What do you do if a book isn't interesting?

Use this forum for book and reading discussion that doesn't fall into another category. Talk about books, genres, reading issues, general literature, and any other topic of particular interest to readers. If you want to start a thread about a specific book or a specific series, please do that in the section below this one.
Post Reply
User avatar
tonya10057
Posts: 436
Joined: 13 Nov 2011, 08:33
Favorite Author: Nora Roberts
Favorite Book: honest illusions
Currently Reading: The next always
Bookshelf Size: 0
fav_author_id: 3258

What do you do if a book isn't interesting?

Post by tonya10057 »

What do you normaly do if a book is not very interesting to you?I try to read as much of the book as possible,then decide if I want to read it or not.
Ant
Previous Member of the Month
Posts: 8918
Joined: 21 Aug 2011, 15:14
Bookshelf Size: 1

Post by Ant »

I'll give it a fair crack of the whip, but if it isn't doing it for me then I am quite comfortable in casting aside and moving on, life is too short to waste on stuff that you don't like. If you don't like it......bin it, thats my motto, but I know there are types that will see books through.......no problem, each to there own, I haven't the time :D
User avatar
Maud Fitch
Posts: 2730
Joined: 28 Feb 2011, 23:05
Favorite Author: Jasper Fforde
Favorite Book: The Eyre Affair
Bookshelf Size: 0
fav_author_id: 4856

Post by Maud Fitch »

I'm with Ant on this one! Anybody with a decent TBR list would probably tell you the same thing - ditch and move on.
"Every story has three sides to it - yours, mine and the facts" Foster Meharny Russell
User avatar
Carla Hurst-Chandler
Previous Member of the Month
Posts: 8227
Joined: 24 Feb 2012, 20:10
Favorite Author: Pirzig
Favorite Book: Zen and the Art...
Currently Reading: The Lost Landscape
Bookshelf Size: 124

Post by Carla Hurst-Chandler »

Completely agree with Ant. Life is too short for bad books...
“The real cycle you're working on is a cycle called yourself.”
― Robert M. Pirsig, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
User avatar
StephenKingman
Posts: 13994
Joined: 29 Dec 2009, 12:00
Bookshelf Size: 0
Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-stephenkingman.html

Post by StephenKingman »

Depends how long it is, if its less than 500 pages ill stick with it just to finish it but any more than that and ill throw it out. :(
You only live once.....so live!
User avatar
icy-toes
Posts: 6
Joined: 21 Aug 2012, 20:52
Bookshelf Size: 0

Post by icy-toes »

I try to finish it, but there are times I just can't. Sometimes I think I have the attention span of a goldfish, but I try.
Reason I keep trying? Once upon a time, I read The Count of Monte Cristo, which I think had a pretty slow start.

Need I say more?
User avatar
Fran
Posts: 28072
Joined: 10 Aug 2009, 12:46
Favorite Author: David Mitchell
Favorite Book: Anna Karenina
Currently Reading: Hide and Seek
Bookshelf Size: 1208
Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-fran.html
Reading Device: B00I15SB16
fav_author_id: 3104

Post by Fran »

I give out to myself for wasting my time but as Magnus Magnusson used to say "I've started so I'll finish" .... silly but that's me :oops:
We fade away, but vivid in our eyes
A world is born again that never dies.
- My Home by Clive James
User avatar
DATo
Previous Member of the Month
Posts: 5771
Joined: 31 Dec 2011, 07:54
Bookshelf Size: 0

Post by DATo »

Long ago I had a strange prejudice against Brussels sprouts. I found the very sight of them repellent. And then one evening after having been invited to a friend's home for dinner, the hostess, to avoid having me reach said, "Hand me your plate." I did as she asked and to my horror she put a helping of Brussels (in butter sauce) sprouts on it. Now you must understand that these were very dear friends and the hostess was one of the sweetest and finest women I have ever known. Rather than risk offending her in the slightest I grit my teeth and downed a Brussels sprout. To my amazement I absolutely loved it. By the time dinner was over I had even asked for a second helping.

Now what does this have to do with reading you ask? Well, a couple of years ago another dear friend (also a woman) handed me a copy of Pride and Prejudice. Much like Brussels sprouts I had an unfounded prejudice against Jane Austin believing that her work was all about she likes this guy but he doesn't like her, and this guy likes this girl but she is in love with someone else ect ect ad nauseam but, just like the sprouts I gave it a go rather than offending the young lady who offered me the book. Once again, to my great surprise I found that my literary taste buds were exploding with the divine flavor of this book.

