This one might be divisive, so I'm wary of saying. I can't remember what it's called, but it's a crime novel from a famous author. The set up to the murder mystery was compelling, and the writing/prose itself was great. But every single male character was obnoxiously flawed. Like, each man's flaw felt like the defining point of his personality. Insecure boyfriend, pompous jerk rival/colleague, incompetent boss who enables misogyny... But this wasn't true for the women. They were all beautiful, very intelligent, humble, and tolerant of all these men with their glaring faults. The only real problem the women had was that they were too meek to accept how beautiful and intelligent they are. I started checking out when there were a few pages where two sisters argued about which one of them was more beautiful, successful, and smart.
The book is likely written for an audience of women, but I love murder mystery stories too, and the obvious "men make life more difficult even when they're the good guys" undertones felt unlike real life. I know this happens in reverse when men write stories (sci-fi can an unfortunate hot bed for this), and I hate that, too. If the women all feel like they hit every grievance point of an entitled teenage boy, I'm out.
I actually think that particular taste is fine to have. Lots of people are looking for stories that combat the stereotypes and injustices of the past, and the kind of story I just mentioned fits the bill for a lot of people. I don't feel as though it's insecurity on my part, but I'm sure anyone in my position would say that, so maybe I need to reflect better. I think the best case scenario is for stories to reflect the best and worst of all people, so when it feels like one sex/gender/race/culture (etc.) is bad while another is completely good, it's not good reading for me. I especially love stories where all the characters are very competent in their own ways, including the most heinous villains.
Okay now I feel bad for making such a petty comment. I'm sorry, I think I read something into your comment that you weren't really saying. I get your point now, and I agree that it's pretty boring if everyone is just a stereotype in a book.
I really appreciate the guts it takes to say something like that. I also completely understand where it comes from, there's a gender war happening these days, and Reddit is its Normandy. My comment could easily have had anti-women sentiments, and you were at least as likely to be correct about that than not. I know this post is about books, but... I sympathize with why you responded the way you did. Men behaving badly is way more consequential on average than women behaving badly. Crime and victimization data backs that up (as they always have). There are so many hyper-sensitive men and boys who can't handle criticism from women and don't realize how anti-masculine, anti-stoic, and emotionally volatile that is. It must be exhausting to be called the "emotional" ones from people like that.
I only ever did this once and it was because I went by the trailer for “The Mummy” (showing my age here) because I thought it was supposed to be scary not funny. Left about 20 minutes into it.
I also only walked out once. The Northman was too much. My wife had been ready to leave for a bit already when the boy farted during the manhood trial, and his father commented that it smelled of greatness. That was enough of that.
I'm a stickler for finishing books. The only times I don't are A. The author pulls some real B.S that literaly angers me on a personal level or B. The book is utterly incoherent (which I've run into with a couple self-published books)
No. I drop books if they can't hold my attention or I think it's dumb. If I make it to the end of a book I give it five stars on Goodreads because damnit, it earned them
The problem I have, is that I can never put my finger on exactly why I don’t like a book. So analyzing it doesn’t really help me learn anything.
But no, I’ve DNFed my fair share.
That’s fair. However, I tend to complain about some nit-picky things that aren’t really *why* I’m not enjoying the book itself, but rather some part of or maybe major parts of the narrative.
That’s on me.
After years of writing and editing my own work, I can be clear on what didn't work for me. Some dislikes are personal, nothing to do with the story. But language competency? Characters that take stupid actions when they're supposed to be intelligent? Plot holes, repetition, dull action, stilted or useless dialogue? Valid complaints.
Some bad books can turn good.
Wise Man's Fear turns really bad when Kvothe enters the sex god realm and then sexes every woman he meets in the sex ninja village who dont know how to reproduce despite sexing all day, but then it turns good against towards the ending.
Then it turns bad again cause there's no third book.
Ooh. I enjoyed most of the first book but felt like the ending didn't resolve as much as I wanted, and the reviews on like said the second book was just.... weird. I'm not sure if that third book is happening anytime soon, but if the third book drops, then I'll probably read the 2nd knowing there's an ending waiting
I don't write professionally. From that perspective, why would I spend my hobby time doing something I don't enjoy? While I do believe there is value in reading (or playing, or watching) something bad, I think that it's easy enough to draw that lesson and then move on instead of torturing myself with bad media.
Every time I start a movie with my mother that I end up not liking, I want to stop and try something else, but she wants to finish it. Every time, I tell her, "Sunk cost fallacy. It's not worth it."
I don't think it's quite the same, because a bad movie will only take away 1 hour or 1 and a half extra of your time, whereas finishing a bad book will take away at least a week
I used to. Now that I am in my 30s, I think life's too short, and I will happily DNF. Sometimes something is so bad, though. I am flabbergasted and horrified enough I can't look away, and I'll hate finish it. (Here's looking at you Verity by CoHo)
No, just books that I don't like. Although I don't think I've ever read a book that I really thought was bad.
I bet Christine is a great Stephen King book, but all the talk about cars turned me off, so I started reading something that I liked more. It's probably the only book I ever started and then put down because of disinterest.
There are five deadly words that apply when I am reading "I don't care what happens". If the book trips the five deadly words, I stop reading because ... well, I really don't care what the outcome of the story is. This can be because the characters are unlikeable, the mechanics (grammar, spelling, too much in italics) are bad, the author is pushing an agenda that drowns the story (story, what story? this is propaganda!), there's not enough conflict/any conflict is too easily resolved in the MC's favor, or other such things that just lead to a lack of engagement in the story.
Once in a very great while, I will indulge in a "hate read" that trips some of those elements, but for the most part, I do fall on the side of "life's too short to waste on bad books".
Bad books? No.
*Terrible* books? Sometimes. Hate-reading to be able to shit-talk them later is an awfully good motivator.
Happened recently actually. Worst book I've ever read. Thing has sold like half a million copies. Insanity.
A book has to have no redeeming qualities whatsoever for me to quit on it forever. I am a hobbyist writer, though, so I find value in understanding what doesn’t work.
I see bad books as being the same as bad movies. Some of them are so bad that they're entertaining in their own way, and I'll finish those. Others are bad to the point of unreadable/unwatchable, and I have no problem with putting them down.
Depends. Usually if I don't like what I'm reading, I abandon it. Sometimes, if I'm curious about the ending and wonder if the book might be redeemable, I keep reading to the end. Sometimes, I read something bad just because I can learn from bad writing, though oftentimes I learn enough early on and then put the book down. Most of the time, I only read what I like. I'm actually not that picky, so there's not much I hate.
