# What keeps you reading or makes you quit?



## Dom (Mar 15, 2014)

I know we all have different reading styles. Some people might obsessively try to finish every single book they start. I'm sure others can read 5 pages of a book and never look at it again if it didn't grab them. What are the things that increase/decrease your chances of finishing a book?

For me, once downloaded, I will always give a book a few chapters. Unless there are very obvious editing/error issues, I don't think I will usually make a conscious decision to stop reading. I just think I will kind of lose interest, and a month later I will realize that I stopped reading a book and have no desire in picking it up again. Thinking about it, if the story is moving too slowly, or the characters are boring or unidentifiable, that's a pretty high chance that I won't get through the entire book.

There are stories that I don't really like, or that I don't think make sense or seem fake, but I still finish. Maybe I'm hoping for a turn of events for the better, maybe I'm hoping things make sense in the end- either way, I may be disappointed when I finish but I wanted to get the complete picture before making my final decision. These books probably had enough moment to moment titillation to keep me wanting more.

Overall, I get the most enjoyment out of good characters and a plot that keeps me guessing. It's like a switch in my brain that needs to know what happens next.


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## MEPurfield (Mar 3, 2011)

I have no prob with finishing a book with difficult prose. But for something that is pop fiction I find myself stopping after a few chapters more often. I guess because the story is just not moving fast for me and grabbing my interest. Which his the opposite for challenging fiction, but with pop fiction I expect it to move fast and hold my attention.


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## von19 (Feb 20, 2013)

Even if I hate a book, I finish it. 
But there was one that I just couldn't finish.

I love when authors create their own world's etc...
Thats fine. The problem I had was not knowing what was going on. Right from the beginning the author threw out all these names and rules and kingdoms and stuff. There was no build up. It was as if she wrote the book * EXPECTING * you to know everything about the world and not wonder, "What the hell is the Fyr'xhal treaty and why is it important to the story?!" It infuriated me beyond belief because I desperately wanted to like it but I couldnt.


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## Scott Hsu-Storaker (Feb 14, 2014)

I'm kind of like you. I will put a book down and a month later I will remember that Ihave forgotten about it. I usually have 4 or 5 books that iI am actively reading at any one time and I just end up moving onto the other ones. Les Mis.. I promise I'llget back to you one day.

For me the single biggest deciding factor in continuing with a book is the characters.


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## johnlmonk (Jul 24, 2013)

When I'm reading something and I'm supposed to care about xyz and don't, like that space treaty mentioned above.  Then, when you have me head-hop from 5 different people, suffer through 3 chapters of flash back, a long dream sequence in italics, and then make me spend too much time away from someone I can identify as a main character, I might give up if I'm still not hooked.  But the thing is, I usually know way in advance what I'm going to read.  I'll know the story sticks with 1 person most of the time (for example) so I tend to finish what I read due to a lack of negative surprises.

Horrible editing is an immediately stopping point.  I give a teensy bit of leeway to self-pubs (like me) because of the $$ hurdles there -- usually, I read it and send the author a list of any mistakes I find.

Cheers


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## history_lover (Aug 9, 2010)

Bad dialogue, poorly written prose, annoying, flat, or unrealistic characters will all make me put a book down pretty quickly. Sometimes, I can tell just from a sample. Once I've bought/downloaded a book I'll try to give it at least 25% before giving up but occasionally, I've made it to or even a little beyond 50% before giving up - that's usually when the plot is going nowhere and I only read that far because I kept expecting the plot to pick up eventually. Once I get far enough in to realize it's clearly not happening, I will give up. Don't get me wrong, I don't mind a slow paced book but there's a difference between slow paced and boring.  

Ultimately, once I feel like I'm forcing myself to read it, I don't see any point in carrying on longer, no matter what point I am at in the book. I read for enjoyment and if I'm not getting any enjoyment from it, I will move on.


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## KarlaGomez (Mar 16, 2012)

Hmm. If it is not in first person POV I am already losing interest. If it is rushed and I don't get a sense of the characters or their plight, then I lose interest. I also lose interest if there isn't enough detail that lets me see where I am suppose to be. If the plot is too slow--gah!


