# Do you always finish a book?



## Winter9_86 (Sep 3, 2013)

I am reading a book om my phone now that seems a bit too simple and doesn't hold my interest. I haven't quit a book in a long time now, but I might with this one. Do you always finish a book?


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## BTackitt (Dec 15, 2008)

nope. I have quit books for a number of reasons, including, but not limited to, beyond boring, crappy writing, not even close to what the book description says the story is about, massive plotholes... etc.


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## balaspa (Dec 27, 2009)

Nah. I abandon the ones that do not hold my interest or are poorly written.


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## luvmy4brats (Nov 9, 2008)

Nope. I give it as much time as I'm able, but if I can't get into it, I move on. Life's too short and there are too many books I want to read.


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## Alessandra Kelley (Feb 22, 2011)

Definitely life's too short.  I'm never going to find the time to read all the books worth reading.  I'm not interested in books that waste my time, not even an extra hour.

And sometimes it's not that the book is at fault; sometimes I lose interest and just have to let it go.

I really appreciate honest reviewers.  They are such a godsend to find worthwhile books.


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## Ian Rose (Apr 11, 2013)

It's pretty rare, but I will abandon a book if I don't think I'm getting anything out of it. I track the number of books and pages that I read in week/month/year and if I abandon a book, I generally wipe the whole book from that record. It encourages me to only do that when necessary, and there have been times when I wanted to bail early and found something later on worth reading. I think I bailed on two or three novels last year, out of about 40.


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## Mike D. aka jmiked (Oct 28, 2008)

I don't always finish a book. I don't know what the ratio is, but from the posts I see here, I may tend to give up before many people on the board will. There are too many books in my elibrary waiting to be read to waste time on one that doesn't hold my interest. Fortunately, most of the books I abandon are of the less expensive variety.  


Mike


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## Carrie Rubin (Nov 19, 2012)

I no longer finish one that's not keeping my interest, though I'll usually skim through the last bit to see how it ended. As others have said, life's too short, and there are too many good books out there waiting to be read. If it's a selection for my book club, however, I'll slog through it which is what I'm doing with the book I'm currently reading. Sigh.


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## Daniel Harvell (Jun 21, 2013)

I almost always finish books that I start, but I also rarely buy books blindly. I read reviews and get recommendations from friends with like-minded book interests - that helps cut down the number or extraneous books significantly.


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

I finish most fiction books I start.  I don't finish all non-fiction.

Betsy


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## ekerrigan (Feb 28, 2014)

I think it is really hard the very first time you do it, then it's not so hard any more. I found the same thing with movies. People are busy enough as it is, and at the very least we should be ENJOYING our downtime, not suffering through it


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## JLBlairAuthor (Feb 26, 2014)

I always feel guilty for not finishing a book as though it's sentient and I'm disappointing it...But I've learned to just do it. There are too many great books waiting. I'd rather not waste months getting through a work I'm not connecting with.


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## NogDog (May 1, 2009)

It seems to have been at least partially a function of age for me, but I'm more likely to abandon books now than I was a few decades ago. It's probably some combination of being pickier now, less patience, "been there, done that" when it's not very original, and perhaps a bit more wisdom to be willing to spend my time more productively.


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

I usually finish if it's fiction.  Sometimes I'm doing a pretty broad skim by the end though  . . .  because I have just enough interest to want to know how it comes out but no interest in details about the boring people having the adventure. 

I do sometimes quite -- usually I'll go at least a third to half way -- but if I find myself NOT opening that book but looking for something else to read, or even avoiding reading because I just don't have much interest, well, that makes me start to feel down.  Like I'm neglecting something I should do. But I don't want to. At some point I wake up and give myself a virtual slap upside the head and say, "hey, you, you don't even care, just delete it already and move on to something more interesting.  It's not a crime!"  And then I feel a weight lifted off my kindle and I'm happy again. 

Whether or not I finish NON-fiction depends on whether the book keeps having interesting points throughout.  I've read books that I thought the first few chapters were interesting and/or useful information.  But by the time I got to the 4th or 5th chapter I realized the guy shouldn't have tried to write a book because he only had enough material for a longish article and he's just repeating himself. 