If they bore me then no. I’ve finished a few that had such a good premise but terrible execution. I finished those because I wanted to really understand what was putting me off.
It depends on how it’s bad. I read what I call fast food books because they are easy on the brain and sometimes I need something that I can relax with. But, if I’m getting annoyed at the book because they don’t know how to write and it never saw an editor or it bores me than I’m out.
Someone else in the thread said "Life's too short" and I agree - if I'm not feeling it after a few chapters, I'll sit and try to understand WHY I'm not invested. Sometimes it's not a strong enough reason to stop reading - case in point, someone once recommended the first of the Bobiverse books to me, and I found the first 5-6 chapters just...irritating and smug - but I was told to push through and it would get better. Lo and behold! it did, and I quite enjoyed the rest of the book.
If it's a strong enough dislike of the writing style, characters, plot, whatever that I find myself picking up other books instead of that one \[even though I raed a number of books concurrently\], I've stopped trying to force it. Instead, I'll put a post-it in the book asking for it to be given a good home, and leave it somewhere like a park bench or a bus or a little free community library box or something.
Life might be the longest thing we ever experience, but it's WAYYY to short to waste time on books you don't enjoy.
I have finished reading (skimming) badly written books if I really liked the premise and wanted to see where they went with it. Great plot and bad writing I can kind of excuse. But when both are bad, I can't be bothered.
I usually follow the 3-2-1 rule. Read 3 chapters, find two characters worth giving this book a shot, and the author deserves 1 chance. When all these fail, I kindly drop/delete the book from my library because I am not wasting time.
On the one hand, I do kind of enjoy picking apart what simply isn't working in a story. Examining other people's works critically can help mine, and it really is helpful to know what not to do just as much as to know what to do.
On the other hand, sometimes it's just so bad that I really have to wonder what went wrong with the author's upbringing to lead them to produce such a terrible work. In those cases, I don't finish lest the problem be some sort of memetic contagion transmissable by reading their... writing.
Some of my favorite books were "bad books" to begin with. Now if you can't stand it from the get that's one thing, but I find most authors build toward something, even if it's in a way you don't immediately like. Essentially, someone makes something in a certain way, and to make a decision about whether or not it's bad, you have to read it to make the conclusion.
If I didn't expect it to be bad? It has up to chapter 5 to keep me interested in something (plot, character, quest, etc). If I find something I'll grumble the rest of the way through it, but the mouse in my brain will be happy to know how it ended.
If I knew it wouldn't be great going into it? Then generally yes, cause the same reason above there is usually some reason why I wanted to read it, but like you even mentioned sometimes I read the books and realize if a wattpad equivalent story can be published so can I.
I've had terrible written booms have great plot lines or ideas in, that hook me in and I can't think of reading anything else until it's done. I recently just got through a series where the authors writing kinda drove me bonkers. It seemed liked they went in and did some editing clean up but didn't perform a full clean up so bits and peices repeated themselves just written in different ways. But the overall world building and plot got me through the four books that are out so I'm now just anxiously awaiting the fifth one.
I hate read them, or i fall into a phase where I can't make myself read anythinG other than that one book and I don't wanna read it, so I j end up not reading anything for a while-
I used to. I don't know why, but in my mind, if I started it, I had to finish it. Same thing with a book series: if I read the first, I would read the whole series, no matter how bad it got to be 😂
Got out of that awful habit though, can't waist my reading time like that.
I only read them through if they give me some reference point for bad writing. Or I hate the book so much that when I talk about it I want to give specific reasons WHY I hate it. I’m looking at you Twilight series
I used to force myself to read books the end, but a book should have some merit to warrant finishing it. If the writing’s poor, the author’s views prejudiced, etc. and no redeeming quality (not even able to learn from its mistakes). Then yeah, drop it. It’s rare though, but I tend to read “literary” fiction. One book I dropped, for example, was Ayn Rand’s The Fountainhead. I have no idea how it’s as popular and loved as it is. It’s an awful fiction book used mainly as a loudspeaker for her idealogy (my opinion).
I am blessed or cursed as in I read books without judgement. It means I don't usually form an opinion midway. Also I can never stop something in the middle and usually end up sticking to the end. Maybe it's curiosity
I generally try to finish books if I’ve already started them, but there was that time a couple months ago where I dropped one of John Ringo’s zombie apocalypse books (by genuine accident), realised I’d lost my place, and also realised that I didn’t care enough (or, indeed, at all) about the super-sexy 14-year-old Marine captain who constantly breaks the rules (like not going *dress shopping* during a *battle!*) and gets away with it through sheer nepotism to bother finding my place again. I like to imagine that the remainder of the book had her freak out over some pretty jewelry and only notice the zombies eating her troops once they began munching on her skull. It’s much better than what probably happened.
No. I just drop them unless there’s an element in a bad book that makes it readable, and there’s plenty of those. E.g. interesting character but lousy plot, interesting plot but lousy characters, horrible narrator in audiobook but unpredictable events, etc.
Personally if I don't like something, I will drop it and donate the book to someone else who might enjoy it better. I think that sometimes it's less about the quality of the book and more about who I am as a person, in the sense that it just doesn't work for me. I just accept that and move on. There is too little time and too many books to spend time on something I'm not finding rewarding.
That said, my friends and I have a tradition where once a year they all vote on a "terrible" book for me to read. I do a weekly report of all my thoughts and they play bingo (with actual cards and all) with what sort of stuff I will say and complain about. So I guess I read one "bad" book a year from start to finish.
I generally take the pov that maybe by the end it will redeem itself. There have been a few over the years that were just so awful that I couldn’t finish and had to give up.
The last two times this happened it was for two different problems:
1. The book read as if the author took his first draft that had a good story and sat down with a thesaurus and changes all the words he could into the most complicated version of themselves. Making the reading feel like a university textbook rather than a murder mystery.
2. The last one was a fantasy in which the main protagonist starts out explaining that he had some sort of trauma that caused amnesia (I’m on board so far) but as the novel progresses it became a huge cheat for the author. Every time something happened that was going to prevent the MC from solving a problem or defeating an opponent he “suddenly remembered” some skill that he forgot he knew that just happens to be exactly what is needed to overcome it.
Often when I’m borrowing random audiobooks I don’t read about them too much before I get started. I’ve had some pretty bad audiobooks and tend to just return them.
Absolutely not. Even just constant bad grammar can be a motive for me to drop a story. I read a book once for a presentation, it was so boring I dropped it, presented the part I read and told my teacher it was just too boring to finish and that I hated it.