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## Dom (Mar 15, 2014)

Oh John, I get that same thing. When there's a character who is much more important than the others but the author keeps sticking me with somebody else, that can be annoying. The early ASOIAF books did a good job making all the characters interesting but it is a difficult thing to do. My book sticks to two, pretty much, and I wanted to add another in late but decided against it for the reasons you mentioned. I think novels need a really good reason to do things like that.

Bad dialog is a good one too. That will for sure turn me off but, luckily, we can usually catch that in a sample these days. On the flip side, really interesting dialog with subtext where multiple characters are playing off each other can be amazing! These books make you anticipate the next time characters will meet again. It's great!

Karla, very curious about your first person POV thing! It has definitely been more popular lately- traditionally third person was preferred. I think the explosion of YA books has widened the acceptance for it. Who knows? If enough young readers grow up on those books, then it may even be preferred in the future! I'm writing my next novel from first person, and it's fun, but it still has a ways to go.


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## Guest (Mar 21, 2014)

("...for me, the problem is not the quality of the book here, for there are many fine books published today, both indie or otherwise, no it's that so few humans still have the time in their day to read at length..." mentioned the goblin who asked to be forgiven for the way he wrote in that he wished to remain anonymous by it, then continuing "...why so, well could it be_ because of this internet here_ where simply an ebook author is up against the likes of either forumland or that blogworld, or simply that facebook again, so simply book sales are not what they were, and thus going through one's day fewer people reading books than before, clearly even newspapers are suffering because of the pace of things...", at which point the goblin reached out for his coffee, took a swig and the looked back at Domino Finn again, smiling "...no the other big problem is that the reader wants interaction now, where _online is a two way street_ of course, but where a book is ever that one way of _form author to reader only_, but then I ask myself which if any of the authors here have an online readership, who amongst them are known by their posts, because I'll let you into a little secret now, a conjecture on my part though, but since I first read the posts to follow the author, I imagine too that the savvy reader is unlikely to click on a link in the signature of the post, nor download anything per se, until he or she has judged the qualities of that author through their posts alone, where the rule of thumb is _an author who treats a reader on forum like some sales target is best to be avoided_...", time up, the goblin hit the post button wondering if he had Domino Finn had even read this far where sane people never did he knew)


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## KarlaGomez (Mar 16, 2012)

Domino Finn said:


> Karla, very curious about your first person POV thing! It has definitely been more popular lately- traditionally third person was preferred. I think the explosion of YA books has widened the acceptance for it. Who knows? If enough young readers grow up on those books, then it may even be preferred in the future! I'm writing my next novel from first person, and it's fun, but it still has a ways to go.


Hm. Well I did grow up reading Roald Dahl and Harry Potter. Definitely not first person, but they're some of my favorites. I think I just prefer first person. I can't really explain why. I guess I just feel like I'm that much closer to the characters and their struggles. I am actually reading a third person book right now, though, and I love it. Hmmm... now I'm doubting if I really know myself XD
To simplify...I will eat cheese pizza, but I prefer Hawaiian style. Does that make sense? But I do like cheese-only pizza...


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## Susan Alison (Jul 1, 2011)

Last night I abandoned a book I'd read about a third of the way through because suddenly the main character started being very unpleasant to another fairly major character - for no good reason that was apparent. It matters not to me if the reason became apparent later - for me as the reader, it needed to be apparent first. It made no sense to me that she behaved entirely out of character like that and all it did was make me irritated with her - hence quitting that one despite having read so much of the book. Yeah - so a character acting wildly out of character will do it for me.

Then I started another (from the 900+ books on my Kindle, paid and unpaid, waiting their turn) and deleted that on the first page. Two x 'through' and one x 'throughout' in one sentence will do it for me.

Then I started another which I abandoned after a couple of pages because it was so cliche-ridden that 'suddenly' my white-as-snow teeth ground together screechingly and my ruby-red lips twisted up and it was like hell had frozen over as the cliches bored me sick. Yeah.

