Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Boring Books

For the longest time I've had the impulse to finish whatever book I started, no matter how boring or terrible it was.

I read a post somewhere on the internet discussing this and it got me thinking about why I did this.

A friend told me, "Why waste your time reading an awful book when there are some great books out there waiting to be read. Life is too short to read rubbish." Okay, that wasn't verbatim, but you get the point.

My to-be-read pile is getting out of control. I wanted to join many of the book challenges but wasn't sure I could keep up since I wanted to finish every book I've started. I joined Goodreads and have realized that a good many people abandon books if they get bored or if something is off, etc.

Something clicked for me last year and I decided to not torture myself by reading a book that I didn't like. I give some books a chance, but if I don't see any redeeming qualities while reading, then I'll abandon the book.

This is why I want to ensure that what I write will keep my future readers interested because I don't want my books abandoned, left in the cold, and begging for attention. Okay, that was a bit dramatic but you get the point. ;-)

So, what do you think? Do you continue reading a book even if you don't like it or do you put it down?

5 comments:

Charles Gramlich said...

very very rarely do I put it down. However, I will allow myself to scan the rest of the book after I lose interest, if not actually stop reading it. I'm reading one like that now.

Tiyana Marie said...

Oh! You're on Goodreads? I must find you!

To answer your question, heh, sometimes I will put books down after getting a few hundred pages in. I try to come back to them, eventually, so I can say I finished it, heh. Though, some I just have to abandon altogether (but that's rare).

Sometimes I just get distracted by new arrivals, and if the current story I'm reading is lackluster, then the shiny new book usually wins out, lol.

LoveRundle said...

I agree. I use to think like that too, but now if a book is boring, I stop reading it. My TBR pile is crazy too. I think I own a few 1,000 novels.

Tyhitia Green said...

Charles,
I use to finish every book that I've started, but I have now put down at least one book that was not worth finishing. I have skimmed one as well.

Tiyana,
The book has to be awful for me to put it down.

Christina,
I had to stop thinking like that too because I have lots of books on my TBR as well. :-D

laughingwolf said...

lost count of the number of 'books' i've thrown out... most given to me, so not a big deal, moneywise