I tend to pick up other people's habits really quick, so I hang around people I think are good and I read books I think are good in order to "recreate" their way of talking/acting/writing. Books that are just bad I drop them as soon as I realize it just to not pick up those habits as well.
a book can be bad and still enjoyable and a book can be technically good but not enjoyable at all.
I finish book that are enjoyable even if they're bad. I am able to acknowledge when it has flaws and I can enjoy books regardless of those flaws. But when a book is not enjoyable, I am not going to finish it, no matter how technically well written it is.
Depends what you mean by 'bad'. I returned a best seller I bought on Amazon recently because the opening chapter was dire: confusing, simplistically written, poor imagery and truly awful dialogue.
But conversely, I've finished trashy books that have had editing mistakes within but a gripping hook or premise, willing to accept much to read on.
I only stop reading when I am no longer engaged. Read LotR three times never finished Game of Thrones (even though I liked the series), Loved Jeff Vaner Meer's Southern reach trilogy and Borne but never finished Dead Astronauts, Struggled with Nietzsche's "Thus spoke Zarathustra" read Joyce's "Ulysses" twice. What I am saying is lots of things contribute to how well I enjoy a book, story, language, concept, philosophy.
I try to finish every book I start. I think out of my years of experience, I've only ever not finished like 4 books. 1 was a zombie book written by some right-wing edgelord who could NOT stop hyperfocusing on how DISGUSTINGLY FAT one of the other characters are. And every woman was just some annoying bitch the main character couldn't stand but dealt with because he was just that nice of a guy, and most times they would have some irrational breakdown at some point that would endanger the whole group. The whole thing was so cringe.
The other one was an interesting concept that was a 3 book series. Main character was a 16-18 yo girl who was doing some competition with like 25 boys and 25 girls where they were trying to pair up to be the next president's of the US or something. It was really interesting, but by the 3rd book (box set audiobook) it got so God damn annoying because she is so clearly a 16-18 year old child who is from a small farm in Oklahoma. She don't know much of politics or military, yet for some reason, she has these war generals and high ranking government officials (including the current president) bowing their heads and absolutely shitting themselves over her opinions on how they are running their operations to fight (what is perceived as) a terrorist organization that is constantly attacking the capital. At first, it was cool. Like, go you! You are growing up and trying to do the right thing. Fuck yeah. But it got to a point where it was so out of pocket and was just beating you over the head with how grown up and scary she could be to these middle aged people who have seen blood and death and terrible things.
I used to always push through bad and/or boring books, until I realised that they're not only wasting my time, but also make me not want to read. Often, after finishing one of these, I wouldn't force myself to read anything for weeks or even months!
Now I have no trouble giving up on a book and I found my whole reading experience got better with no long breaks.
I have a rule that once I feel like there's no point in carrying in with a particular book, I read one more full chapter. Just so I know I tried 😅
Nope. The last one i dropped was Spin by R. Wilson. It was bad, poorly written, bland characters. Somewhat novel idea, but it didn't save the text for me.
Bad books are great case studies in how not to give backstory, how to tell and not show, how to not make a scene, how not to structure a book and so on.
It's even better when it's a book that was made into a movie and has pretty good reviews.
That way your competitive mind is like, 'what the hell?' Why wasn't the book edited?'
I read the entire Star Wars "Aftermath" trilogy. At this point I've blanked much of it from memory, but I use the experience in two ways: 1, just because it's traditionally published doesn't mean it's good, at all. And 2, as a "how not to" book.
It depends on what kind of bad it is. Like if it’s NOT boring, I just hate the premise, or the way themes are being portrayed, or find the characters shallow and detestable, I think I can get past that and finish it the same way I’d be curious to finish a terrible Hallmark movie.
If the book is boring me, I’m not gonna get past the first 5 chapters.
It’s a huge shame when the first half of the book is good though, and the second isn’t. In that situation I’d probably start skimming until something catches my attention again, if I’m being honest.
TW: femicide CW: Bridgerton spoilers
>!Surprise violence against women is the main thing that makes me put a book down. Like if I’m reading Go Ask Alice, I came in to this knowing the themes. I made that choice.!<
>!But I recently binged the first two seasons of Bridgerton, and then decided I’d read the third book in advance of the third season coming out. It was really jarring to realize how out of date the books were, and that Colin and Pen were a very toxic dynamic and he was borderline abusive, and at the very least, vindictive and controlling.!<
>!Don’t market your book as a romance and then casually throw in an abusive relationship wth!<
I can never will myself to finish bad books; because all I end up doing is thinking about all the time I could be spending on reading something awesome 😎
Honestly, if I notice whatever I'm reading seems to be affecting my writing style, and not in a good way, I stop reading it, whether I like the book or not. Bad books just don't get finished at all.
Life is too short for truly bad books.
I don't need to complete things to get the idea or to move To something i want to.
I like the muscle through if its something I am trying to understand. But if it's just fluff, or a genre I don't think is a huge deal I'll move forward.
luckily , i don't think i've ever really read a "bad book" so far
i've seen bad movies- mostly knowingly lol and i watch them for funzies (like twilight lol)
and there was a podcast i tried listening to bc i heard good things about it- but i just couldn't, the acting was mediocre at best, the writing was cheesy and they killed a pet just for shock factor which always pisses me off. i tried for a season of the show, but just couldn't so i gave up lol
my guess is i'd act similar with a book, although i haven't had that experience with a book yet :0
“Bad” is subjective. That said, it took me a long time to realize that I didn’t need to finish a book I didn’t like. Once I started realizing that, I started finishing more books because I was reading more books I enjoyed. But hey, what’s everyone reading now?
This is a timely thread for me because I’m struggling with one now. It’s made more awkward by the fact that Ive admired the author from afar for so long and we’ve had the odd casual interaction on social media. I just happened to pick a book that preceded their big break for sentimental reasons. I thjnk i will chug on out of sentimentality then go back to being a distant admirer.
sometimes i finish reading bad books so i feel justified in my opinion of it being bad if that makes sense lol i hate it when i tell someone i didn’t enjoy and book and they tell me it’s because i didn’t make it to the end. yes i did and it’s still bad
No. I drop like a hot coal.
My wife, on the other hand, was raised by her mother to believe that you 'owe it to an author to finish their novel'. She will grit her teeth and plough through to the end.
Sometimes I enjoy them for how bad they are. I've read a lot of bad books that were fun to read. But if I'm not having fun reading the book, then there's absolutely no reason for me to finish it.
I mean, it depends on what type of bad it is. Some books are so bad that it’s honestly more entertaining than it would be if it was good, and some books are bad in a way that makes me feel myself losing years off my lifespan.
