At what point do you give up on reading a book you’re not enjoying?
As with so many bookish questions, it depends 🙂
If I’m checking out the book before buying, then I’ll only read enough to decide whether I want to buy or not—which could be as little as the first couple of pages. If it doesn’t grab me, it goes back on the shelf (real or virtual).
If it’s a book I’ve downloaded for free on Kindle, then it gets much the same treatment. I’ll start reading, but stop if it doesn’t interest me. Then I’ll put it back on the virtual bookshelf for another time … unless the book has multiple typos and errors in those first few pages, enough to tell me I’ll never want to read the full book.
If it’s a book I paid money for, then I’m more likely to persevere.
My perseverance is generally in line with how much I paid. If I bought a 99 cent ebook to support the author, then I don’t feel obliged to read the book if I’m not enjoying it. If I bought a 99 cent anthology, then I’ll happily abandon any story I’m not enjoying and move on.
I try not to buy more expensive ebooks unless I have read and enjoyed the sample. Recently, I’ve started buying ebooks only if I’m going to read them right away, so they don’t end up cluttering my Kindle’s to-read pile. It also means I’m less likely to give up on them, because I’m in the right mood for reading (otherwise I wouldn’t have bought it).
I find it harder to give up on paperbacks, because they’re so much more expensive than ebooks.
But if I try the book two or three times and still can’t get into it, I’ll add it to my donation pile. At least then I’m giving someone the opportunity to read the book.
The hardest books for me to give up are the free ebooks I’ve downloaded to review. I’ve been provided with the ebook on the understanding I will write a review, so I find it difficult to give up, even if I’m not enjoying the book.
I have found I’ve become a lot more prepared to give up on a book since I got an ereader.
Back when I exclusively bought paperbacks from the local Christian bookstore, I’d persevere with a title even if I wasn’t especially enjoying because that book was the only book I had to read. Now I have an ereader, there is always a better book available in a few clicks, so I’m much more likely to move on.
However, I will retry books that didn’t appeal the first time if I think the reason the title didn’t appeal was about me and my mood e.g. I thought it was a romance but it turned out to be a mystery, or I wanted to read a rom-com and the title is women’s fiction.
But if I gave up because of bad writing or because I don’t like a main character or central plot point? I delete it (or give the paper book away) and don’t look back.
