Book freaks discussion

You know how sometimes your reading a book that is just too s-l-o-w to keep you interested, so instead of wasting your time, you stop reading it. I was just wondering how many of you mark it as "read" and how many of you don't. Does it depend on how far you've read it?
What are your thoughts?

I move them to "Read" but I have a subcategory of "Couldn't finish", that's where I put those books. And I don't rate them, because it's not fair if I didn't finish them. Well, that's not completely true, if it's a prolific author and the book is so bad it seems like it was released for no good reason but the author's name, then I'll give it a bad rating.

I do not count them as read. I have a spreadsheet of all the books I've read. I like the idea of adding a column for "couldn't finish".

I continue to grind my way through the book, I am an optimist and hope it gets better! Then I rate the book.

I've never read a book that bad.
If I did, i wouldn't even add it to my list at all.

of course not! y say u hav read the book and didnt actually finish the book? i wud never do that

Most definitely not! I usually have them be the book I read on the side that takes me awhile to read

me too

Sorta, if I only got the the middle then los interest I jsut skim the rest to see the jist on how it ended.

I don't count it if I haven't finished it.

Glenn wrote: "I do not count them as read. I have a spreadsheet of all the books I've read. I like the idea of adding a column for "couldn't finish"."

Me too! I categorize and update all my books on a spreadsheet, also. I even color code the cells by genre. I have so many books to read yet that if I don't keep track of them, I'd forget what I had!
The ones I couldn't finish (rare-but does happen) go into a seperate category.

ofcourse not. i have to finish reading them then i say ive read them. it is a bad habit. i hav to finish every book i read even if i dont like it. if i dont finish a book it means it is REALLY BAD

of course not! you need to read it until the last page.

Nope I don't count it if I don't finish....what would be the point of that!!!

I feel like that would be cheating to count it as read when you haven't finished!

My immediate response is no. If I can't finish a book, I don't read it so I don't mark it as "read."

Carolyn F. wrote: "I move them to "Read" but I have a subcategory of "Couldn't finish", that's where I put those books. And I don't rate them, because it's not fair if I didn't finish them."

I do like this idea though. I don't know if I'll do that, but I'll think about it.

I don't count it as a read as far as my yearly total goes; but I do give it a 1 star and at least post a review of: "could not finish, will give a second and final try at a later date" - That way it gives people an idea that I was not keen on it, but that I have not entirely written it off, however when I try again and can't finish it, I will really lay my thoughts bare. But again I will not fill out the date finished section because it just doesn't seem right.

So, essencially no I don't count them as finished, but I still rate and comment on the books I don't finish.

I don't count them, I put them in the "abandoned" file.

no no... I'm honest and those don't count.

No, until I actually turn the last page, it is not considered to have been read.

If something is taking too long to get through, I will move it off of my currently reading list, but it goes back to the to-read shelf. This doesn't happen too often, though, since I really can't seem to not finish a book, no matter how long it might take.

It depends on how far I get through it. If I'm more than halfway to the end, it counts! I mean, duh, 50% is 50%. That`s a pass, right?! Anne K. Albert

Never - I like to give a review of books I've finished so I don't feel I can do that if I've abandoned a book.

I actually have 2 shelves devoted to this issue: "abandoned" (which usually implies I didn't like it or found it too difficult) and "partly read" which usually means I got distracted by another book. I usually go back & finish those. Eventually.
The only time I would count an unfinished book as "read", sort of, was if I deeply, truly hated it & it enraged me & I felt I'd read enough to give it a fair deal.
And even then-it's not really read until I've actually read it.

I have a whole shelf on my bookcase in my room contributed to "Unread" books. I don't think they really caught my attention as other books may have. I don't think you should count a book as read if you never truly finished it. You should say currently trying to finish or I'll try to get to them when I get a chance. Haha.

I put mine on a shelf I titled "paused." I should add an "indefinitely" to that shelf title. lol

I never even thought of creating additional shelves - but have now - love that idea!!!! Especially for my Abandoned Books

Shannon-I love the title "paused"-what a stroke of brilliance there.