So, I started another and abandoned it very shortly because the writer contorted the plot in agonizingly complicated fashion to suit his/her agenda instead of it flowing in reasonably natural fashion. And when I say that, I read loads of sci fi and fantasy etc so I often happily believe the unbelievable as long as it's written 'naturally'.

So, I started another, read a few chapters, put the light out and went to sleep. Tonight I shall continue reading that one - although it hasn't grabbed me particularly, it hasn't annoyed me either, so there is still time for it to grab me, and I might even finish it.

I have no idea if these are s/p or trad pub, paid or free - makes no difference to me - the only time I really note the author is if a book grabs me enough to want more and then I go along and buy more - for them to wait their turn in the list.

I've always done exactly the same with books since way before ebooks and since I could read discriminately rather than making myself finish anything I started to read, which I did when younger. There simply isn't enough life left for me to read all the books I want to read.


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## Dom (Mar 15, 2014)

Wow Susan, I hope those were free/borrowed books. You go through them fast!

Karla, I think 1st person books almost never switch characters around, so that could be something.

FleaMailman- goblins drink coffee. Got it!


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## Carol Davis (Dec 9, 2013)

I'll give up if I'm bored. If reading starts to feel like a punishment rather than a pleasure (or a way to be enlightened about something), I'll move on. I'm reading a trad-published book right now -- _The Twelve_, by Justin Cronin -- that's the sequel to a book I absolutely loved, but it's confusing, boring, rambling... Every page is an endurance contest. The trouble is, I paid quite a bit for it under the assumption that it would be as good as the first book.


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## Susan Alison (Jul 1, 2011)

Domino - at that point I don't know if they're paid/unpaid cos I work my way through the list as it comes down onto my Kindle. I take the view that life's too short to punish it with stuff that doesn't hold my interest or has irritated me.

So - yes - Carol - I'm so glad I'm not alone. I waited and waited and waited for The Twelve - it is so seldom that books completely engage me these days, and the first book had, so I was totally looking forward to the next one - and then.......... that!!!! Argh!!! I was determined I was going to like it, though, so I read far too much of it before giving up. I won't be even looking at the third one...


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

I'm the same, Susan -- mostly if it's on my kindle it's because, at some point, it looked interesting to me. And I got it. When I get to reading it I usually have no idea what it cost me in the first place.

The only exceptions are the free borrows through KOLL. Those I know are free and borrowed because I want to make an effort to get them read in time to get another one the next month. So I pay attention.  Otherwise -- I've got no idea!   

The Justin Cronin books never appealed -- though I've heard that complaint with some frequency, about the second being not nearly as good -- but I was hugely disappointed in the second of the Tudor novels by Hilary Mantel. I quite enjoyed _Wolf Hall_ but only got about a third of the way through _Bring Up the Bodies_. It was just so deadly dull!


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## bordercollielady (Nov 21, 2008)

I will stop reading a book if there are too many F-words...  Sometimes it fits a character,  but too often - the author is just trying to be sensational.  Guess its my age.  I will also walk out of a movie or turn off TV for the same reason.  The one show I'm really fighting with is "Homeland".  Love that show but I've had to stop watching it a few times.


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## lmroth12 (Nov 15, 2012)

I think there have only been about 3 books that I have never finished. One was *Moby Dick * because even after a third of the way into the book I was bored stiff, and I LOVE adventure stories, with *Alexandre Dumas * and *Jules Verne * ranking among fave classic reads. Another one is by a contemporary mystery writer who is world famous and whose books I usually devour, but she shocked me with an unexpectedly dark twist completely unlike her usual style. I am referring to possible incest between a child and her father. I don't know that for certain because as soon as it became clear he was fantasizing about his daughter I shut the book and took it back to the library. And never picked up any new stuff by that author, either. The third book was so bland that I can't even remember it, but it had no plot (or it wasn't moving along anyway,) generic characters, and dull writing.

Otherwise it's extremely unusual for me to not finish a book.


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## Carrie Rubin (Nov 19, 2012)

If my mind keeps wandering, and I have to keep rereading sentences because of it, then it's time to move on to something else.


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## Nope (Jun 25, 2012)

.