And of course much of the non-fiction I have, I have more as a reference -- like a 'rules of baseball' book I have (Nats spring training game today!  ) -- I'll look stuff up while watching games.

NogDog has a point too -- as a kid I never failed to finish a book.  Well, no, there was once.  And I still feel guilty about it.  Guilty enough that I went back as an adult and tried to find the book at my parents house to figure out WHY I never finished it.  But it was long gone.  I think I need to read it as an adult and confirm that my kid-self was smart to abandon it and not just a 'quitter'.


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## Lindy Moone (Oct 19, 2012)

Before I got my Kindle, the only book I remember not finishing was "Naked Lunch." (Keep trying to read it, just can't choke it down.) Fact is, I was desperate for reading material for years, because I live overseas from my American homeland, and nowhere near a library -- much less a library that carries English books.

Now that I have unlimited access to new books, I do abandon them sometimes. I'm quite picky about the ones I buy (always try the sample, etc.), but sometimes the quality of the writing -- even the editing -- goes downhill after the sample.

I don't know if I would do the same with paper books, but I think so. The older I get, the more precious the time I have left. Sorry if that sounds morose, but...

No guilt over abandoned books!


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## Adrian Howell (Feb 24, 2013)

I don't think I've ever not finished a book that I got further than 50% into. If I haven't quit by then, chances are I won't.

But if I quit before I reach the end of my 10% sample, would that count as giving up on a book?


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## Nancy Beck (Jul 1, 2011)

I used to, but I stopped finishing books that didn't interest me a few years ago. Why should I waste my time?


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## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

When I was young, it was a point of pride to finish every book I started. Then about twenty years ago, I threw one across the room and only picked it up to put it in the Goodwill box. 

Now, not only don't I finish books I don't care for, I find myself reading shorter books. Time was when if a book wasn't at least 400 pages, I wouldn't even pick it up.These days, anything over 200 pages gets ignored.


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## stevene9 (Nov 9, 2008)

I actually keep track of these things. Of the last 1100 books I have read, I have abandoned 4 of them. One because it was a photo of the written pages and was almost unreadable (too hard to make the words out).The other 3 were abandoned nbecause I couldn't take the story anymore.


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## Atunah (Nov 20, 2008)

I pretty much finish most what I start reading. I only read fiction, so I can't speak to non fiction. I also do a lot of vetting before I read/buy/loan a book, so I think because of that the chances are high that I at least enjoy the book. There are no guarantees I totally love it, but there is a good chance I like it. 
For me its not so much about having to finish what I start even if its bad, or wasting my time and such. Its more a selection beforehand to prevent that. I don't like wasting my time and I get annoyed at that. I would not just grab a random book and start reading without some research. 

I do have a few I didn't finish, some changed mid book to something preachy that wasn't advertised, others I just didn't care about anything on anyone.


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## Brownskins (Nov 18, 2011)

I am tempted to do that right now...  

But knowing myself, I usually finish every book I start - some may take longer than others but eventually I like "closing the books"


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## telracs (Jul 12, 2009)

nope.  and i find myself more willing to completely abandon a book earlier than ever before.  i recently abandoned a book during the first chapter.  i'm working my way through my TBR list, and if something doesn't capture me, it's gone.  

i figure i've already given the author my money, so they're not losing out.


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## Toby (Nov 25, 2008)

I have been fortunate that most of the books that I pick out, I like. However, there have been maybe 2 books that I have deleted after I felt I gave it a chance & thought they were aweful. 1 book, I stopped reading, but didn't delete, because of the good reviews. I thought that maybe later on I would give it a try. I was just thinking about this recently & was thinking that if I ever come across this book again, I should delete it. I tend to want to finish the book, especially if I am more than 50 % into the book. There are just too many books & too little time.


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## cinisajoy (Mar 10, 2013)

No, I do not always finish a book.  Especially from when I first discovered free books. There have been a few that I wanted to throw the book at the author.


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## Bre_Faucheux (Aug 29, 2013)

I actually abandon books quite often. If an author can't keep my interest, it's their own fault as far as I'm concerned. Same as a movie. I have walked out on movies before for the same reason.


