feel bad if didn't finish it...how do you deal with that?

    It could be just me being a new blogger, and this being one of the first books I've ever received for review.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh, I agree, it's definitely different with an author-sent book. Here's my thing: if an author sends me their book or if it's one I've REQUESTED for review, the rules change a little. If it's from an author (and honestly this doesn't happen often) I pretty much finish the book unless I absolutely hate it. If it's a requested review book, I'll give it longer - like maybe 100 pages total or 20 pages more than when I would want to quit.

      But yes it's definitely different. Luckily most of the books I've been sent for review from the authors themselves have been books I've really enjoyed. It's definitely a tricky situation though -- however, my thoughts are if you dislike the book so much that your review would probably end up being all negative anyway, why finish? Because that's not helping anyone.

      Delete
  2. I absolutely, TOTALLY feel you on this. Right now I'm reading a horrendous book and I have invested 227 pages so far and I feel like I can't quit because of my already invested time, also because everyone seems to love this series, and I keep hoping that it will magically click with me.

    SO, in sum, I really admire you giving yourself permission to quit.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. AHHHH I know what you mean. I've SO had books like that. Hopefully no more though!

      Delete
  3. I started quitting books a few years ago. At first it felt weird but now if I'm 33-50% in and not feeling it, I just let it go. Time can't be wasted on the bad stuff!

    ReplyDelete
  4. I realized this as I looked at the books I read last year. There's way too many I didn't like. I'm working on fixing that this year but I still have to finish books. I just HAVE to. It's a problem. :(

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Haha, I'm so glad I've never felt like I have to finish *every* book, but now I'm thinking I'd like to finish even less.

      Delete
  5. i usually do finish books i don't like, just because i want to be sure i didn't miss the part where it gets better (although it seldomly comes). But thankfully i haven't read too many books i don't like because i mostly stick to books that are close to what i like to read. Mind you, there have been a couple of cases when i just couldn't get to the end. Usually it just takes me a long time, once it took me 3 months to finish a book and i was reading it exclusively because i knew if i started reading another book i would never finish the previous one.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. See, that's part of what I do to: I always always expect the book to suddenly get better! Which happens sometimes, but not nearly enough for all the so-so or just flat out disliked books I finish.

      And wow, that's dedication to read a book exclusively for three months. Hopefully there was some sort of payoff in the end and the story turned around a bit for you.

      Delete
    2. Yeah well, it was Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen and i had just read Pride and Prejudice (which i liked) but Sense and Sensibility was waaaaay to slow for me. I haven't read another Jane Austen book since, the thing is i hate long descriptions and slowly moving plots. I need action and dialogue, i need something that will make me live the story through the character. i get affected extremely easily by books (and movies). i cry, i get sad, frustrated, angry, outraged, i feel my heartbeat quickening and adrenaline pumping through me and when i'm at a very crucial point of a book my emotional state is such that if you interrupt me and say the wrong thing i might even lash out on you. Sense and Sensibility did not affect me in any way, i was just reading the text and the plot was just so slow.

      Delete