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

Domino Finn said:


> Overall, I get the most enjoyment out of good characters and a plot that keeps me guessing. It's like a switch in my brain that needs to know what happens next.


^^this^^

If I don't care about the characters then I'm not interested in what they are doing - even if they are saving the world


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## No One Here (Jan 17, 2014)

The last two books I stopped reading were partly because of the awkward way the author had of attributing speech (a very long dialogue block followed by "he said, while noticing that the traffic flow had slowed as he tapped the brake..."--too much of that).  You were way down the page before you knew who was talking.  The other problems were the numerous typos and misspellings that would have been fixed if the author weren't too lazy or too much in a hurry to do it.  Both books were by the same author, which put me off reading any more of his works.  It's a shame, too, because the stories had a lot of potential, and the author was otherwise a pretty good writer.  He just had no respect for the reader.


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## Catana (Mar 27, 2012)

The story has to be strong enough for me to want to read it in, in the first place. And it has to be strong enough to keep me from being completely distracted by any problems. I just finished a novel that takes place during WWI. It's about two brothers, serving in France. The writing is flat, sometimes clumsy, and there's an occasional vocabulary boo boo, as in when someone has the nozzle of a gun held to his head. But the story held me, primarily because of the descriptions of warfare, of the wounded, and the way the dreadful conditions and the terror damaged men's bodies and minds. 

The author writes mostly nonfiction, heavily researched history, and it shows. It feels authentic, but it's easy to see his struggle to bring the history to life. Would I have continued to read if the book had been full of grammatical and spelling errors or been badly formatted? Probably not.


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## Atunah (Nov 20, 2008)

Thankfully I vet all books I get beforehand, so the chance that I like reading them is higher overall. I don't just grab random books and start reading. But there are still books I stopped reading. For me I have to care about something, characters, their actions, locations, something. When I stop caring, I am out. That was the case for me with "Gone Girl" for example. I just didn't care about anything,  I kept slogging on and then I thought, why am I trying to read something I can't care for anyone, anything and I just didn't find interesting, so it got marked DNF. 

Another I quit was "Pillars of the Earth". There it was just too simplistic for me. It read to me like, "He went up the hill, he turned left, he went in the woods, he did that and bla bla. So even though the book was right down my alley as far as genre and subject, I didn't like how cardboard the characters were. There was just no emotion of any kind anywhere to be found. 

So I have to care about something, usually the characters. I don't always have to love them, but I have to care. They have to be intriguing and how they go about has to make some sort of sense. And without any emotion, I can't get a sense of them as people. I have to be able to see them as full complete humans so they come alive on the pages. They have to interact with sense and make me curious to learn more about them. I have to have some plot that is interesting to weave it all together with the characters and the setting. It has to be a complete picture. I want to not be able to stop turning the pages. 

Thankfully I get that in most of what I read in different levels. I do not expect every read to be a rah rah 5 star. 
I just want to be entertained. 

Another thing that made me stop reading a book recently was a weird thing I couldn't figure out. I am not a fan of first person since most authors can't pull it off well. This book I read was first person, but it read strange. As I don't know anything about terminology of writing and such, I couldn't figure it out. But then I read somewhere that it could be something like first person present tense. I don't really know what that means, but I know that I  
absolutely hated reading it. I guess to be safe I'll only read first person by authors I know can do it and do it well. And no more new adult for me, there were a batch of those I tried reading that were just horrific and they sell well, so go figure. I don't even count those as DNF, I just prefer to block it out of my memory all together.  

And in general I am a mood reader so when I pick my next read, its largely guided by my mood. So I do usually pretty well with liking what I am reading at the moment.


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## Micah Ackerman (Feb 16, 2014)

I usually try to finish everything I start unless it's simply unbearable. The biggest thing that stops me from continuing is when the book is so far out of the realm of possibility or the facts are that I find it impossible to suspend my disbelief. Fiction is Fiction I know, but when the facts are just plain wrong or things don't line up it turns me off.