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## RMercer (Mar 1, 2014)

I almost always finish the books I start, because even though I might not fully enjoy the book, there usually is one facet of it that I find interesting enough to keep reading. I cannot remember the last time I abandoned a book. I think it was literally three years ago, cause I remember not enjoying the book I was reading and I really wanted to start the wheel of time series.


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## jeremy young (Feb 28, 2014)

If the book is free then I never finish it... most of them are lucky to last one bath. 

If I have paid for the book then it invariably gets read. Sometimes more than once.


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

jeremy young said:


> If the book is free then I never finish it... most of them are lucky to last one bath.


I've heard a lot of people say this and I gotta admit it doesn't make a lot of sense to me. 

In the early days of Kindle I was a bit overwhelmed by the concept of free books!  And I picked up nearly everything I saw as long as it was somewhat close to my interests. But I quickly realized that 'free' for books was not going to go away and I could be a LOT more discerning.

As a result, any more, if a book is free that doesn't make it an 'auto download'. I look at it just as I would if I was plunking down cash. And if it doesn't meet the 'would I pay for it?' test, I don't get it.

PLUS, I don't usually get to books I've downloaded right away, so by the time I get to reading I usually don't remember if I paid for it or not. I either finish it or don't on it's own merits (or lack thereof) rather than on whether I paid for it.

Though, if I don't finish it, I usually do go check to see what I paid -- if it was free I'll usually delete it from my account at that time.


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## jeremy young (Feb 28, 2014)

Maybe it's the disposable nature of it. Effectively they are voluntary muzak.

And the books all pass the would I pay for them test, as they are all books I want to read, by authors I like. So I can't say that I have not enjoyed reading them - the three or four chapters that I manage during an average bath. But for whatever reason they don't make it to the settee, the train, bed or where ever. 

They go down the plughole, and then get lost in the tablet library.


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## crebel (Jan 15, 2009)

Ann in Arlington said:


> As a result, any more, if a book is free that doesn't make it an 'auto download'. I look at it just as I would if I was plunking down cash. And if it doesn't meet the 'would I pay for it?' test, I don't get it.
> 
> PLUS, I don't usually get to books I've downloaded right away, so by the time I get to reading I usually don't remember if I paid for it or not. I either finish it or don't on it's own merits (or lack thereof) rather than on whether I paid for it.


What Ann said.

I think my ratio of finished to not finished is about the same between free and paid for books. Or maybe I am more likely to DNF a paid book because I've picked it up to see what the hype is about and I wouldn't have purchased it in the first place if I didn't want to know what everyone else is talking about. The Book Thief and 50 Shades come to mind.


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## Atunah (Nov 20, 2008)

I am with Ann and crebel. A book is a book is a book. And beside the short span of cray cray I had in the early days of kindle, all books go through a vetting process, free or not. I read them the same, I rate and review them the same. I expect to be entertained by either and I am not any more lenient in reviews with free ones if I didn't like them. I use my time to read the books the same way, my time is valuable. Doesn't matter if I happened to get something for free or not. 

So I am a bit confused at the opinion that free books are somehow disposable any more than paid for. 

I have many books I got free and then a day later they are at 2.99, 4,99 or even 7.99. So how would a book go from throwaway to suddenly be valuable because it now costs money again. Its still the same book, is it not. I got the first free in the Fever series by Karen Marie Moning. It went back to I think 9.99 at some point along with the rest of the series. Again, same book, same treatment. 

I paid for Pillars of the Earth and didn't finish it. What I paid for a book has nothing to do with if I finish it. Its the vetting that goes on beforehand that limits that possibility as much as possible. No 100% accurate system, but for me, mine works pretty good. And that means all books get vetted. No matter what they cost.


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## telracs (Jul 12, 2009)

as some people here know, i'm reading everything on my TBR list in alphabetical order.  i don't know how much i paid for a book until i've either finished it or decided i'm not going to finish it and start writing up my post.  i think this helps me read a book based on its merit, not be swayed by the fact i paid a lot for it.  some free books i've loved, some expensive books i've put aside.


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## cinisajoy (Mar 10, 2013)

I have found good freebies and bad paid fors.  
I am still trying at times to read an expensive book.  
Agreeing with the others that by the time I get to a book,  I usually don't remember what I paid for it.
I have also found some very good authors that I did pick up their first book free.


