Do you finish every book you start reading?

[JitterbugPerfume]

I don't because life is to short, and my stack is to high! I give a book the first 100 pages to give me a reason to finish it.

[melm00se]

1. fiction?

no

non-fiction? every word no matter how stultifying

[JitterbugPerfume]

2. i agree--to a degree

usually if I am interested enough in the subject to read it(non fiction) in the first place I will finish it because there are at least interesting parts.

[melm00se]

19. nonfiction

(usually history) no matter how bizarre the analysis and conclusions, I go all the way thru it (including the last real POS I read: Malkin's In Defense of Internment: The Case for Racial Profiling in World War II and the War on Terror - - nice try but a complete misreading of the MAGIC decrypts and overstatement of the threat of japanese espionage on the west coast) as there are usually some interesting tidbits that bear deeper exploration (in the above it was the aid given by a Japanese couple on Niihau Island to a downed Japanese flier)

[pitohui]

21. w8 that almost doesn't make sense, you don't often need to read an entire work of nonfiction

fiction is a single piece of art and i will read the whole thing (altho i may well skim/speedread if it has some slow spots)

nonfiction is read for a purpose, and often times you can simply turn to a chapter, read that, do what they suggest, and your purpose is served

there are frequently chapters in a work of nonfiction that only an advanced student of the topic would ever need to read or be aware of, nonfiction that is serious (serves a genuine purpose other than propaganda) rarely needs to be read in its entirety -- think about it, do you read the entire cookbook or do you just turn to part where you can start marinating the steak or roasting the turkey?

will admit i would not have picked up something called "in defense of internment" in the first place, it sounds like bullshit (poorly crafted fiction) but with no purpose other than to make an argument for racism and having lived in the south my whole life i don't need to hear any more arguments for racism, they are not useful in teaching me how h8rs think (i already know how haters think), they are just a waste of time and $$$

[melm00se]

23. while it is true that

in nonfiction each chapter can stand on its own merit, in well written nonfiction the entire book addresses an overarching thesis that is made up of and supported by each individual chapter and their individual theses.

[pitohui]

27. in well written nonfiction you can go out and use the first chapter

it's said that if you read the first chapter of a book on any topic, you already know more about that topic than 90 percent of the population (well, it's said by my buddy, i hope he didn't make it up!)

i have read any number of nonfiction books where i have been able to go forward and use the first few chapters of the book, without any need of the whole thing

a great deal of nonfiction is "how to" or a guide of some sort, and i don't need the overarching theme, assuming it exists, which it usually doesn't

[melm00se]

28. maybe it's because I approach non-fiction

differently...Master's candidate here where evaluation of all of the sources and conclusions drawn are key pieces of the read

[TheCowsCameHome]

3. Most of the ti........

[demguy72340]

4. sometimes

[Little Star]

5. Sooner or later. I can't stand not finishing what I start.

[Sarah Ibarruri]

6. If the first 2 chapters are boring, I peek into the rest. If it's boring too, I don't continue nt

[elocs]

7. I don't read books anymore. n/t

[Little Star]

10. why?

[elocs]

12. These eyes only have so much reading in them and it goes to reading online.

I did read a book a couple of years ago though.

The trouble is that my body has come to associate reading a book with falling asleep. After a couple of pages I am nodding off.

[Demeter]

8. Books I Have Abandoned

Lord Jim
Catcher in the Rye
The Gold Bug

Books I've never even started:

Moby Dick (I changed English classes to miss that one)
Most of Dickens
Danielle Steel
most "popular" authors

[fadedrose]

9. Totally agree, but 100 pp I don't have - too old

I give them about 50.

Most of the time, they're not ripe enough at 50, but if they seem to have promise, I go to 100 and by that time I'm hooked.

[JitterbugPerfume]

13. so many books==so little time

:hi: :loveya:

[Louisiana1976]

11. Usually.

[MaineDem]

14. I usually read it all

But sometimes a book is just so unappealing that I have to give up on it. Doesn't happen often.

[pscot]

15. I was raised to believ that if I didn't clean my plate

a European child might starve to death. For a long time I approached books the same way. But art is long and getting longer, and life, as you say, is short. I give an author a fair chance to make their case, but with fiction I sometime don't get past page 3.

[applegrove]

16. I usually know in the first 50 pages if I like a book. I usually finish a book

once I get beyond 100 pages. Sometimes I'll stop and pick up another book if my mood changes and say I want something fictional vs. non-fiction.

[YankeyMCC]

17. It took me about 3 tries to get through Dune

Never even started the sequels.

I very nearly put down "Wreck of the River of Stars" by Flynn, but in the end really glad I finished it and have since read it again.

I can't think of any others I've not finished.

[raccoon]

18. I endured DON QUIXOTE for about 7 chapters, than I gave up. Boring....nt

[pitohui]

20. well actually i do

however i have been known to skim/speedread

[AngryOldDem]

22. I used to...because once I started I felt and odd sense of obligation to finish.

But now, if a book doesn't hold my interest, or is so poorly written/edited that I just can't get past it, back to the stacks it goes.