Micah


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## NogDog (May 1, 2009)

I think there can be a number of things that together build or destroy the readability of a book. However, looking back on books I've abandoned, one fairly common theme has been characters that just don't interest me at all. If the characters really catch my interest, I can put up with reasonably interesting plots, decent but not particularly inspired writing, and so forth. On the other hand, if the characters are uninteresting to me (trite stereotypes, just plain dull?), the plot better be clever and well paced and the writing tip-top, or it's going to be difficult for me to care about the story and want to keep plodding along, knowing that potentially more enjoyable books are waiting in my to-read pile.

Plot can be a turn-off for me if it feels too much like a rip-off of something else I've read or is too dependent on "acts of God" and/or protagonist stupidity. The latter is a real turn-off for me sometimes, when it seems like plot is entirely dependent on the main character making poor decisions (not to be confused with wrong decisions based on inaccurate/incomplete data, mind you).

Writing style by itself is generally not an issue if it's reasonably professional. However, I gave up on Charles Stross's _Rule 34_ simply because I could not make myself wade through much of the dialogue and even narration full of Scottish terms and phonetic spellings -- it was just too much work for my poor brain.


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## D-King (Mar 24, 2014)

I look for books that start off by throwing me into the action right away. I hate books that start with description of the weather or a boring setting. Hook me! What keeps me reading is a fast pace and characters I grow to like or hate. It's not often I don't finish a book, but if I do it's usually because the story is convoluted and slow or I just don't give a hoot about the characters.

-- D-King


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## JamesOsiris (Mar 23, 2014)

Susan Alison said:


> Last night I abandoned a book I'd read about a third of the way through because suddenly the main character started being very unpleasant to another fairly major character - for no good reason that was apparent. It matters not to me if the reason became apparent later - for me as the reader, it needed to be apparent first. It made no sense to me that she behaved entirely out of character like that and all it did was make me irritated with her - hence quitting that one despite having read so much of the book. Yeah - so a character acting wildly out of character will do it for me.
> 
> Then I started another (from the 900+ books on my Kindle, paid and unpaid, waiting their turn) and deleted that on the first page. Two x 'through' and one x 'throughout' in one sentence will do it for me.
> 
> ...


Basically all of this. My absolute pet hate, though, is Deus Ex Machina. I want to see the protag(s) take their fate into their own hands!

Cowardice in characters also puts me off. They don't have to be unafraid, but a genuinely cowardly protagonist or anti-hero is a reason to stop reading. I really love the concept of the comic Hellblazer, but John Constantine's cowardly nature put me off three episodes in.

Over-use of adverbs. I can't stand incessant use of adverbs. Too much 'said' is lazy, imo.

I am a very picky reader. Being an aquisitions editor for a magazine didn't help that at all. Alas xD


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## sstroble (Dec 16, 2013)

Domino Finn said:


> I know we all have different reading styles. Some people might obsessively try to finish every single book they start. I'm sure others can read 5 pages of a book and never look at it again if it didn't grab them. What are the things that increase/decrease your chances of finishing a book?


As long as it stays interesting I will keep reading. Because I love history and biographies, if a writer drops in a lot of background that is factual, will focus in on that and more or less ignore the plot as the background becomes the main character for me.
If the writer drops in sex and violence that is just there to titillate, then my interest in finishing the book drops to zero. If I want sex and violence, the evening news has both and it's not even fiction.


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## Dom (Mar 15, 2014)

> if a writer drops in a lot of background that is factual, will focus in on that


I'm reading the Michael Connelly Bosch books now and I really appreciate all the research he has (seemingly) done.


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## Eva Lefoy (Jan 25, 2014)

I've been reading a 200 page novella and its a romsus.

By 75th percentile, the characters had almost had sex but didn't at least five times.

I desperately wanted to chuck my tablet into the river. I get so fed up with plot devices it stinks. I put the book down and it took a lot for me to go back to it.

But that's me. 

Sent from my LG-VM701 using Tapatalk 2


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## von19 (Feb 20, 2013)

Background is fine. I just dont like when its overly done. I think it should be broken up into pieces between the story. I hate when the writer completely stops the progress of a book to give this incredibly long and boring wall of backstory. I truthfully dont care, I want to know whats going on _now_.