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## ElaStein (Feb 8, 2014)

I used to be better about that. It seems the older I get, the less patience I have. So no, definitely not.


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## Leslie (Apr 7, 2008)

Winter9_86 said:


> I am reading a book om my phone now that seems a bit too simple and doesn't hold my interest. I haven't quit a book in a long time now, but I might with this one. Do you always finish a book?


No.


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## Leslie (Apr 7, 2008)

Carrie Rubin said:


> I no longer finish one that's not keeping my interest, though I'll usually skim through the last bit to see how it ended. As others have said, life's too short, and there are too many good books out there waiting to be read. If it's a selection for my book club, however, I'll slog through it which is what I'm doing with the book I'm currently reading. Sigh.


This is why I have never joined a book club.


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## Carrie Rubin (Nov 19, 2012)

Leslie said:


> This is why I have never joined a book club.


Haha, you may be onto something. I joined because it's good for me to get out there, but after the book I'm slogging through, I may have to rethink that.


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## Leslie (Apr 7, 2008)

Carrie Rubin said:


> Haha, you may be onto something. I joined because it's good for me to get out there, but after the book I'm slogging through, I may have to rethink that.


I am amazed at how many friends belong to book clubs which seem to exist only to torture people with slogging through terrible or hard-to-read books. Isn't the point of the club to have fun? I have had friends who say to me, "It's my month to suggest a book," and I'll offer an idea, only to have it be not acceptable, for whatever reason. Believe me, I don't read trash and I read a wide range of fiction and non-fiction so I think I have some good suggestions. But these book clubs seem to be mired in *Great Expectations* by Charles Dickens, *Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man* by James Joyce or their modern un-readable equivalents. Which is why I stay away.

In full disclosure, I should also point out that I have a problem with assigned reading, which is why I never took a literature course in college. I did participate in the "Unofficial Book Reading" club here at Kboards for a few months, but had to give up because even that was too much like assigned reading. So, my problem and I own it.

L


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## 1131 (Dec 18, 2008)

That's the problem with a book club for me. I feel like I have to finish the book. The only good thing I've found about book clubs is they get me out of my ruts. I was in a mystery rut for months but the quasi official book club got me out if it. I've started culling my TBR and am finding it easier and easier to stop reading or at least skim to the end. When I didn't have enough money to feed my reading habit, I would always finish a book. With so many library books available now, I can drop a book without a problem.


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

When I lived in the UK, back in the mid-90's, a bunch of of decided to do a 'British classics' book club. Many of us had never read them and those that had had done so a LONG time ago. And if we'd read them for school it was always from an _American_ point of view. We had a woman who was the wife of one of the folks there who was a British literature 'major' -- not sure exactly what she did but it was at one of the local schools -- and it was kind of fun to come at some of them from the point of view of a Brit living in Britain. I thought it was fun!

But, then, I never had a problem with assigned reading in school -- except that I'd often get 'tsked' at by the teacher because I'd read way ahead. Which meant I had to be aware of spoilers. Which meant I couldn't participate much in the early discussions.


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## Daniel Dennis (Mar 3, 2014)

I try to finish every book I start because there is an investment of time and money. Even if it takes me an extraordinarily long time, I still intend to finish them. But there was one book that stands out that I admittedly forced myself to stop reading. I read through some of the various reasons others have stated. The book was the eleventh in its series, written by a well-established author and the topic is one I found interesting. The problem was the first dozen chapters or so were a constant in-depth re-hashing of nearly every event from every book the protagonist had been in previously. It really felt like the book was rushed to print so it could be released while the topic was still being heavily talked about in the media.

I understand the need to refresh the reader's memory or feeling obligated to briefly summarize in case a reader enters a series in the middle, but there's a point when too much is too much. It left me feeling like I needed to go back and read another half-dozen books first. What bothered me more was while the book was part of a series, the plots were always disconnected one book to the next (unlike something written with the intention that the reader would read the entire series). I actually found the author by reading the seventh book in the same series and though there was obviously a number of books preceding it, I didn't feel lost.


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## Carrie Rubin (Nov 19, 2012)

imallbs said:


> The only good thing I've found about book clubs is they get me out of my ruts.


