How many books do you abandon?
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I don't know about you, but a book has to really grip me from the start if I am to read the whole thing. I am not very tolerant of a large amount of descriptive purple prose. I would say I start around 6 books a month and abandon at least half of them. Two books have really stood out to me recently as great reads from the start to the end. Those two books are 'Gods Inc.' by Sarah King and 'The Lie of You' by Jane Lythell. Gods Inc. is a racy thriller about a man who has to save his wife from a serial killer. Only problem is, he is dead. And The Lie of You is about a woman who systematically destroys the life of another woman. I am not going to list the ones I abandoned as I don't think that would be fair.
I am so grateful for my kindle. You can imagine the amount of money I wasted before ebooks came along with my intolerant attitude to slow books.
What are you like? Do you abandon many books? And if so, why?
I am so grateful for my kindle. You can imagine the amount of money I wasted before ebooks came along with my intolerant attitude to slow books.
What are you like? Do you abandon many books? And if so, why?
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For this reason I only read library books or car-boot ones at 4 for a quid or less. I don't know how publishers can make a living with amount of the shite they print.
I feel that life is too short, as I get older (and older) so basically,I give
any book the benefit of around one tenth of its overall length,to 'grab
me' or interest me . If it fails to do so, then it gets the chop!
But I still manage to read a lot of excellent books at the same time!
Labyrinth - Kate Mosse - got about 300 pages in and flung it across the lounge, absolutely nothing was happening!
Sea Change - Robert Goddard - if this had been by any other author I might have persevered, but he is my favourite author and it was very disappointing
A book by Dean Koontz - I forget which book but it was just too gruesome and made me feel sick
A book by Maeve Binchy - as with Labyrinth nothing happened!
Picture Perfect - Jodi Picoult - the characters were completely unconvincing and I hated them, I was over halfway through when I couldn't take it any more.
So just 5 books in over 40 years - not bad going!
(I even read Lord of the Rings when I didn't like it - I was stranded abroad with no other English books!)
For example, I rejected Wolf Hall once I saw it was written in that odd, 3rd person, "he, he, he" style and after looking at some pages at random; but if I ever sit down with a copy I own and start reading, I'll most likely keep going to the end.
It's a very interesting premise, a book set in prehistoric times about the dawning of language. However, the phonetic representations jarred my brain and i couldn't continue. Shame really.
I used to read anything that was put in front of my eyes. I very rarely left a book unfinished.
Since I turned 60, that's no longer the case. A book has to really grab me from the start or it's back to the library, or to the charity shop before you can say "boring".
Sometimes I read stuff I used to like and I wonder what I saw in it. Quite sad, really. I wonder if it's because I've read so many books in my time that plots all seem a bit hackneyed, and characters predictable.
These days, it's not often I give up on anything although I wish I had sometimes.
I've wondered exactly the same in recent years.
I read a lot less than I used to. Partly, I suspect, because there is so much other information, entertainment and distraction available via the computer. But most books seem to disappoint nowadays: even some that have kept me turning the pages turn out to fall flat with an "is that it?" or an "oh, ffs!" ending.
And I agree with stud u like about editing. Do they even have editors any more? Books often read like a first draft now.
Once I used to read to the end, but I've got ruthless now. I shall never get back those hours I spent on 'Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell', >:( for instance. If I'm not enjoying a book after 60-100 pages, out it goes.
No you're not the only one! I feel exactly the same way; sometimes I feel bad that I don't struggle on with them, but life's too short, really!
What does worry me slightly is how out of synch I seem to be with everyone else sometimes - there are so many Books that lots of people absolutely love, that leave me cold
Are you sure they read them? Maybe they are just riding the bandwagon
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5zbJ4N4zQjg
So think twice next time you want to abandon a book
I am trying not to be too harsh.....but what is the point of Fiction unless it is great Fiction?
Sales of Fiction took a real nosedive in New York in the period that followed September 2001. That makes complete sense to me.
Dean Koontz has already been mentioned. I gave up reading his books simply because they were so badly written. Evidently the guy is 'proud' he had a poor education (because he skipped school) and still made it. Well to me, it shows too much!
Thomas Harris is another author whose style I find difficult to read, even though his ideas are great. However, I usually stick with him and read with gritted teeth.
And Dan Brown is an author I refuse to read at all, after ploughing my way through the dreadful The Da Vinci Code. I presume it was written for teenage boys at boarding school, as I cannot imagine anyone else being gripped by this story! And I believe it was cribbed from something else anyway....