Bottom line : I have learned never to dismiss a book out of hand until I have given it a chance. And I have also learned not to stop reading a book until I have given it time to develop. Of course I admit that there are some books, like foods, that are best fed to the dog under the table when no one is looking.
“I just got out of the hospital. I was in a speed reading accident. I hit a book mark and flew across the room.”
― Steven Wright
User avatar
Fundoospot
Posts: 7
Joined: 22 Aug 2012, 04:28
Bookshelf Size: 0

Post by Fundoospot »

Totally Depends on my mood :)
User avatar
Fran
Posts: 28072
Joined: 10 Aug 2009, 12:46
Favorite Author: David Mitchell
Favorite Book: Anna Karenina
Currently Reading: Hide and Seek
Bookshelf Size: 1208
Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-fran.html
Reading Device: B00I15SB16
fav_author_id: 3104

Post by Fran »

@DATo
I was wondering how you were going to connect the much maligned Brussels sprout with reading but you did it!
Glad to see you are back to full health & have returned to us better than ever :)
We fade away, but vivid in our eyes
A world is born again that never dies.
- My Home by Clive James
User avatar
Bighuey
Previous Member of the Month
Posts: 22451
Joined: 02 Apr 2011, 21:24
Currently Reading: Return to the Dirt
Bookshelf Size: 2

Post by Bighuey »

If I dont find a book interesting I usually dump it. There have been a few exceptions, some books start out dull but pick up after a while. Matthew Lewis's The Monk was one, it started out really dull and wordy, but really picked up after I got about a fourth into it, then I couldnt put it down.
"I planted some birdseed. A bird came up. Now I dont know what to feed it." Ramblings of a retired senile mind.
BookNymphoJae
Posts: 22
Joined: 24 May 2012, 15:14
Bookshelf Size: 0

Post by BookNymphoJae »

I stop reading if I'm not enjoying a book. Even if a book isn't necessarily bad, I won't continue if I find myself bored with it, if I have to keep going back and re-reading passages because something's just not clicking, or if I set it down and don't feel any pull to pick it back up again.

If I do stop reading a book, I write down the book and categorize it on an "unfinished" shelf on Goodreads. I also make a note of the page where I stopped reading in case I ever want to go back and pick it back up again. Sometimes certain books don't make sense when you first read them, but then some time later, they are really enjoyable. So I like to keep the option of reading it again sometime in the future and that makes it even easier to stop reading.
MysFan
Posts: 119
Joined: 14 Aug 2012, 14:20
Bookshelf Size: 0

Post by MysFan »

No matter how dull or boring, I used to stick to it figuring that it had to get more interesting as I went on. Like others here have said, it has happened that in a few chapters the books have really picked up and I have gone on to enjoy them.

But now if they don't pick up after the very first chapters, I toss them. It is the realization that life is too short and there are so many wonderful books being published every day.

One reason I stuck to some of these books was that they were deemed "best sellers" and I thought that if that was true, then I should want to read them like all the others who thought they were so good. Now I realize that no matter how many awards a book may have or how people say it is wonderful, if I can't get into it, then I just don't.

But I have found books I did not care to read when I was younger are now very much worth reading. So there is no doubt our tastes can change. I have to admit that the way I know I can't stand bodice rippers is that I read a few of them. I had to see why so many of my co-workers, and other friends, thought they were so great. One great thing about reading is that each person gets to choose the books they enjoy. So while to me reading one of these books is like reading them all, that is obviously not how many see them given the writers sell thousands of books.

Some of my friends say I read too much and also that most of the books I read are too serious. I think I mix it up quite a bit and read serious works as well as books that are just fun to read. But that is part of why I joined this discussion group. I know all of you like to read as you joined too!!!
User avatar
Nedra15
Posts: 5
Joined: 26 Aug 2012, 08:00
Bookshelf Size: 0

Post by Nedra15 »

I usually never find a book i'm not interested in. I hate when certain topics get overplayed though. For example, most books after Twilight irked me to no end. When Dystopian novels got popular The Hunger Games was great but then I found The Maze Runner which was not so great lol. I really tried to get through it because I was so hooked in the beginning. Put it down and picked it up a few times but I couldn't finish it. Btw, I usually just put it on the shelf and come back to it later if i'm not interested at the time.
User avatar
Tralala
Posts: 1059
Joined: 28 Dec 2010, 13:13
Favorite Author: Hubert Selby Jr.
Favorite Book: Retro Hell
Bookshelf Size: 0
fav_author_id: 2789

Post by Tralala »

I keep reading it, and resent it, and hold the author personally responsible. I'm Scandinavian, so I can hold a grudge until doomsday. Even against an inanimate object.
Mike, your avatar scared the hell out of me. Thanks. :shock:
How perfectly goddamned delightful it all is, to be sure.
Post Reply

Return to “General Book & Reading Discussion”