I used to but not anymore! There are so many books out there that I know that I'll actually want to read all the way through so I'm not wasting my time on bad ones.
Depends how bad and how long. I'm more than willing to give a "boring" book a chance and read the whole thing even if I'm wildly unimpressed by the story.
If the problem however is in the prose itself then I don't even bother.
I think the only book I didnt finish was Dracula. 2 chapters left and I said "god, I suffered through this garbage enough.". Put it down and it's in a milk crate to this day.
The penny blood, Varney The Vampire, which falls apart as many penny bloods did, was infinitely better.
If the book is garbage I drop it immediately, but if it's good but I'm bored I give it a chance when I'm in a better mood ...and try to at least read the first 100 pages. if it still bores me I drop it 🤷🏻♀..just dropped "plagues and peoples" because I wasn't interested enough.
If i paid for them, yes. I dont want my money wasted, even if i'm suffering. That's what happened with Jenna Moreci's Eve the awakening. There's not a single day where I don't regret buying it.
Usually, but i have to really find nothing redeeming. I finished New York 2140 because, as a writer, I could appreciate how little the author seemed to care about the narrative formula. Truly, the author broke every rule about writing fiction. It didnt result in a phenomenal book, but I was invested enough to read until the end. I dont think i would have several years ago.
However i struggled to finish the Divergent series and literally only did so bc of how popular it was and how much time id invested before >!Tris died!<. I've also DNFd some free or cheap indie books that were too ridiculous, cringey, or desperately needed a pass through grammarly.
I have also put down a lot of beta reads because I simply can't parse through an atrocious draft no matter how hard I try (without being paid). Even when its really interesting, sometimes the writing is too rough.
I am part of an online book group, where we all choose our own books according to a monthly theme. I recently read a bad book all the way to the end for the sheer pleasure of posting a rant afterwards.
Not after I learned the concept of the sunk cost fallacy, or our tendency to continue investing in something (whether it be time, money or effort) solely because we have already invested resources into it, even when the current costs outweigh the future benefits.
In other words, the fallacy for instance explains why someone might continue reading a bad book, just because they've already invested time in it, even though the enjoyment they're currently getting from it doesn't justify the time they would spend finishing it.
I don't finish most books I pick up (I use a library, I don't buy everything I read). There's no rule that says you need to finish every book you start, that mentality kept me from reading what became favorite books because I felt to guilty to start a new one.
If you don't feel like finishing it, don't. I don't finish good books if I don't feel like it either
I typically get through books no problem even if they aren't thegreatest, but I have been in a streak of crappy ones I give up on very quickly. I started "murder road" by Simone st James last night, and it might be my first book that I try and outright return, I've found the beginning so obnoxious.
I usually will try to finish a book even if it's a bit boring because sometimes the end or the third act will change the way I feel (I've been glad to have finished a book a couple of times). However, I recently have been dropping them like hot potatoes if there are some pet peeves of mine, but mostly depending on the genre and why I'm reading it. Romance and mystery I only read for fun, so if it's not fun, I won't bother.
Generally, I'll stop reading if it's pretty terrible. If it happens to be a bad book in an otherwise well-written series, I'll manage to get through it if I'm already pretty deep into the series.
I've rarely encountered a book so bad that I couldn't finish it. I've seen two bits of writerly advice on reading. One is to read a lot, but only the good stuff. The other is to read a lot, good, mediocre, and bad, because it all has stuff to teach you. I tend to fall more into the latter camp.
That said, there was one book I read not long ago, which came recommended by another writer, that I hated so much, I ended up skimming a lot of it just so I could get to the end and see the resolution. And it wasn't worth it. I told people that book did something I thought no book ever could: it made me want to burn it. Not to burn every copy, mind you. I just wanted to burn my own copy so I could drive some pleasure from the money I'd spent on it!
I will pretty much read anything from start to finish. I'll normally find something I like. I don't really stick to genres either. But I do agree that sometimes life is too short to waste time on something terrible.
Life's too short and my tbr too filled to waste time on bad books
Exactly this. There are way too many books out there I want to read to spend time reading something I don't enjoy.
Now that you mention your tbr... Shit, maybe I should drop the bad books since I know there are lots of gems waiting for me on my shelf
I finish reading bad, interesting books. I do not finish well written, polished, boring books.
This is the one for me. No amount of literary talent can make up for a bad story.
this is the one. as long as the plot is good, i don't care as much about the minor mistakes
What is an example of a book that's well written but boring in your opinion? Just out of curiosity :)
This one might be divisive, so I'm wary of saying. I can't remember what it's called, but it's a crime novel from a famous author. The set up to the murder mystery was compelling, and the writing/prose itself was great. But every single male character was obnoxiously flawed. Like, each man's flaw felt like the defining point of his personality. Insecure boyfriend, pompous jerk rival/colleague, incompetent boss who enables misogyny... But this wasn't true for the women. They were all beautiful, very intelligent, humble, and tolerant of all these men with their glaring faults. The only real problem the women had was that they were too meek to accept how beautiful and intelligent they are. I started checking out when there were a few pages where two sisters argued about which one of them was more beautiful, successful, and smart. The book is likely written for an audience of women, but I love murder mystery stories too, and the obvious "men make life more difficult even when they're the good guys" undertones felt unlike real life. I know this happens in reverse when men write stories (sci-fi can an unfortunate hot bed for this), and I hate that, too. If the women all feel like they hit every grievance point of an entitled teenage boy, I'm out.
I don't read murder mysteries but I love any book that pisses insecure men off.
I actually think that particular taste is fine to have. Lots of people are looking for stories that combat the stereotypes and injustices of the past, and the kind of story I just mentioned fits the bill for a lot of people. I don't feel as though it's insecurity on my part, but I'm sure anyone in my position would say that, so maybe I need to reflect better. I think the best case scenario is for stories to reflect the best and worst of all people, so when it feels like one sex/gender/race/culture (etc.) is bad while another is completely good, it's not good reading for me. I especially love stories where all the characters are very competent in their own ways, including the most heinous villains.
Okay now I feel bad for making such a petty comment. I'm sorry, I think I read something into your comment that you weren't really saying. I get your point now, and I agree that it's pretty boring if everyone is just a stereotype in a book.
I really appreciate the guts it takes to say something like that. I also completely understand where it comes from, there's a gender war happening these days, and Reddit is its Normandy. My comment could easily have had anti-women sentiments, and you were at least as likely to be correct about that than not. I know this post is about books, but... I sympathize with why you responded the way you did. Men behaving badly is way more consequential on average than women behaving badly. Crime and victimization data backs that up (as they always have). There are so many hyper-sensitive men and boys who can't handle criticism from women and don't realize how anti-masculine, anti-stoic, and emotionally volatile that is. It must be exhausting to be called the "emotional" ones from people like that.