Sent from my SM-T210R using Tapatalk


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## JeanetteRaleigh (Jan 1, 2013)

I don't like extensive setting or descriptions of a room or a character.  If I'm bored I'll go looking for another book.  Also, although I love romances, I'll skip whole scenes if the author gets too enthusiastic.


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## RogerWeston (Sep 25, 2011)

Conflict keeps me reading. Excessive detail gets me to stop.


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## Basement Cat (Dec 12, 2013)

Wow I really envy Susan Alison's ability to cut her losses. I need to learn to do that. Sadly, I must admit to being totally obsessive and once I have started a book I will finish it no matter how bad it is. Once I was reading a really rubbishy book when my handbag was stolen, and I actually went and BOUGHT ANOTHER COPY so as to finish it. I am not proud of this.

If I ever do learn to man up and not finish a book, on my list of deal-breakers will be pornography, errors of grammar, general sloppiness of construction, cardboard cut-out characters and anything that I consider cringeworthy, such as talking animals that are written as if they were just humans in a four-leg body, excessive strings of adjectives trailing off every noun and characters with whom the writer appears to be in love.


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## KimmyA (Dec 11, 2008)

Domino Finn said:


> I'm reading the Michael Connelly Bosch books now and I really appreciate all the research he has (seemingly) done.


I love Bosch!!

I hate characters that meet, fall in love, and plan to get married and spend the rest of their lives together (because they're soul mates!!!) all in a week. It's especially annoying when I'm trying to read a murder mystery and there's more focus on the romance.

I hate whiney, unpleasant, know it all characters. I read a book where a young woman knew everything all the time, was always right, and if someone questioned her she had a fit.

Another book I read the author gave every detail of a persons wardrobe. The woman put on her Prada shoes, picked up her Gucci purse, walked out to meet someone in his Brooks Brothers suit, etc. I couldn't decide if I were reading a book or a catalog!

I don't really like books that introduce SO many characters right at the beginning. If within the first few pages, I've been introduced to 10 people all important to the story, I can't keep straight who all these people are and how they're related. I usually try to push through and sort them out later.

I don't like it if I can't follow what's going on. If there is too much political or procedural detail, I get lost.

Unfortunately I'm not always smart enough to put a bad book down. Sometimes I push through to the end just to see what happens. But sometimes, as Carol said, if it feels like a punishment to get through it, it's just not worth it, and I move on.


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## Alinka Rutkowska (Mar 19, 2014)

I get a lot of children's books to review and recommend. Yesterday I just had to say NO to the author. The book had spelling and punctuation mistakes on almost every page and even in the title!  That's a deal-breaker for me.

I love it when the plot flows yet surprises you. I love it when I finish reading and then I examine all the possible ways the book could have ended differently. That's a book you tell your friends about! Isn't it?


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## Tony Richards (Jul 6, 2011)

A poor writing style makes me quit almost immediately. And I've quit a couple of novels halfway through because the author -- usually male -- puts one of their characters in a very emotional situation and then skips over that aspect and just plows on with the plot. If you can't make your characters behave like proper humans, why are you even bothering?


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## GaryCecil (Jan 5, 2014)

I can't stand filled pages with two or less paragraphs. It's more than just a visual thing to me. And, of course, if it's 1st-person POV, I kind of expect that because the whole book can be like dialogue. Basically, what I mean is, EXTREME exposition. A good example is Joe Hill's Horns. I wouldn't say it was a bad book, but I just couldn't finish the end. Page after page of scenes with no dialogue just... drains me. Maybe it's because I've become warped to television format, where each scene has characters and dialogue, and, hopefully,  they move the story forward. Or maybe it's something else.

Not saying all books have to be dialogue/scene driven, but it sure helps with the illusion of progress.


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## cinisajoy (Mar 10, 2013)

Gary,  I recommend you NOT read Atlas Shrugged.  90% dialogue.


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## GaryCecil (Jan 5, 2014)

cinisajoy said:


> Gary, I recommend you NOT read Atlas Shrugged. 90% dialogue.


Maybe I wasn't clear in my post... sorry! I love dialogue-driven works. And I HATE pages and pages of exposition!


