There are two types of people in this world.
There are those who, when they realize they’re not enjoying a book, fling it against the wall or “lose” it on the subway or let it languish on a nightstand gathering dust. They don’t look back and consider life to short to waste on substandard reading experiences.
And there are those who, whether through guilt, optimism, or thriftiness, power through even the most excruciating of books and don’t feel at peace until they know how it ends. Even if they stopped caring somewhere around Page 5.
Which kind are you? Poll below, you’ll need to click through to see it if you’re in an RSS reader or reading by e-mail.
Me: I used to be a power through-er, but in my old age I’ve become a stopper.
Matthew Rush says
I've only ever given up on two books. No I'm not going to say which ones.
I would like to think it's because I have excellent taste, but who knows.
barbylucedistelle says
I've given up so many books I can't even remember. Life it too short and they are not worth my time.
Laura Campbell says
I usually stop, but find my way back to the book. It all depends on how I feel and where I am in my life. All books deserve a good effort.
Ted Fox says
This post has brought out one of my many annoying habits: Seinfeld quoting (although I admit I had to go to IMDB to get the wording right for this one).
Elaine: I've eaten 23 bad subs, I just need 1 more! It's like a long, bad movie, but you want to see the end of it.
Jerry: No, you walk out.
Elaine: Alright, then, it's like a boring book, but you gotta finish it.
Jerry: No, you wait for the movie.
Best show ever.
Liana Brooks says
Unless the book comes highly recommended by people with similar reading tastes I skip the end and read the last chapter.
Really, if I can guess the ending from the first three chapters I can't imagine wasting my time on all the useless filler the author stuffed in the middle. There need to be hooks and twists to keep me reading.
Amanda says
Just like you, I used to power through. Now, I'll give a book about 75 pages tops (which I think is pretty generous).
My "to-be-read" list verges on insanity — there's simply no time for a bad book.
Karen Akins says
I'm a cheater even amongst the stoppers. I'll skim ahead to see how it ends (assuming I make it to the point where the conflict emerges…and if I don't make it that far, that's probably why I put it down in the first place.)
Phil says
I usually have a stable of books going at any one time, one or two non-fiction, a fiction re-read and a new novel. If any of the new one's aren't up to snuff, they slowly migrate to the bottom of the pile and are then eventually culled a few weeks later.
Often, however, I'll read a bad book on purpose to find out what about it isn't working for me–and to learn from that author's mistakes.
Anonymous says
I have a rule that I give any book 50 pages of courting before giving it the ax. And yes, there are a handful that never made it to page 51.
Rob Crompton says
I'm definitely a stopper. But right now I'm wading through a novel where the story is well and truly buried underneath a mass of pointless detail. And, damn it, the author obviously realises what he's doing. At one point we get: Sorry about that. I go off at a tangent sometimes. This is going to be tedious. But the trouble is, I've been asked to review it. So sometimes I'm a power througher.
Tommy Salami says
It depends on the book. Sometimes a book just takes a dump in the middle and I'll see where the author is going. Example: F. Paul Wilson's The Keep, when the major plot twist comes and the revelation isn't as unique as it was upon publication. I finished that.
I gave up on a bio of Houdini that became "Hey, this mama's boy dominated his wife, and oh yeah, he was also good at escaping stuff, when he wasn't doing that."
I got so aggravated that it became the first book I didn't slog through out of pure stubbornness, and now I don't waste time when the writer loses my interest.
Heidi says
In High School, I had to stop reading a Stephen King book I'd started because it was too scary!
There have only been a few books since then – and only in recent years – where I thought, "why am I wasting my time reading this with no enjoyment?" But I do give it a valiant effort before throwing it against the wall.
Mary Aalgaard says
I can power through if there is a redeeming quality – unique setting, thought-provoking topic, everybody's talking about it. But, just last night, I tossed a book on the floor that was just so boring I couldn't even fall asleep reading it! It bugged me too much. Life's too short and the book reading pile is too high to waste it on reading boring books.
Nikki says
I actually skip to the end and if it's an amazing ending, I usually go back and power through. Otherwise I stop!
Claire Gregory says
The older I get (says this old crone of 30), the less patience I have. It's not so much about the books that don't grab me as the books that actively turn me off with bad writing, bad characters, bad plots and the like. If it has those, it hits the wall, and makes way for an author who does it right.