You're right -- if you're 100 pages in and it's going nowhere, time to bail. That said, I try to revisit books that I gave up on because mindset and attitude at the time you read them make a difference.

[TheCentepedeShoes]

24. I have several half-read

books
All are non fiction because I rarely buy fiction but get from the library

[Enthusiast]

25. Almost always....nt

[SheilaT]

26. I used to feel obligated to finish books.

Not so much any more. I also try to check out various reviews to see if (for me) a particular book is even worth starting.

Again, so many books, so little time.

[LWolf]

29. Almost always.

There have been a very few that I didn't finish. I don't remember the titles, but they were books in series that I'd originally liked, and I just got disgusted with the direction the author took the character. Often because when a particular plot line was satisfactorily resolved, they couldn't come up with something new, but had to drag the old stuff back out to recycle.

It's funny that I remember the reasons clearly, without remembering the books or series. I guess I'm too old to hold stuff I don't value in my hard drive.

[RebelOne]

30. I alwatys read all Dean Koontz and Stephen King books

cover to cover. But the last Dean Koontz book "Velocity" I could not finish. It was becoming too gory and I had to stop reading halfway through the book.

[benld74]

31. the last 8-10 i could not get into at all

[Odin2005]

32. I try to, unless the book is dry and boring.

[closeupready]

33. gosh no. This is a bad habit of mine. I start interesting books,

but then lose interest. Some books hold me all the way, though, like Dragon Tattoo or some of the Discworld books. But if I'm 50 pages in and can see that it's subpar, I simply discard it - I don't even want it taking up space on my bookshelf.

[Rob H.]

34. Used to but not any more

The one I most recently gave up on was Neal Stephenson's The Diamond Age because after a very promising start it got impossibly boring. I just told myself that all the characters died in a nuclear apocalypse and called it done.

[elfin]

35. No

I give it few chapters, turn to the end and take it back to the library.

Always used to slog on through to honor the author -- but no more. Becoming more picky in my geezer years.

[lovelaureng]

36. Wrong place

[lovelaureng]

37. Definitely no,

I will read through the first chapter and if it hasn't hooked me by then I move on to the next one.

[WCGreen]

38. Pretty much most of them...

[Fire Walk With Me]

39. No, I never finished "The Wasp Factory" and a few others.

[pitohui]

40. you didn't finish the wasp factory!!!!!

you don't know what you missed

how could you resist finishing the wasp factory????

[iris27]

41. Not a chance. The only thing that kept me from throwing the first Sookie Stackhouse book across the

room (disgusted by the racism and sexism), was the fact that I was reading in bed and didn't want to interrupt my husband's sleep just to take out my dislike on a terrible book.

If a book just isn't grabbing my attention, I give it about 150 pages or so before moving on. If the writing is bad, or bigoted in some way, I give it three or four "eyeroll moments" before saying "Next!" Sometimes that means I get through the whole book and have mostly enjoyed a story with a few minor flaws, sometimes it means I'm done before page 20.

[BookSavoury]

42. LOL

I know her books are hugely popular, but that series (and TV series) makes me want to throw up. It's like eating rancid cotton candy.

[JitterbugPerfume]

43. welcome to DU, BookSavoury

[SheilaT]

44. I had to look up "Sookie Stackhouse" because I had no

idea what that was, but as soon as I saw the author's name, Charlaine Harris, I got it. I've glanced at her books but they absolutely don't interest me. For one thing, I am totally uninterested in vampires, and I can hardly wait until that craze ends.

[Frank Coffin]

45. Well, I left one book a long time ago that I started reading about 3-4 years ago

then I finally find the book after years of searching (among reading other stuff), and finishing the book.

That inspired me to go to his next book - "The Mating Season" which I finished in less than a week.

Jon Loomis is an outstanding novelist. I just literally stood up and applauded at the book at its conclusion.

His next book, "Fire Season" sounds very promising, so I can't wait to see it hit the Kindle.

Also I'm waiting for John Grisham's newest book to come down on price from Amazon Kindle so I can read it on my way back to the West after a 3 wseek stay in the East Coast.

[The Northerner]

46. Mostly yes because I don't like reading a novel without finishing it

even if it's boring.

If I'm going to spend time reading and borrowing books I realize that I might as well finish them.

[RebelOne]

47. Usually. I am a fan of Stephan King and Dean Koontz.

But there is one Dean Koontz book I could not finish. It is Velocity. The main character has his hand stapled to a wooden floor by the psycho villain who was not yet disclosed. I could not read any further because I did not even want to know how he got his hand free. It is still sitting in my bookcase 2/3s read. Someday I will go back to it if I can get over the squeamishness.

[Moe Shinola]

48. Nah, sometimes I just forget I was reading them, they sit so long.

Currently reading O Pioneers, by Willa Cather and Gormenghast by Mervyn Peake. Those are the ones I recall starting in any case. Oh, and The Iliad. Again.