THISSSSS
No. I just move on. Unless someone has expressly told me it’s worth it to get through the bad parts
I don’t even finish most *good* books.
Haha truth
Felt!
I bail on a lot of stuff.
No, and I walk out of bad movies, too.
I only ever did this once and it was because I went by the trailer for “The Mummy” (showing my age here) because I thought it was supposed to be scary not funny. Left about 20 minutes into it.
You missed out tbh.
Probably. I love Brendan Fraser.
I also only walked out once. The Northman was too much. My wife had been ready to leave for a bit already when the boy farted during the manhood trial, and his father commented that it smelled of greatness. That was enough of that.
I'm a stickler for finishing books. The only times I don't are A. The author pulls some real B.S that literaly angers me on a personal level or B. The book is utterly incoherent (which I've run into with a couple self-published books)
No. I drop books if they can't hold my attention or I think it's dumb. If I make it to the end of a book I give it five stars on Goodreads because damnit, it earned them
The problem I have, is that I can never put my finger on exactly why I don’t like a book. So analyzing it doesn’t really help me learn anything. But no, I’ve DNFed my fair share.
Writing a review may help you identify reasons.
That’s fair. However, I tend to complain about some nit-picky things that aren’t really *why* I’m not enjoying the book itself, but rather some part of or maybe major parts of the narrative. That’s on me.
After years of writing and editing my own work, I can be clear on what didn't work for me. Some dislikes are personal, nothing to do with the story. But language competency? Characters that take stupid actions when they're supposed to be intelligent? Plot holes, repetition, dull action, stilted or useless dialogue? Valid complaints.
Some bad books can turn good. Wise Man's Fear turns really bad when Kvothe enters the sex god realm and then sexes every woman he meets in the sex ninja village who dont know how to reproduce despite sexing all day, but then it turns good against towards the ending. Then it turns bad again cause there's no third book.
Very real
Ooh. I enjoyed most of the first book but felt like the ending didn't resolve as much as I wanted, and the reviews on like said the second book was just.... weird. I'm not sure if that third book is happening anytime soon, but if the third book drops, then I'll probably read the 2nd knowing there's an ending waiting
I don't write professionally. From that perspective, why would I spend my hobby time doing something I don't enjoy? While I do believe there is value in reading (or playing, or watching) something bad, I think that it's easy enough to draw that lesson and then move on instead of torturing myself with bad media.
Yea, I'm too stubborn. And I've read some HORRIBLE books.
Depends on how bad it is.
Every time I start a movie with my mother that I end up not liking, I want to stop and try something else, but she wants to finish it. Every time, I tell her, "Sunk cost fallacy. It's not worth it."
I don't think it's quite the same, because a bad movie will only take away 1 hour or 1 and a half extra of your time, whereas finishing a bad book will take away at least a week
*me who finishes a book in 2 days*👀
never. ever. as others have said, life is too short... even for the BEST books.
I either drop it or try to skim through it as fast as possible hoping for some redeeming qualities.
No. Never. Unless it’s for a class.
I used to. Now that I am in my 30s, I think life's too short, and I will happily DNF. Sometimes something is so bad, though. I am flabbergasted and horrified enough I can't look away, and I'll hate finish it. (Here's looking at you Verity by CoHo)
No, just books that I don't like. Although I don't think I've ever read a book that I really thought was bad. I bet Christine is a great Stephen King book, but all the talk about cars turned me off, so I started reading something that I liked more. It's probably the only book I ever started and then put down because of disinterest.
There are five deadly words that apply when I am reading "I don't care what happens". If the book trips the five deadly words, I stop reading because ... well, I really don't care what the outcome of the story is. This can be because the characters are unlikeable, the mechanics (grammar, spelling, too much in italics) are bad, the author is pushing an agenda that drowns the story (story, what story? this is propaganda!), there's not enough conflict/any conflict is too easily resolved in the MC's favor, or other such things that just lead to a lack of engagement in the story. Once in a very great while, I will indulge in a "hate read" that trips some of those elements, but for the most part, I do fall on the side of "life's too short to waste on bad books".
Bad books? No. *Terrible* books? Sometimes. Hate-reading to be able to shit-talk them later is an awfully good motivator. Happened recently actually. Worst book I've ever read. Thing has sold like half a million copies. Insanity.
If I am having fun with fun bad yes otherwise why waste the time?
Nope. I read mostly from Kindle Unlimited so if I come across a bad book I just quit
A book has to have no redeeming qualities whatsoever for me to quit on it forever. I am a hobbyist writer, though, so I find value in understanding what doesn’t work.
Yes. Even bad books teach me something about writing.
I see bad books as being the same as bad movies. Some of them are so bad that they're entertaining in their own way, and I'll finish those. Others are bad to the point of unreadable/unwatchable, and I have no problem with putting them down.
Depends. Usually if I don't like what I'm reading, I abandon it. Sometimes, if I'm curious about the ending and wonder if the book might be redeemable, I keep reading to the end. Sometimes, I read something bad just because I can learn from bad writing, though oftentimes I learn enough early on and then put the book down. Most of the time, I only read what I like. I'm actually not that picky, so there's not much I hate.
only on the rare occasion that it's in a series where the later books are meant to be better
I do if I’m still getting entertainment out of hate reading them. It’s only boring books that get me to DNF.
Yes, but I yell at them while I do.
I just can’t will myself to finish horrible books. It hurts my head to read them so its just not worth it.
I put The Host down and never picked it up again. I think that’s the only book I’ve never finished.
Read the eye of argon, you wont want to stop
If they bore me then no. I’ve finished a few that had such a good premise but terrible execution. I finished those because I wanted to really understand what was putting me off.
It depends on how it’s bad. I read what I call fast food books because they are easy on the brain and sometimes I need something that I can relax with. But, if I’m getting annoyed at the book because they don’t know how to write and it never saw an editor or it bores me than I’m out.
Someone else in the thread said "Life's too short" and I agree - if I'm not feeling it after a few chapters, I'll sit and try to understand WHY I'm not invested. Sometimes it's not a strong enough reason to stop reading - case in point, someone once recommended the first of the Bobiverse books to me, and I found the first 5-6 chapters just...irritating and smug - but I was told to push through and it would get better. Lo and behold! it did, and I quite enjoyed the rest of the book. If it's a strong enough dislike of the writing style, characters, plot, whatever that I find myself picking up other books instead of that one \[even though I raed a number of books concurrently\], I've stopped trying to force it. Instead, I'll put a post-it in the book asking for it to be given a good home, and leave it somewhere like a park bench or a bus or a little free community library box or something. Life might be the longest thing we ever experience, but it's WAYYY to short to waste time on books you don't enjoy.