Lori Benton says
I stop, but I might skim through it quickly and then read the last page to at least get a sense of the story.
Nick says
Depends.
Usually I just get bored with it, put it on the shelf, and come back to it later (although there are some I still have yet to return to).
If it's really, really, REALLY awful then I just outright give up and tuck it away on the shelf to never be taken down again (I can't bring myself to get rid of a book, no matter how bad it is).
Emily White says
There's only been one book I've ever really stopped reading. Actually, that's not completely true, because I'm STILL reading it (oh so slowly). I started it years ago and pick it up from time to time to see if I can get through a few more pages.
But every other book I've read, I just plow through, whether I like it or not. It hurts thinking about wasting money I've spent on something and not seeing it through to the end.
Raj says
Interesting. I faced this question recently regarding two books. The Last Theorem by A. C. Clarke and Black Man by Richard Morgan. The former never really picked up the pace while the latter lost it's grip somewhere half way through. Still, I finished them both. What I did was to skim through it very fast and read only the essentials so as to understand what happens in the end.
I guess that's another way of dealing with such type of books. 🙂
@Ted Fox : GMTA. When I was really frustrated with Black Man, I remembered this same dialogue. Yamahama! 😀
Rosie Lane says
I will power through a paper novel more often than not, but I stop reading an ebook as soon as I lose interest.
Before I started reading ebooks there was only one book ever that I didn't finish, so reading on a screen has made me more of a stopper in general.
Stephanie Barr says
Your description of yourself fits me. When I was younger, I needed to fill my time. I'd read anything, even the most heinous book (and I have, oy!). Now, my time's far too scarce to spend it doing anything I don't find fulfilling.
crow productions says
There are a lot of books that promise to be a great read. I usually give to at least page 30. After all, I bought it. Then I compare it to my current novel I'm trying to get published. If it is equal to or above what I've written, I will definitely finish it. But so often the book is just plain boring.
Jessica Bell says
I used to power through, too. But now there just isn't enough time to be wasting it!
Evon Davis says
If I'm invested enough, I'll skim through a "boring" part and usually find it gets better. If I'm not invested, the book has to hook me by the first page or I move on to the next book, wondering, "How the heck did that book get published?"
Kristen My Bookish Fairy Tale says
I have only stopped reading one book. ever. I always find something I like about a book. I dont know maybe it's just me but I can always find something that I like or love about a book.
Anonymous says
I've stopped on 3 books and they were horrible. The first one, I was 2/3 of the way through before I realized I wasn't gonna get those brain cells back in better condition than when I started.
Stephanie {Luxe Boulevard} says
Funny enough, I power through it, and I have a shelf dedicated to what I consider The Worlds Worst Books. I just don't have it in me to throw away a perfectly good book.
Josin L. McQuein says
I might *might* skip to the end and see how the story's wrapped up, but beyond that I couldn't care less. Books I don't like, but own, go to the library.
M.J.B. says
I recently put down "The Remains of the Day" (after reading "Never Let Me Go" and loving it to pieces). But then I read an online synopsis of the movie and realized I was just getting to a turning point in the story…and I decided to power through, and I'm glad I did. I didn't adore the book, but I definitely liked it, found value in it, and learned about writing by reading it. So…it's a gamble when one decides to stop reading (or not)!
Hillsy says
Where's the category of "Obsessive's who feel that, somehow, should they leave a book unfinished the world will implode a few seconds before the universe follows suit"?
I've read through some dog awful books. Hell, I got 6 books into the Terry Goodkind series before I gave up. It's quite hard to read through tears.
L.G.Smith says
Nope, won't finish the book if it's not for me. I'll pass it on to someone else who might have a use for it.
But a book I love I will read over and over and over.
word verification: unalitical
Maybe that's the term for someone who doesn't finish novels. Or a skimmer. LOL
Kevin says
My girlfriend always powers through, and I shake my head in wonder. She'll spend every day complaining about a book she's reading, and then finish it in the same speed as her favorites.
Mr. D says
I can't read a book that doesn't interest me. I'm pretty clear on that by page five.
Anna says
How bad is the book? And how long is it? I usually power through, but I also read on average 8-10 books at a time, so it may take a reeaaaaallllllllly long time to finish a book that I don't enjoy.