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## meh (Apr 18, 2013)

Ever since I got my Kindle, I always download a sample of a book that catches my interest, no matter who the writer or publisher is. (Even Stephen King). If I'm enjoying the book by the end of the sample, then I purchase it, and then typically I try to finish it. There are a few physical books over the years that I've given up on, mostly because they were really long, overly detailed and just dragged. (I did read Les Mis because I'm fascinated by history, so I could deal with the tangents.) I write reviews for everything that I read, so if something deep in the book bugs me, I'll just mention it in my review. I've encountered a few disappointing endings, but generally this strategy has been working for me.


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## cinisajoy (Mar 10, 2013)

GaryCecil said:


> Maybe I wasn't clear in my post... sorry! I love dialogue-driven works. And I HATE pages and pages of exposition!


I misread your post. In which case I would highly recommend Atlas Shrugged to you since you do like dialogue.


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## MitchAlbright (Apr 3, 2014)

Characters who just read like stereotypes  - the strong/silent 'guy,' the chatty, shoe-obsessed girl, etc., are a real turn-off. 

I like a book with plenty of textures, used to good effect. For example, clever use of humour in a tense scene which makes the whole story seem more realistic. 

Perfect characters - good looking, really smart, super-competent - annoy me. At best they're irritating, at their worst they just make me feel depressed.


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## ThrillerWriter (Aug 19, 2012)

The main thing that keeps me going or makes me quit is boredom. I used to try and finish every single book that I bought, but I just came to the realization that life is too short to read a book I'm bored with. This has become quite expensive, however, as I find myself bored quite often. It also makes me appreciate the books that hold my attention a lot more, though, because I realize they're so rare to find. 

God bless, Stephen King, as he always hold my attention.


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

David Beers said:


> God bless, Stephen King, as he always hold my attention.


See, and he bores me to tears. I've not yet been able to finish a book of his I started. Haven't found any characters worth rooting for or a puzzle sufficiently compelling that I care how it's solved.


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## JeanetteRaleigh (Jan 1, 2013)

I can usually tell on the first page if I'm going to like a book.  I rarely quit in the middle and the notable exceptions were books I started 'for my own good'.  I'm an avid reader, so I can usually figure out if I'm going to like something early on.  

1) I need to care about the hero/heroine.
2) If there are a lot of words going nowhere on the first page, I move on.
3) Style/Voice
4) Forward movement in the storyline


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## Otsana (Apr 12, 2014)

What usually keeps me reading is a fast paced story. I love well written action! It has to have a good solid plot and characters that aren't flat. I love humor in books too!

I usually stop reading if the story starts going to "instant love". That always annoys the crap out of me! I started reading one with a great beginning, then about 15% through, it started to get GAG. If dialogue is super cheesy I'll also put the book aside. I don't like overly descriptive, technical stuff either.


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## Dom (Mar 15, 2014)

Instant love is annoying! It's basically the author trying to force a storyline down without doing the proper set-up.

I agree that action is hard to get right. When it just flows, it pulls me into the book.


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

If I can lose myself in the book, that will keep me reading. There are probably too many things that will make me quit reading a book.

1. Vulgarity (not profanity)
2. Written in present tense (serves me right for not reading a sample)
3. Typos and other bad formatting
4. Too much switching between different characters' viewpoints
5. Overt political or religious agendas
6. A bad guy who seemingly gets killed and then turns up again (and again). Or recurring villains in a series.
7. Gratuitous sex, violence, and/or gore
8. Flashbacks or telling a contemporary and historical plot in alternate chapters. I start skipping the historical one. There have been a few exceptions to this.
9. Too many characters to keep track of that are indistinguishable from one another. This killed John Scalzi's _Redshirts_ for me.
10. Books that inexplicably switch genre partway through. A while ago, I read a book that was a very good adventure/thriller that pulled a supernatural element out of thin air in the last several chapters for which there was no previous groundwork.

This probably seems like I find few books to finish, but that's not the case. Not finishing a book is unusual, not as common as it may seem. There's just so much out there to choose from. Possibly my initial selection criteria is pretty good. I have no hesitation about abandoning one, I have too many (quite literally hundreds) on my TBR list to worry about the few rejects.