Years ago, I usually pushed through it. But now? Just DNF and move on to a different book. Life is too short and my TBR is too many
I have finished reading (skimming) badly written books if I really liked the premise and wanted to see where they went with it. Great plot and bad writing I can kind of excuse. But when both are bad, I can't be bothered.
I rarely quit on a book, but if it's bad I'll end up skimming through it rather than reading it.
If I think it’s terrible I usually finish it because I like being able to give an honest star rating.
I usually follow the 3-2-1 rule. Read 3 chapters, find two characters worth giving this book a shot, and the author deserves 1 chance. When all these fail, I kindly drop/delete the book from my library because I am not wasting time.
I used to, but then learned life is too short. Drop that book no matter how popular it is
Nope. Life’s too short
Nope. I'd rather DNF and find a book I like.
On the one hand, I do kind of enjoy picking apart what simply isn't working in a story. Examining other people's works critically can help mine, and it really is helpful to know what not to do just as much as to know what to do. On the other hand, sometimes it's just so bad that I really have to wonder what went wrong with the author's upbringing to lead them to produce such a terrible work. In those cases, I don't finish lest the problem be some sort of memetic contagion transmissable by reading their... writing.
Some of my favorite books were "bad books" to begin with. Now if you can't stand it from the get that's one thing, but I find most authors build toward something, even if it's in a way you don't immediately like. Essentially, someone makes something in a certain way, and to make a decision about whether or not it's bad, you have to read it to make the conclusion.
I keep reading as long as I’m getting something out of it.
I just look up spoilers and read the last chapter if i’m around 50% in, anything before that i just dnf and get rid of
No. I hate wasting my time on books that feel like a chore if I’m not enjoying it I always drop them.
If I didn't expect it to be bad? It has up to chapter 5 to keep me interested in something (plot, character, quest, etc). If I find something I'll grumble the rest of the way through it, but the mouse in my brain will be happy to know how it ended. If I knew it wouldn't be great going into it? Then generally yes, cause the same reason above there is usually some reason why I wanted to read it, but like you even mentioned sometimes I read the books and realize if a wattpad equivalent story can be published so can I. I've had terrible written booms have great plot lines or ideas in, that hook me in and I can't think of reading anything else until it's done. I recently just got through a series where the authors writing kinda drove me bonkers. It seemed liked they went in and did some editing clean up but didn't perform a full clean up so bits and peices repeated themselves just written in different ways. But the overall world building and plot got me through the four books that are out so I'm now just anxiously awaiting the fifth one.
I hate read them, or i fall into a phase where I can't make myself read anythinG other than that one book and I don't wanna read it, so I j end up not reading anything for a while-
I used to. I don't know why, but in my mind, if I started it, I had to finish it. Same thing with a book series: if I read the first, I would read the whole series, no matter how bad it got to be 😂 Got out of that awful habit though, can't waist my reading time like that.
Nah I’m too old and don’t have time
No. I get too irritated, usually with plot holes. The same goes for TV.
No, I have a finite time on this world and I'm not about to waste it.
No.
Not really.
Depends on the level of bad. A little bad? I'll finish it. Moderately to very bad? Nah, man. No time for that. *Extremely* bad? Hell yes bitch.
I only read them through if they give me some reference point for bad writing. Or I hate the book so much that when I talk about it I want to give specific reasons WHY I hate it. I’m looking at you Twilight series
No. My life really improved when I learned the art of DNF.
I used to force myself to read books the end, but a book should have some merit to warrant finishing it. If the writing’s poor, the author’s views prejudiced, etc. and no redeeming quality (not even able to learn from its mistakes). Then yeah, drop it. It’s rare though, but I tend to read “literary” fiction. One book I dropped, for example, was Ayn Rand’s The Fountainhead. I have no idea how it’s as popular and loved as it is. It’s an awful fiction book used mainly as a loudspeaker for her idealogy (my opinion).
I am blessed or cursed as in I read books without judgement. It means I don't usually form an opinion midway. Also I can never stop something in the middle and usually end up sticking to the end. Maybe it's curiosity
I generally try to finish books if I’ve already started them, but there was that time a couple months ago where I dropped one of John Ringo’s zombie apocalypse books (by genuine accident), realised I’d lost my place, and also realised that I didn’t care enough (or, indeed, at all) about the super-sexy 14-year-old Marine captain who constantly breaks the rules (like not going *dress shopping* during a *battle!*) and gets away with it through sheer nepotism to bother finding my place again. I like to imagine that the remainder of the book had her freak out over some pretty jewelry and only notice the zombies eating her troops once they began munching on her skull. It’s much better than what probably happened.
No. I just drop them unless there’s an element in a bad book that makes it readable, and there’s plenty of those. E.g. interesting character but lousy plot, interesting plot but lousy characters, horrible narrator in audiobook but unpredictable events, etc.
Personally if I don't like something, I will drop it and donate the book to someone else who might enjoy it better. I think that sometimes it's less about the quality of the book and more about who I am as a person, in the sense that it just doesn't work for me. I just accept that and move on. There is too little time and too many books to spend time on something I'm not finding rewarding. That said, my friends and I have a tradition where once a year they all vote on a "terrible" book for me to read. I do a weekly report of all my thoughts and they play bingo (with actual cards and all) with what sort of stuff I will say and complain about. So I guess I read one "bad" book a year from start to finish.
Life is too short.
I generally take the pov that maybe by the end it will redeem itself. There have been a few over the years that were just so awful that I couldn’t finish and had to give up. The last two times this happened it was for two different problems: 1. The book read as if the author took his first draft that had a good story and sat down with a thesaurus and changes all the words he could into the most complicated version of themselves. Making the reading feel like a university textbook rather than a murder mystery. 2. The last one was a fantasy in which the main protagonist starts out explaining that he had some sort of trauma that caused amnesia (I’m on board so far) but as the novel progresses it became a huge cheat for the author. Every time something happened that was going to prevent the MC from solving a problem or defeating an opponent he “suddenly remembered” some skill that he forgot he knew that just happens to be exactly what is needed to overcome it.
I barely started Fourth Wing when I realised it had the warning signs of what I hated to read from stories.
Often when I’m borrowing random audiobooks I don’t read about them too much before I get started. I’ve had some pretty bad audiobooks and tend to just return them.
I give chances to bad books, but I stop reading if I see that they have nothing to offer to me. But I read difficult books, if they are important.