That's one of the pluses for me, too. I tend to stick with thrillers or contemporary fiction so this gets me reading different things. For the most part, I've enjoyed my book club's selections, and luckily, they pick a variety of genres.


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## joyceharmon (May 21, 2012)

Lately I'm finding that there are a lot of books I don't finish - usually free downloads or library books. But I will give up on a bought book if it's too boring or annoying. Life is too short. If it's a long book and especially if it's Book 1 of a multi-book saga, I'll give it at least 100 pages before I bail. 

As for book clubs, I just recently joined a local book club. The books we've read so far are about half books I might have picked for myself and half books I wouldn't have chosen, but were interesting once I started them. THIS month's book might break that record. 

For my book suggestions, I went with Shirley Jackson's We Have Always Lived In The Castle, and Ken Grimwood's Replay. Perhaps not Profound, but certainly readable.


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## Mark Young (Dec 13, 2010)

No, I don't always finish a book. If the author has not captured m attention in the first few chapters, I move on to the next. Life is too short.


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## Alessandra Kelley (Feb 22, 2011)

I tried joining a book club once, but I found to my astonishment that a book that I normally would adore became tiresone and anxiety-ridden when I had to read it on a schedule.

I read books irregularly.  Some I finish in less than a day.  But I am generally reading four or five books at a time, and some take weeks to finish completely.  Some I never finish.

Some people may thrive on scheduled reading, but it would appear I am not one of them.


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## Carol Davis (Dec 9, 2013)

I used to finish every book I picked up - I figured if I paid for it, I owed it to myself to finish.  But this past year or so, if I truly can't get into the book I'll give up.  My free time is limited, and I can't see forcing myself to slog through something I really don't like.

I'm very discriminating about what I download.  If I'm not pretty well convinced that I'll enjoy a book, I don't download it, regardless of price.  I have to admit I don't understand the concept of downloading anything and everything simply because it's free.  It just clogs up the Kindle!


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## No One Here (Jan 17, 2014)

I'll stay with a book if it's well written and at least mildly entertaining--and appears to be taking me somewhere interesting.  I've lately stopped reading about three books, two when I was halfway through.  One of those had a good story going but so many misspellings and awkward sentences that the cumulative effect finally hit me and I trashed it.  The other two had the same problems, but were just bad, period.


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## Avis Black (Jun 12, 2012)

I look at a huge variety of books, but most of the time don't even get past the first few pages because of the weak prose. Strong prose often equals a strong story, and weak prose usually means a weak story is coming. If you're enough of a craftsman to create high-quality prose, you'll be enough of a craftsman to create a good story because you insist on setting high standards for yourself.


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## hs (Feb 15, 2011)

I usually finish every book I start reading, but I abandoned my first book of 2014 last week. It was an especially tough decision because the book was a mystery and part of me wanted to know who the killer was. Maybe I'll go back to it one day and read the end.


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

hs said:


> I usually finish every book I start reading, but I abandoned my first book of 2014 last week. It was an especially tough decision because the book was a mystery and part of me wanted to know who the killer was. Maybe I'll go back to it one day and read the end.


You can't leave us hanging: what book is it that was so disappointing?


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## Guest (Mar 23, 2014)

I usually finish the books I buy, but I'm very picky with my purchases. That said, sometimes I do finish books that I should have given up on. I wouldn't say they are bad book, though. Usually something I would give three stars to. (I can tell if a book is worthy of 1-2 stars *by my standards* based on reading a sample, and I just don't read/review those books.) But I want to LOVE the books I read. Many I do. But sometimes they are just OK.


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## Jan Hurst-Nicholson (Aug 25, 2010)

I have a stack of books by my bed. I give them three to four chapters and if I can't get into them I move on to the next one. Too many books - too little time to waste on something that is not to my taste.

I give a film about 10 - 15 minutes before deciding if I like it. TV series can be anywhere between five minutes and an entire episode before making a decision.


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## jaim101 (Jan 19, 2012)

I quit books all the time. Sometimes it's the book, too slow, hard to get into, whatever. Sometimes it's my mood, I'm too tired, mind elsewhere etc. I've put books down and come back to them later and found them to be brilliant, no harm done. As others have said it's the same with movies, TV. We have more choice than ever, so it's hard to hold our attention as a reader, viewer etc.


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