Musing Mondays (BIG)Today’s MUSING MONDAYS post is about sticking with it…

How much time (or how many pages) do you give a book that you aren’t really enjoying before you’ll set it aside? If you’re reading it for a book group discussion, or for review, will you give it more of a chance than, say, a book you’re reading for your own interest? Why, or why not? (courtesy of MizB)

It’s rare that I don’t finish a book I’ve started. I think it’s happened twice in the last three years. In general, I will plow through, either hoping it will get better or just to finish it and move on. I tend to find something redeeming to most books, though, something that makes it worth reading for me. I know there are millions of books out there waiting to be read, but I also know I’m never going to get to them all. Who knows when a surprise twist in the last chapter will make it all worthwhile?

If I’m reading it for a book group, I will finish it once I start it, simply because I don’t want someone else to be the only one to have read it. It stinks when there’s no one to discuss a book group selection with. 

I think I gave the last book I didn’t finish over 100 pages before I just couldn’t do it anymore. I was reading it for my own enjoyment, but I didn’t care about the plot or the setting. I didn’t care who the killer was or what a certain plant had to do with the whole thing. I didn’t like any of the characters, but I didn’t dislike them enough, either. I guess that’s the point. If I just don’t care at all about any of it and am not enjoying it, why should I read it?

2 Comments

  • If I just can’t stomach another page, I will put the book down. I will, however, give it a longer read if it’s for a review than if it’s just for pleasure. That’s only because if I’m being counted on to review a book, it’s only fair that I give it a full read. Otherwise, forget it. There are too many good books out there to waste my time on a dud!

  • I will give up on a book although there are very few that I do. If I’m not taken within the first 50-70 pages and it’s driving me crazy I will shut it down. lol.

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