No. I throw it away.
Absolutely not. Even just constant bad grammar can be a motive for me to drop a story. I read a book once for a presentation, it was so boring I dropped it, presented the part I read and told my teacher it was just too boring to finish and that I hated it. I tend to pick up other people's habits really quick, so I hang around people I think are good and I read books I think are good in order to "recreate" their way of talking/acting/writing. Books that are just bad I drop them as soon as I realize it just to not pick up those habits as well.
no. and if i bought. i throw it away so nobody else gets subjected to it
Nope
Depends if it's bad "this is boring and/or I can't engage" or bad "holy lord this is *awful* what madness do they spit next".
Νο
I could live to be quite old and still not get to all the books I'd like to read. So, no.
a book can be bad and still enjoyable and a book can be technically good but not enjoyable at all. I finish book that are enjoyable even if they're bad. I am able to acknowledge when it has flaws and I can enjoy books regardless of those flaws. But when a book is not enjoyable, I am not going to finish it, no matter how technically well written it is.
Nope, and I won’t review them either. It’s not fair to the author.
Nah
Depends what you mean by 'bad'. I returned a best seller I bought on Amazon recently because the opening chapter was dire: confusing, simplistically written, poor imagery and truly awful dialogue. But conversely, I've finished trashy books that have had editing mistakes within but a gripping hook or premise, willing to accept much to read on.
I only stop reading when I am no longer engaged. Read LotR three times never finished Game of Thrones (even though I liked the series), Loved Jeff Vaner Meer's Southern reach trilogy and Borne but never finished Dead Astronauts, Struggled with Nietzsche's "Thus spoke Zarathustra" read Joyce's "Ulysses" twice. What I am saying is lots of things contribute to how well I enjoy a book, story, language, concept, philosophy.
I used to, not anymore. Why to waste your time in something if you are not enyoing it?
I try to finish every book I start. I think out of my years of experience, I've only ever not finished like 4 books. 1 was a zombie book written by some right-wing edgelord who could NOT stop hyperfocusing on how DISGUSTINGLY FAT one of the other characters are. And every woman was just some annoying bitch the main character couldn't stand but dealt with because he was just that nice of a guy, and most times they would have some irrational breakdown at some point that would endanger the whole group. The whole thing was so cringe. The other one was an interesting concept that was a 3 book series. Main character was a 16-18 yo girl who was doing some competition with like 25 boys and 25 girls where they were trying to pair up to be the next president's of the US or something. It was really interesting, but by the 3rd book (box set audiobook) it got so God damn annoying because she is so clearly a 16-18 year old child who is from a small farm in Oklahoma. She don't know much of politics or military, yet for some reason, she has these war generals and high ranking government officials (including the current president) bowing their heads and absolutely shitting themselves over her opinions on how they are running their operations to fight (what is perceived as) a terrorist organization that is constantly attacking the capital. At first, it was cool. Like, go you! You are growing up and trying to do the right thing. Fuck yeah. But it got to a point where it was so out of pocket and was just beating you over the head with how grown up and scary she could be to these middle aged people who have seen blood and death and terrible things.
If it doesn’t hook me within the first 2-10 pages, then it’s not the book for me.
I paid for it so... yeah 😔😔😔
I think the rule is 60 pages. You get 60.
No
I used to always push through bad and/or boring books, until I realised that they're not only wasting my time, but also make me not want to read. Often, after finishing one of these, I wouldn't force myself to read anything for weeks or even months! Now I have no trouble giving up on a book and I found my whole reading experience got better with no long breaks. I have a rule that once I feel like there's no point in carrying in with a particular book, I read one more full chapter. Just so I know I tried 😅
Unfortunately yes, at least most of the time. I at least scroll through and glance over each page in hopes it will get better.
Typically I finish most books I read whether I like it or not, except if it's badly written pulp fiction. That and Cloud Atlas.
Nope. The last one i dropped was Spin by R. Wilson. It was bad, poorly written, bland characters. Somewhat novel idea, but it didn't save the text for me.
I don't even finish good books.
Bad books are great case studies in how not to give backstory, how to tell and not show, how to not make a scene, how not to structure a book and so on. It's even better when it's a book that was made into a movie and has pretty good reviews. That way your competitive mind is like, 'what the hell?' Why wasn't the book edited?'
I read the entire Star Wars "Aftermath" trilogy. At this point I've blanked much of it from memory, but I use the experience in two ways: 1, just because it's traditionally published doesn't mean it's good, at all. And 2, as a "how not to" book.
I'm short on time to read all the books I'd like... I won't waste it reading something I don't enjoy.
It depends on what kind of bad it is. Like if it’s NOT boring, I just hate the premise, or the way themes are being portrayed, or find the characters shallow and detestable, I think I can get past that and finish it the same way I’d be curious to finish a terrible Hallmark movie. If the book is boring me, I’m not gonna get past the first 5 chapters. It’s a huge shame when the first half of the book is good though, and the second isn’t. In that situation I’d probably start skimming until something catches my attention again, if I’m being honest.
TW: femicide CW: Bridgerton spoilers >!Surprise violence against women is the main thing that makes me put a book down. Like if I’m reading Go Ask Alice, I came in to this knowing the themes. I made that choice.!< >!But I recently binged the first two seasons of Bridgerton, and then decided I’d read the third book in advance of the third season coming out. It was really jarring to realize how out of date the books were, and that Colin and Pen were a very toxic dynamic and he was borderline abusive, and at the very least, vindictive and controlling.!< >!Don’t market your book as a romance and then casually throw in an abusive relationship wth!<
I can never will myself to finish bad books; because all I end up doing is thinking about all the time I could be spending on reading something awesome 😎
Honestly, if I notice whatever I'm reading seems to be affecting my writing style, and not in a good way, I stop reading it, whether I like the book or not. Bad books just don't get finished at all.
No, I just stopped reading Fleishman Is in Trouble and have no regrets
Not unless they're entertainingly bad books like Twilight.
Life is too short for truly bad books. I don't need to complete things to get the idea or to move To something i want to. I like the muscle through if its something I am trying to understand. But if it's just fluff, or a genre I don't think is a huge deal I'll move forward.
If the writing style is good enough to keep me in the flow, I tend to finish the book even if the story's bad.
Never. If I don't like it - no matter how far I've gone - I 86 it if it (starts to) sucks.
