I'm more apt to put it down. But I probably take 3-4 books a week out of the library, so I almost always have something else in reserve if I give up on something.
Usually it depends on how tired am I, and is the author a known quantity, to me?
I started reading Stephen King's book, "Cell" a few weeks ago, and while I'm generally all about King, I think I quit on it pretty early. I may have been tired, but I also think I had heard some background noise about negative reviews of the book prior, so I may have been primed to be disappointed.
Having trouble with Angle of Repose by Wallace Stegner
But have put them down both sooner, and later, then I should have.
With that being said, I wanted to put Rhodes(sp.), "The Making of the Atomic Bomb," down at least three times. I am so glad I stuck with it, if only for the history, it is also a great piece of non-fiction with profound questions.
As for a novel, John Kennedy O'Tooles, "A Confederacy of Dunces," had me laughing out loud through the third reading.
Sometimes you know very early on that it is just not worth it. I've
given up after some 20 pages. Others I have restarted a book twice after initially given up and read through the end. The Life of Edgar Sawtelle is one such book. I re-read it two years later and could not understand why I had a hard time with it originally.
If I've enjoyed other works by the author, I am probably likely to give it more time. I do try to get through a book if I can but sometimes, it just isn't worth it. And I love to be so into a book that I can't wait to get back to it. I just tried reading "Everyone Brave is Forgiven" a WWII book set in London. I couldn't get into it and the e-book library loan finally expired so the library made the decision for me to stop reading it. I may try it again at some point. It also depends on whether the book was free, as so many digital books are nowadays, or if I bought it. I will make more of an effort if I've bought it.
I can usually tell if the writing is bad by the first chapter.
But for some perverse reason once I'm into a book, I feel compelled to finish it. I've wasted a lot of hours that way.
I was getting on a plane, bought a book at the airport news stand, the cover looked interesting, I read 5 pages and realized it was some lame sci-fi book I put it in the seat back pocket in front of me and stared at the seat in front of me like a psycho of 5 hours.
normally I know a little something about the book before I read it.
I almost gave up on the road. people raved about it, saying "it changed their life" "really made me think" seemed like a typical post-apocalyptic story to me. Not that it wasn't well written or compelling it was so built up that book could never live up to the hype.
One book after reading the ending that I wished I gave up after 5 pages was Angels and Demons. What a crock of crap. Seemed like he took two years to write a book and 6 seconds for the ending. that helicopter plot made me want to punch the author.
Only book I remember never finishing was the bible. Got a page in. I don't even turn off bad Nicolas cage movies. Once I start I am almost always committed to see through the awful waste of time.
I've picked up books I was very interested in, ready the first page and noped out. Other times, reading the first page of a book leads me right into being up at 3AM trying to finish it because I couldn't put it down.
Something has to happen that makes me want to keep going.
I'm the same. I always give a book 100 pages to snatch my interest even if I have to yawn all the way through it. But that only goes for new authors I'm trying out. I will stick it out through all of my favorite authors and rarely do I have to yawn through the first 100 pages. My favorite authors will get me to read everything from the prelude, to the addendum. Top of my list is David Baldacci. I would have Vince Flynn at the top of my list, but he's passed away leaving a huge void in my reading life. Kyle Mills picked up the Mitch Rapp series, but he lacks something that Flynn had. He's pretty good, but he's not Flynn.
Top authors in the genres that I read are Baldacci and Flynn of course, Robert Crais, Daniel Silva, Lee Child, Ridley Pearson, Eric Van Lustbader, the duo authors Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child, Michael Connelly, James Lee Burke, Clive Cussler and his many coauthors, John Grisham, Nelson DeMille, etc.
I just finished Silva's "The Black Widow" and it's the first time I wasn't hooked in the first 100 pages, but I have loved his previous books so I worked through it and it turned out to be a fantastic book. He spent a lot of pages laying the foundation and premise and it went from so, so to holy shit towards the end.
Regardless - I give new authors 100 pages to impress me. And not only with the story line and characters, but writing style. The ability to paint a scene with word choice, sentence fluency, and rhythms, etc., is important to me. I also prefer third-person expository style to first-person. A great author that keeps you up at night reading is a great thing to find.
one I've pondered. I started into 40 pages of "The Blind Assassin," by Margaret Atwood and just couldn't keep going. Anyone here want to reignite my interest and tell me it's worth it?
one I've pondered. I started into 40 pages of "The Blind Assassin," by Margaret Atwood and just couldn't keep going. Anyone here want to reignite my interest and tell me it's worth it?
I've not read her work, but I know in advance I have a hard time getting into books written by women. Something about the style and inability to get into a man's head.
I've enjoyed reading Iris Johansson books as well as Patricia Cornwell....however, Cornwell's books remind me of Jeffrey Deaver books; same plot every time. Deaver's star (Lincoln Rhyme), a quadriplegic with a death wish solves every crime by investigating dust from the crime scene.
