Something Old, Something New discussion

Due to the fact I have had a couple of books which have made me go against everything I stand for because I have decided to stop reading them this year, I was wondering what everyone else thinks of abandoning a book that just isn't doing it for you?

Up until the last couple of years when my time became too precious due to having a very demanding toddler and running my own business I used to be way too stubborn to abandon a book and was always determined to see it out to the end. I just hated the fact that I'd invested so much time into it already and not even gotten to know what happens at the end.

Nowadays though I'm much more strict and if a book really isn't doing it for me and I find myself feeling that I really don't care how it ends, I'm much more inclined to put it down in favour of picking up something else that will hopefully restore my reading mojo.

What does everyone else think on this? Abandon a boring book or just keep soldiering on?

I find it really hard to abandon books once I've started them but I have done it with a few. Sometimes I leave them for a while, read something else and then go back to them. I just think that what if it gets better and I miss out on a good read and I know that's happened with a few books that were really slow to start but I was glad I persevered in the end. Lisey's Story was a good example of that.

Elaine, that's exactly what I do.
If a book has good reviews and I just can't get into it, I've also been known to put it into my vacation reading pile. I find when I'm on vacation with less distractions--and less books to pick from--I often have the patience to stick with a book that isn't grabbing me. Usually, I'm glad I stuck it out.

This is an interesting question. I rarely set a book aside, I have usually picked it for a reason (ie a challenge or two) and prefer to finish it even if I find it a chore to get through. I will put a book aside if I need to read something else before I can appreciate/understand the current book, but will do my best to get back to it. I have a pile of books which I did not read as fully as I should have and will go back to re-read when I can better engage.

I read for so many reasons, there is time in my life to muscle through less enjoyable books (at least at this point). I also am careful about selecting books I am less likely to want to discard. I know there are things I do not like (violence against children, YA books, and romance novels come quickly to mind) so I tend not to pick those books.

There are so many wonderful books to choose from, it is difficult to stick with a tougher book, but like others have said, I do often find something redeeming about the less enjoyable texts.

I'm almost at the point where I'm thinking of abandoning Around the World in Eighty Days. I'm just not looking forward to reading it and it's becoming a chore to finish it.
Should I bother to keep going or not? That is the question......

I, too, am just to busy to continue reading a book where I just don't care what happens to the characters or they never resonated with me. I attribute it to my time becoming more precious than ever. Once I am finished with work, I spend time with the kids and wife leaving precious little time to read anymore. I need a book to grab me and never let me go or else I will move on . . . what Michelle uses as her tag line is so true: Too many books, too little time.

I am starting to get better at leaving a book unfinished if it seems to be too much effort to see it through to the end.
The stubborn streak in me just cringes every time I do it though :-)

Michelle wrote: "I am starting to get better at leaving a book unfinished if it seems to be too much effort to see it through to the end.
The stubborn streak in me just cringes every time I do it though :-)"
Michelle, I like the way you say you're "getting better" at it. For years, I felt compelled to finish any book I started. Like you, I'm getting better and listening to myself when a book doesn't appeal after a few attempts, and putting it down.

Carol wrote: "Michelle wrote: "I am starting to get better at leaving a book unfinished if it seems to be too much effort to see it through to the end.
The stubborn streak in me just cringes every time I do it t..."

Yes Carol, some people don't understand but it is a hard thing to do.
You invest so much in choosing a book to read and in the time spent to get a certain way through it that to just give up and decide to put it down seems wrong to me sometimes.
I always feel compelled to see what the purpose of the book is and whether it may redeem itself by the end.

Michelle wrote: "Carol wrote: "Michelle wrote: "I am starting to get better at leaving a book unfinished if it seems to be too much effort to see it through to the end.
The stubborn streak in me just cringes every ..."
Michelle, years ago a friend's mother told me that once you start a book, you owe it to the writer to finish. For many years, I read by that philosophy. Now that I've written two novels of my own, I feel differently. I think it's more that the writer owes it to the reader to write a book she'll want to read to the end. carol

I hadn't thought of it this way . . . thanks for sharing!

Carol, that's a really interesting way to put it. Maybe I need to keep repeating that to myself from now on :-)