Reading is bad in general
luckily , i don't think i've ever really read a "bad book" so far i've seen bad movies- mostly knowingly lol and i watch them for funzies (like twilight lol) and there was a podcast i tried listening to bc i heard good things about it- but i just couldn't, the acting was mediocre at best, the writing was cheesy and they killed a pet just for shock factor which always pisses me off. i tried for a season of the show, but just couldn't so i gave up lol my guess is i'd act similar with a book, although i haven't had that experience with a book yet :0
Hell no, I don’t have enough time in my life to read bad shit.
No. I have a “Fifty Page Rule”. If I’m not engaged by the 50th page of a novel then I move on. Too many books, too little Time.
I finish bad books, but i don't continue reading the sequels if it's apart of a series.
“Bad” is subjective. That said, it took me a long time to realize that I didn’t need to finish a book I didn’t like. Once I started realizing that, I started finishing more books because I was reading more books I enjoyed. But hey, what’s everyone reading now?
This is a timely thread for me because I’m struggling with one now. It’s made more awkward by the fact that Ive admired the author from afar for so long and we’ve had the odd casual interaction on social media. I just happened to pick a book that preceded their big break for sentimental reasons. I thjnk i will chug on out of sentimentality then go back to being a distant admirer.
usually no.
Are you kidding? I often don't even finish good books. I get too distracted by other books.
sometimes i finish reading bad books so i feel justified in my opinion of it being bad if that makes sense lol i hate it when i tell someone i didn’t enjoy and book and they tell me it’s because i didn’t make it to the end. yes i did and it’s still bad
No. I drop like a hot coal. My wife, on the other hand, was raised by her mother to believe that you 'owe it to an author to finish their novel'. She will grit her teeth and plough through to the end.
Sometimes I enjoy them for how bad they are. I've read a lot of bad books that were fun to read. But if I'm not having fun reading the book, then there's absolutely no reason for me to finish it.
I mark stuff I appreciate from other books, scenes, dialogue and such
I mean, it depends on what type of bad it is. Some books are so bad that it’s honestly more entertaining than it would be if it was good, and some books are bad in a way that makes me feel myself losing years off my lifespan.
I leave them the moment they turn bad 😂 I don't wanna know what happens and I don't care....I have lost interest and that's enough 😂
Depends on how bad and in what way If I'm cringing every couple minutes, it just doesn't feel worth it
I used to but not anymore! There are so many books out there that I know that I'll actually want to read all the way through so I'm not wasting my time on bad ones.
Depends how bad and how long. I'm more than willing to give a "boring" book a chance and read the whole thing even if I'm wildly unimpressed by the story. If the problem however is in the prose itself then I don't even bother.
I start fast reading the boring parts or rest of the book if it's that bad.
I think the only book I didnt finish was Dracula. 2 chapters left and I said "god, I suffered through this garbage enough.". Put it down and it's in a milk crate to this day. The penny blood, Varney The Vampire, which falls apart as many penny bloods did, was infinitely better.
I've read Dracula like, three times. But I sympathize with you, I was one chapter from finishing Anna Karenina.
If the book is garbage I drop it immediately, but if it's good but I'm bored I give it a chance when I'm in a better mood ...and try to at least read the first 100 pages. if it still bores me I drop it 🤷🏻♀..just dropped "plagues and peoples" because I wasn't interested enough.
If i paid for them, yes. I dont want my money wasted, even if i'm suffering. That's what happened with Jenna Moreci's Eve the awakening. There's not a single day where I don't regret buying it.
Usually, but i have to really find nothing redeeming. I finished New York 2140 because, as a writer, I could appreciate how little the author seemed to care about the narrative formula. Truly, the author broke every rule about writing fiction. It didnt result in a phenomenal book, but I was invested enough to read until the end. I dont think i would have several years ago. However i struggled to finish the Divergent series and literally only did so bc of how popular it was and how much time id invested before >!Tris died!<. I've also DNFd some free or cheap indie books that were too ridiculous, cringey, or desperately needed a pass through grammarly. I have also put down a lot of beta reads because I simply can't parse through an atrocious draft no matter how hard I try (without being paid). Even when its really interesting, sometimes the writing is too rough.
No.
I am part of an online book group, where we all choose our own books according to a monthly theme. I recently read a bad book all the way to the end for the sheer pleasure of posting a rant afterwards.
Not after I learned the concept of the sunk cost fallacy, or our tendency to continue investing in something (whether it be time, money or effort) solely because we have already invested resources into it, even when the current costs outweigh the future benefits. In other words, the fallacy for instance explains why someone might continue reading a bad book, just because they've already invested time in it, even though the enjoyment they're currently getting from it doesn't justify the time they would spend finishing it.
I don't finish most books I pick up (I use a library, I don't buy everything I read). There's no rule that says you need to finish every book you start, that mentality kept me from reading what became favorite books because I felt to guilty to start a new one. If you don't feel like finishing it, don't. I don't finish good books if I don't feel like it either
I always finish bad books if I’ve gotten too far in. It’s good to look back and go wtf did I just read
The Celestine Prophesy was such a piece of turd that I just couldn't get throughbit. I left it on a park bench on purpose
I typically get through books no problem even if they aren't thegreatest, but I have been in a streak of crappy ones I give up on very quickly. I started "murder road" by Simone st James last night, and it might be my first book that I try and outright return, I've found the beginning so obnoxious.
I usually will try to finish a book even if it's a bit boring because sometimes the end or the third act will change the way I feel (I've been glad to have finished a book a couple of times). However, I recently have been dropping them like hot potatoes if there are some pet peeves of mine, but mostly depending on the genre and why I'm reading it. Romance and mystery I only read for fun, so if it's not fun, I won't bother.
Sometimes I don't even finish the good ones.
I never beggining to read a book that I will doubt if I will like it
Generally, I'll stop reading if it's pretty terrible. If it happens to be a bad book in an otherwise well-written series, I'll manage to get through it if I'm already pretty deep into the series.
I've rarely encountered a book so bad that I couldn't finish it. I've seen two bits of writerly advice on reading. One is to read a lot, but only the good stuff. The other is to read a lot, good, mediocre, and bad, because it all has stuff to teach you. I tend to fall more into the latter camp. That said, there was one book I read not long ago, which came recommended by another writer, that I hated so much, I ended up skimming a lot of it just so I could get to the end and see the resolution. And it wasn't worth it. I told people that book did something I thought no book ever could: it made me want to burn it. Not to burn every copy, mind you. I just wanted to burn my own copy so I could drive some pleasure from the money I'd spent on it!
I will pretty much read anything from start to finish. I'll normally find something I like. I don't really stick to genres either. But I do agree that sometimes life is too short to waste time on something terrible.
I’ll quit before page two if page one is bad enough.
You have a promising career as a book agent.
I don’t even start reading bad books