Today’s Book Blogger Hop question is: Do you continue with a book even though you aren’t liking it?
Mostly yes, but for a few different reasons. I think I’ve mostly given up the idea that a book that isn’t good on page 100 might yet turn it around, but still I keep reading most of the times. Sometimes it’s a commitment for some special reason–there were a lot of not great Newbery Medal winners, and I’ve finished some book club picks mostly so I could talk about them (and be decently informed if I wanted to argue why they were terrible).
Some books that go darker than I want to read I’ll finish anyway, because that actually gives them less power…it’s like I can close the book in my head that way. That said, I have started dropping books occasionally if I can tell they’re heading a direction I don’t want to read. I recently stopped one where a girl was being sexually exploited by her boyfriend, and while she hadn’t been badly hurt yet, I felt very, very sure it was coming, and so I stopped reading before we got there.
Some books I stop because they make me angry. I’ve never got over the Abandon trilogy, so perhaps I should have finished that one and closed the book, as noted above! It’s hard to get to that point of disgust with a book though, and most I stay with.
The biggest reason I’ve stopped books is when I realize I just don’t care–if there’s no compelling reason to keep going, like a challenge goal. But barring that, if I realize 60 or 100 pages in that I’m not emotionally invested at all? Not worth continuing.
But none of the reasons for quitting come up very often. I probably don’t quit more than 1 or 2 books a year, so that’s something like 1% of the books I read. Most are a lot better than that–or at least good enough to see through.
I’d say I finish about 80 to 90% of the books I start. I stop reading if the story doesn’t engage me or it goes in a direction that will be upsetting to me. Reading should be for pleasure, so I don’t need it to make me feel uncomfortable or anxious. I have a long “to be read” list of books, so there are plenty of other choices if I book doesn’t work out for me.
The trickier situation is if I really don’t like a book I’m reading for my book club. I’ve never not finished a book club book, but I have read a few that I wouldn’t have finished if I had read them on my own. I’ve been at book club meetings where other members didn’t finish the book because they disliked it so much, but not too often. I think you make a commitment to read a book when you’re in a club because you know there will be a discussion and you want to be able to contribute to that.