Heidi says
I used to power through everything, but now I stop. There are too many excellent books out there for me to waste time on the ones I don't enjoy. Occasionally I'll skim through the ending, though.
Sherri says
I'm the same as you, Nathan. I used to read all the way to the end, no matter what. Now when I realize I'm avoiding picking it back up, I call it quits. I sometimes still power through and you know what? I usually regret it.
Matt Uhrich says
I used to power through, but then I started reading ebooks. Now I have a list of five-dozen books (many of them I'm really looking forward to) staring me in the face. And I can be reading one of them with just a couple of button presses. I tell myself, "I'll just take a look at another book to see how it starts," then four books later I realize I'm never going back to the one I quit on.
Shanella says
I generally continue reading. For example, there was this trilogy that I thought had a lot of potential – after reading the first book – but by the middle of the second book things started getting weird, but I kept reading. The last book, it got to a point where I was just looking for dialogue and skimming the rest. But I couldn't stop reading because I kept HOPING that it would get better.
Most of the times that's what I end up doing.
Chuck H. says
When I was a young man I would read anything–cereal boxes, labels on cans, The Wall Street Journal–you know. And I have been sent places by our benevolent government where reading was just about the only form of entertainment and certainly the safest. However, I'm old now and realize that there are only so many precious years, months, days, hours, seconds and pico-seconds left and, if one subtracts the time that MUST be allotted to riding motorcycles, the time left is shorter yet. I don't have time to read crap, so, yes, I stop and, for that I do not apologizde.
Courtney Odell says
I used to give up, but in the last few years, I've become a power through-er. I think it was in Stephen King's ON WRITING that it was said all writers learn more about their craft through reading and sometimes you learn more from bad writing than good (not an actual quote). When I find myself disinterested I switch modes from reading for enjoyment to reading for learning.
Subcreator says
It really depends, for me, on the book and also on the extent of the problems with the book. If I'm trying to learn something from the book, I'll keep going. For instance, as an aspiring fantasy novelist, I am pushing myself to read more material in my genre to become more familiar with it. I'm currently reading the second book of the Malazan Book of the Fallen series and not enjoying it at all, but I'm going to finish it, because it's part of my fantasy education.
Rick Daley says
I usually power through them. If I'm particularly leery about a read I don't start.
Najela says
I typically just put the book down and come to it later and usually that does the trick. There's only a few books that I powered through that weren't very good to me.
josephinemyles.com says
I'll power on through a short story that doesn't agree with me in the hope of learning what not to do in my own writing, but life is way too short to carry on with a poorly written novel.
I did once or twice for a book group I was in, but I resented every minute that I wasted on those novels.
Rebecca says
If I like a book, chances are I will devour it in 48 hours or less. If it doesn't grab me, I put it back on the shelf and forget it for several months. I've found that there's rarely an in-between!
Stephanie McGee says
If by the end of chapter 1 or 2 I can't care about the characters enough to care whether things work out in their favor, I stop. There are too many books in my TBR pile to waste time on a character I can't care about.
Elizabeth says
I stop. There are too many books I want to read to waste my time on ones I'm not enjoying. Though I might finish a book that annoys me if there are parts of it that I like.
Sometimes I just stop, sometimes I flip to the end (once I read the last chapter, then the next to last, then the one before that, then large chunks until I'd read most of the book in reverse), sometimes I stop with less than a quarter of the book to go, sometimes the book just gets set aside for a day and I somehow never get around to picking it up again.
Kat says
I usually try to finish a book in one sitting, which would mean that it's good and I can't put it down. But if it takes me longer than that, well, that means the book isn't really to my liking and I stop. I will give it a second chance but if it's the same, then I totally set it aside and move on.
Fenris says
I voted as one who powers through, but admittedly I have stopped reading books before. Typically those were books that I felt absolutely no inclination to keep reading.
The ironic thing is that I went back and finished at least 50% of them years later. "OUTLIERS" was really good…maybe the reason I didn't read it at the time was because it was for class, and class took a backseat back then. Yeah. My priorities needed a little readjusting.
S.P. Bowers says
I used to keep reading. Now I stop. Sometimes. I often keep reading just because I want to figure out what they did to get published. Even "bad" books have something I can learn. Sometimes they are too much for me though.