Maybe I'll change "partly read" to "to be continued"
(should I add "maybe" or "hopefully"? lol).

Ellie wrote: "Shannon-I love the title "paused"-what a stroke of brilliance there.

Maybe I'll change "partly read" to "to be continued"
(should I add "maybe" or "hopefully"? lol)."

haha. Hi Ellie!

Well, the "paused" books are the ones that I hope to go back and continue. The one's I don't might be put on a "crap" shelf. lol

I wish I had the nerve to set up that shelf. Maybe I'll call it "From here to...eternity" or something like that. Is that too euphemistic?

I'm way too OCD to list a book that I haven't completed reading. I can only think of 1 or 2 books that I wasn't able to finish. I'm the same way as others in this post - I keep reading it in hopes that it gets better and then I rate it... usually badly. lol

i dont i put them back on my to read pile ... or pass them on to some one else

Ellie wrote: "I wish I had the nerve to set up that shelf. Maybe I'll call it "From here to...eternity" or something like that. Is that too euphemistic?"

u could call it the graveyard shelf ?

NEVER... but my problem is even if the book is bad I always finish it hoping that eventually it will get better :)

I think that until they create a permenant shelf that is "never finished" I will continue to categorise my "never finished" books the way I have them.

yes actually i do.when i read part of a novel i know what's going to happen so yeah.

I can't I feel like I'm cheating on my book list. There a few that just weren't my cup of tea, but other times I found I just need a rest and they are awesome!

Yes!

Depends how much I've read-I sometimes read a huge chunk of the beginning (1/3 or more of book), then skip & last 3-4 chapters, then read thru the middle in pieces. Often I end up reading pretty much the entire book, though not in linear fashion. If I think I've grasped the book, then yes. It's pretty subjective.
Also, it's clearly the one big drawback of the Kindle for me (which otherwise I love).

if it's a clever book that'll make me look good then I'll say i've read it, if it isn't worth it then I just shove it under the bed to take to oxfam, someday.

lol.

i mean someday cos I just hate giving books away, who knows who might get hold of it next, might mistreat it,ha compared to the under the bed treatment.
sometimes I like to go back to an author and see if I like them more than I did before, it happened with stephen king, rubbish i thought until I watched the movie 'stand by me'read the story for that and now I'm hooked.

Usually I don't count them as read if I haven't finished them but I made an exception for the February read Mercy because it was just so terrible that I new that my opinion was properly formed cause even though I'd made if halfway through I still didn't feel like continuing

It isn't read for me until I get to the very last page.

Sometimes when I feel like that...I skip to the last page and call it a day

well, we all have to agree that every now and then we stumble upon some book which we simply can't complete...

i mean cm'mon i'hv been through 3 books till date,
where i simply couldn't bring my self to read one more page of that b***s**t

and it happens. but, that's not the reason u should put them on read list. rather make up a new list titled "never finished" or "Half reads" etc

<....and to those who talk about last page>

it is my very bad habit whenever i pick up a new book to read i read it's last line first.
so technically i hv read last page though not completely

but that doesn't imply i hv read the book, does it?

This might sound very strange but I hate not finishing a book. I've combatted this problem by picking a Author and reading one book, if I like it then I'll read every book that Author has written. And then move on to the next author and so on.

On the rare occasions that I try a new author/ book I either read reviews on that book, or I get my sister to read it and give me her opinion.

The only problem with this is I'm always waiting for my favorite Author's new book to come out. Hahahaha

I know this is a painful way to go through your reading list, but I don't like wasting time on a book that I won't finish. LOL

Sometimes I guess. I think if you put in a good effort, but you just can't...finish it then yes. It just depends, because sometimes I'm finished and I can't possibly keep going. For me that IS The end of the book.

If I have given the book a really good effort, I count it as "read". But, I also have a special section for "could not finish"!

I hate not finishing books. I stuck with The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo book for over 200 pages of pure BOREDOM. However it turned into a very nice book for the next 200 pages and was sooo good for the rest of the series that I'm glad I stuck it through. But some books, you just have to call it a day. And say "I'll come back to this....one day....when I'm ready" I did that for wuthering heights and it worked for me and then I actually rated it!