Tag: DNF

What is one character trait that will cause you to close the book?

Bookish Question #338 | What is one character trait that will cause you to close the book?

What is one character trait that will cause you to close the book? I finish most of the books I start, so it didn’t take long to come up with an answer to this question.

Stupid.

I don’t like stupid characters. I don’t like characters who make stupid decisions then spend the rest of the book (or movie) complaining about or trying to fix the mistake.

I would like to qualify that statement by saying stupid is not the same as naivete or immaturity or lacking conventional intelligence. Forrest Gump is an example. He is not clever, but he is not stupid. His actions are consistent with his character.

So what is stupid?

Stupid is a character doing something when they should know better.

Stupid is doing the thing everyone said not to do, then expecting the reader to sympathise when something bad happens.

Stupid is the main character moving to a small town in another country where they stand out as the only non-local, then joining all the local clubs when they’re trying to hide from the evildoers.

Stupid is the main character quitting a well-paid job with health benefits to do … well, pretty much anything, then not knowing how they’re going to pay for their sick child’s health problems.

Stupid is the main character going to investigate the strange noises in the basement, even though the 911 operator told them to stay upstairs until the police arrive.

Get the picture?

I used to finish these books, but no more. There are too many other books to read.

What about you? What’s one character trait that will cause you to close the book?

Do you Finish Every Book You Start?

Bookish Question #250 | Do you Finish Every Book You Start?

Do I finish every book I start? Ha ha ha. No.

In fairness, it depends on your definition of “start a book”.

I’ll often read the first few pages of a book in a bookstore or library (or the Kindle sample) to decide if I want to read the book or not. I don’t count this as starting a book. It’s part of the purchase decision.

I have the same attitude to books I’ve borrowed or got for free (e.g. as a free ebook download). If I haven’t paid for the book, I’m not invested in any way and don’t feel any obligation to finish the book I’m not enjoying if I haven’t paid for it. In these cases, I treat “starting the book” as the same as the Kindle sample: it’s part of the purchase (or reading) decision.

I’m much more likely to try and finish a book I’ve bought, because it’s cost me real money. Even though I check books out before I buy, I do occasionally find I’m not enjoying a book I’ve bought. In this case, I will put it aside and come back to it later.

Sometimes I enjoy the book the second time I try. Sometimes I don’t.

But even a paperback only gets three chances before I give up. There’s one book I bought by an author many readers love, but I’ve tried three times and jsut couldn’t get into it. I read another one of their books and still couldn’t see what everyone was raving about, so I don’t think I’ll try again.

I almost always finish review copies, because that’s the point.

I was given a free copy with the understanding I’d read and review. Even then, I do come across the odd book I can’t force myself to finish.

My did-not-finish books are almost always because of the characters. It’s hard to read a book where I don’t like one (or both) of the main characters. Sometimes that’s about the character being intentionally unlikeable, but it’s more often because the character says or does something stupid or inappropriate, and that’s not portrayed as an issue.

For example, if a character makes a sexist or racist comment and another character challenges them, that’s okay. If the comment is ignored, I wonder why … and if the author, editor, and publisher all think that’s okay. (This is why it can be useful to have an author’s note at the beginning, so I know to expect inappropriate language and know why it’s there).

So no, I don’t finish every book I start. I do occasionally DNF.

What about you? Do you finish every book you start? If not, why not?

If you DNF a book, will you give the book (or author) a second chance?

Bookish Question #228 | If you DNF a book, will you give the book a second chance?

If you DNF a book, will you give the book (or author) a second chance?

DNF. Did not finish.

Yes, I do DNF books. Sometimes I’ll give the book a second chance, although that depends on why I DNF’d it in the first place.

If I abandon a book for a personal reason (e.g. I thought it was romance but it was actually women’s fiction), then I’ll give it another chance … on one of those days where I want to read women’s fiction.

But if I abandon the book because I have an issue with the book, then I’m unlikely to pick it up again.

What kind of issues make me DNF?

If I don’t like one of the main characters or find too many plot issues (or plot holes), then I’m unlikely to finish that book, but I will try another book by that same author.

If I abandon the book because of quality issues e.g. poor spelling, poor writing, or a badly formatted ebook (like the one that had spaces everywhere there should have been a letter F), then I will try another book by that author … but I will make sure I read the sample first. If the sample shows the same issues, I won’t give the author a third chance. There are too many other authors out there!

If I try two or three books by the same author and don’t finish any of them (or don’t enjoy any of them), then I’m unlikely to give that author a fourth chance. There are a couple of popular authors I don’t read simply because I’ve never latched on to their writing style. That’s on me, not them, but I’m not going to spend my time or money buying books I’m unlikely to enjoy.

What about you? If you DNF a book, will you give the book (or author) another chance?

At what point do you give up on reading a book you’re not enjoying?

Bookish Question #227 | At what point do you give up on reading a book you’re not enjoying?

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.

What about you? At what point do you give up on a book you’re not enjoying?

What would lead you to not finish a book?

Bookish Question #196 | What would lead you to not finish a book?

What would lead you to not finish a book?

I like to finish what I start. I might read the first few pages of a book to decide whether I want to read it or not, but I tend not to abandon books. Once I’ve made the decision to read a book (especially a novel), I’ll almost always finish reading.

But, as it happens, I have recently DNF’d (did not finish) a book …

Why? There were a few reasons.

The writing lacked polish.

Although the book was from a best-selling multi-published author, the writing was bland and uninteresting. I judge writing contests for unpublished writers, and  this book wouldn’t have made it past the first round of judging.

The main character wasn’t compelling.

The Prologue introduced a nice lady living a nice life in a nice small town on a nice lake. here was nothing exciting about the plot or setting. At the end of the Prologue , she found out her father had died, and that could have been the beginning of something compelling, except then we were treated to a nice funeral where we met her nice friends and nice boyfriend.

I don’t know about you, but I don’t make a habit of attending funerals of people I don’t know. The rare exception might be to support a close friend in their bereavement. Reading the funeral of a character you don’t know and who you have no connection with is the literary equivalent of being a funeral crasher.

The romance wasn’t right.

The novel was a romance, and it was obvious the main character was going to end up with the new man in town, not her nice boyfriend.

The problem was that while I liked the man who was being set up as the love interest, I didn’t like the main character or the way she treated him. I thought he deserved better… so I stopped reading so I can pretend she marries her nice boyfriend and has a nice life, and the hero goes back to his hometown where he meets and marries someone else, someone who values and appreciates him.

It doesn’t help that I’m not a fan of stupid heroines … and this heroine struck me as stupid (if your objective is to save the family business, shouldn’t you understand why the family business might be at risk? You could visit it, or open the computer and check the bank statement?).

Content Issues

The other reason I might not finish a book (which didn’t apply in this instance) would be content issues e.g. graphic on-the-page violence or sex scenes in a Christian novel, or dubious theology. If I wanted to read about those topics, I wouldn’t be reading Christian fiction.

What about you? What would make you DNF (did not finish) a book?