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

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volpe-rossa
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Re: What do you do if a book isn't interesting?

Post by volpe-rossa »

If the first few paragraphs/chapter don't interest or grab my attention...I don't continue on.
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lovereadingxx
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Post by lovereadingxx »

I have only ever had one book that I stopped reading, felt like a bit of a failure though by not continuing with it but tried really hard read almost three quarters of it, I always find it strange when you read the back of a book and it says how good it is going to be, then you read it and think it must be another book they are talking about, shows you how we all see things differently..
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Post by ghostpixie »

Usually I try to give it a fair chance. I *try* getting about 20% through it. But if I just can't stomach it, I set it aside, move it into my "ugh" bookshelf on Goodreads, and move on. Occasionally I'll give it another shot later, but usually I just leave it be.
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thenameisZelda
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Post by thenameisZelda »

I give it a few chapters to change my mind and if it still hasn't, I call it quits. I may try to come back to it later, I may not. It just depends.
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Lilapo9
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Post by Lilapo9 »

That depends on how important the book is that I need to read. If it is a book that is for pleasure and it is totally uninteresting then I will put it away and read something else. If it is a book that I need to read for a purpose I will struggle through it until the task is done.
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J-A-Rodriguez-1518
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Post by J-A-Rodriguez-1518 »

I'm the type of person who has to finish the book. Even if the book has gone dull I'll keep reading, because I'll constantly keep wondering what happened. There has been times where I have not finished a book due to it being dull but that is usually only when I absolutely have no more interest in it.
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Post by rjhaug »

I try to tough it out. I hate leaving anything unfinished. I am always hoping it will get better somewhere down the line.
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clara7733
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Post by clara7733 »

If the book isn't interesting most of the time I will stop reading it.
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ipekbunsal
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Post by ipekbunsal »

I leave it.
Maybe for a year maybe 2 years. Who knows? But I will eventually go back and finish it.
(Usually)
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Sirknagov
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Post by Sirknagov »

Skim really fast to the conclusion and try to remember to never touch that author again. Sometimes I will wonder a bit about what I would say if I ever met them at a cocktail party. "Oh yeah, I read that. Way to go!"
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Shinyfox
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Post by Shinyfox »

It depends on the book and how uninteresting it is to me. Often I'll just plow through and finish reading it. In some cases I'll skim, other times I've been so fed up that I just quit and get rid of the book. More often than not, I finish it one way or another.
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RussetDivinity
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Post by RussetDivinity »

I pride myself on being able to finish books, even if they're books I'll never read again. Sometimes I'm rewarded with a great scene, but other times I find that, because I've been forcing myself through it, I hate it and never want to look at it again in my life. I've only given up on books a few times, and one was because I found the writing simply terrible. I think it was the book that introduced me to the idea that not all books were good.
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Airam Velarde
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Post by Airam Velarde »

I always try to give the book the benefit of the doubt. Sometimes books have a slow start but then get better and better as you go along. And putting the book away too quickly might lead you towards missing out on what could have been a very good book. Usually what keeps me reading is the promise of a good story when I first read the synopsis of the book. Even if at first the book might not seem interesting, I keep reading because there was something in the summary that did interest me and it might yet still appear. I will only stop reading a book if it has not gotten my attention in any way, not even in the plot summary.
"A man is not idle because he is absorbed in thought. There is a visible labor and there is an invisible labor."

~Victor Hugo
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animalgirl
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Post by animalgirl »

I feel guilty if I don't finish it, but sometimes I just can't. If I really can't get through it, I put it down and give it to Half Price Book Store. In fact, I do that with all the books I've read and don't want to keep.
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DarkTrick
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Post by DarkTrick »

I'm a perfectionist, and I'll always finish books I've started, even if they're not engaging for me. There have only been two books I've ever been unable to finish, and one I later went back to and loved.
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