A couple of women authors that I read are Lis Wiehl and J.K. Rowling writing under the pseudonym of Robert Galbraith. In the end though, I just prefer male writers
one I've pondered. I started into 40 pages of "The Blind Assassin," by Margaret Atwood and just couldn't keep going. Anyone here want to reignite my interest and tell me it's worth it?
I've not read her work, but I know in advance I have a hard time getting into books written by women. Something about the style and inability to get into a man's head.
I've enjoyed reading Iris Johansson books as well as Patricia Cornwell....however, Cornwell's books remind me of Jeffrey Deaver books; same plot every time. Deaver's star (Lincoln Rhyme), a quadriplegic with a death wish solves every crime by investigating dust from the crime scene.
A couple of women authors that I read are Lis Wiehl and J.K. Rowling writing under the pseudonym of Robert Galbraith. In the end though, I just prefer male writers
Me too, there is just something about the general female litterary style. But there are exceptions Emile Bronte,Mary Clark Higgins, JK Rowling, Daphine Dumaurier, Harper Lee, etc.
I started reading Stephen King's book, "Cell" a few weeks ago, and while I'm generally all about King, I think I quit on it pretty early. I may have been tired, but I also think I had heard some background noise about negative reviews of the book prior, so I may have been primed to be disappointed.
With that being said, I wanted to put Rhodes(sp.), "The Making of the Atomic Bomb," down at least three times. I am so glad I stuck with it, if only for the history, it is also a great piece of non-fiction with profound questions.
As for a novel, John Kennedy O'Tooles, "A Confederacy of Dunces," had me laughing out loud through the third reading.
But for some perverse reason once I'm into a book, I feel compelled to finish it. I've wasted a lot of hours that way.
normally I know a little something about the book before I read it.
I almost gave up on the road. people raved about it, saying "it changed their life" "really made me think" seemed like a typical post-apocalyptic story to me. Not that it wasn't well written or compelling it was so built up that book could never live up to the hype.
One book after reading the ending that I wished I gave up after 5 pages was Angels and Demons. What a crock of crap. Seemed like he took two years to write a book and 6 seconds for the ending. that helicopter plot made me want to punch the author.
I'm the same. I always give a book 100 pages to snatch my interest even if I have to yawn all the way through it. But that only goes for new authors I'm trying out. I will stick it out through all of my favorite authors and rarely do I have to yawn through the first 100 pages. My favorite authors will get me to read everything from the prelude, to the addendum. Top of my list is David Baldacci. I would have Vince Flynn at the top of my list, but he's passed away leaving a huge void in my reading life. Kyle Mills picked up the Mitch Rapp series, but he lacks something that Flynn had. He's pretty good, but he's not Flynn.
Top authors in the genres that I read are Baldacci and Flynn of course, Robert Crais, Daniel Silva, Lee Child, Ridley Pearson, Eric Van Lustbader, the duo authors Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child, Michael Connelly, James Lee Burke, Clive Cussler and his many coauthors, John Grisham, Nelson DeMille, etc.
I just finished Silva's "The Black Widow" and it's the first time I wasn't hooked in the first 100 pages, but I have loved his previous books so I worked through it and it turned out to be a fantastic book. He spent a lot of pages laying the foundation and premise and it went from so, so to holy shit towards the end.
Regardless - I give new authors 100 pages to impress me. And not only with the story line and characters, but writing style. The ability to paint a scene with word choice, sentence fluency, and rhythms, etc., is important to me. I also prefer third-person expository style to first-person. A great author that keeps you up at night reading is a great thing to find.
I've not read her work, but I know in advance I have a hard time getting into books written by women. Something about the style and inability to get into a man's head.
I've enjoyed reading Iris Johansson books as well as Patricia Cornwell....however, Cornwell's books remind me of Jeffrey Deaver books; same plot every time. Deaver's star (Lincoln Rhyme), a quadriplegic with a death wish solves every crime by investigating dust from the crime scene.
A couple of women authors that I read are Lis Wiehl and J.K. Rowling writing under the pseudonym of Robert Galbraith. In the end though, I just prefer male writers
Quote:
one I've pondered. I started into 40 pages of "The Blind Assassin," by Margaret Atwood and just couldn't keep going. Anyone here want to reignite my interest and tell me it's worth it?
I've not read her work, but I know in advance I have a hard time getting into books written by women. Something about the style and inability to get into a man's head.
I've enjoyed reading Iris Johansson books as well as Patricia Cornwell....however, Cornwell's books remind me of Jeffrey Deaver books; same plot every time. Deaver's star (Lincoln Rhyme), a quadriplegic with a death wish solves every crime by investigating dust from the crime scene.
A couple of women authors that I read are Lis Wiehl and J.K. Rowling writing under the pseudonym of Robert Galbraith. In the end though, I just prefer male writers
Me too, there is just something about the general female litterary style. But there are exceptions Emile Bronte,Mary Clark Higgins, JK Rowling, Daphine Dumaurier, Harper Lee, etc.