Mike


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## Cat Amesbury (Jan 29, 2014)

I have three basic things that I look for in a story I will enjoy:

1) Characterization that is consistent with the logic of the story and the characters as they are setup. They also have to make me care about what is happening to the people involved.

2) Striking imagery, not overly long, but that grabs my attention and sits in my head.

3) A story that grabs me by the throat and won't let go (a combination of plot and writing style).

I can sacrifice small pieces of some of these. But from bitter experience, I know that any story that doesn't do well on these fronts is going to wind up a "Did Not Finish".

As far as reading deal-breakers go, I do not enjoy writing that does not treat the readers with respect, either by serious over-repetition or by trying so hard to prove a particular point that the story is turned into toffee to contort within the point's boundaries.

I also have a few weird dealbreaker plot points such as "Someone else has taken over the main character's mind!", "Look! A red herring! Let's all ignore the thing we're supposed to protect!" and "I am a jerk who thinks that I am always right. Somehow everyone around me thinks that I am always right, too!"

Come to think of it, I probably need to get out of the current selection of books I've been reading.


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## Elizabeth Black (Apr 8, 2011)

I will put down a book if it take too long to get to the point. I don't like lots of exposition or stream-of-consciousness nonsense. If the characters don't do anything for me I'll toss the book. Mostly if I get too bored I'll skip it.


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## UnicornEmily (Jul 2, 2011)

A graphic sex scene before I even care about the characters will always make me quit.  So will excessive swearing.  So will the feeling that the author introduced a character just to kill them off: for no other purpose.  It feels fake and manipulative.

I also absolutely hate it when an author goes on and on about how important a main character's long hair is to her (or occasionally him), just in order to set up a contrived "forced haircutting" scene later.  That pretty much makes me scream in rage and throw the book against the wall and never read another thing by the author again.


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## cinisajoy (Mar 10, 2013)

Like Emily said excessive swearing.  Though even worse is gratuitous swearing.  If there is no reason other than you want to be edgier then that is a fail.  If I can't find the story for the swearing it is too much.

Also excessive info dumps.  Half a page every 3 pages is excessive.

Too much technicolor descriptions.  Story lost again.


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

I'm pretty much a book


Spoiler



slut


. I read anything and finish almost everything. I enjoy good books more than bad books but once I'm started I usually finish. Total boredom would make me stop. Good thing I'm easily amused.  I'll read the cereal box or the want ads if there is nothing else.

Betsy


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## JFHilborne (Jan 22, 2011)

"Bad" books have value, showing us how not-to, and I try to read every book I buy/download from start to finish. The ones that don't grab me, I'll skim, and I found some did improve as I got further into them. However, when the dialogue and plot are truly terrible, I'll give up - funnily enough, I did this yesterday (I'll not name the author out of respect - the book may appeal to someone else).


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## I&#039;m a Little Teapot (Apr 10, 2014)

The biggie for me is too-stupid-to-live characters. If I'm rolling my eyes at their choices and actions, it quickly turns into a DNF.


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## heidi_g (Nov 14, 2013)

I don't like to not finish books, but I definitely do. Top 3 reasons: I'm rolling my eyes, a convoluted plot that doesn't make sense, bland characters. I like to think I'm not a picky reader, but a lot of the books that are really popular, I'll pick them up and find myself rolling my eyes. This can happen with classics too. Then, again, there have been some really popular books and classics I've loved too. I definitely love anything that's different, witty, and clever. I LOVE FRESH & ORIGINAL


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## Lucas Bale (Jun 4, 2014)

For me it's pace. I don't keep reading to the end if I am not enjoying a book and I tend to ditch as much as 30%. I tend to do it well into the book, however, but the pace is what I really need. Characters must be believable and compelling and the writing must be good, but I think that is a given before I even start. Sloppy editing turns me off too as does poor research.

I take the point raised very early on about expecting the reader to 'know' the world you've created, but part of the fun is accepting a 'treaty' and seeing wh it was agreed later in the book, particularly if the author reveals it well. Hugh Howey does this very well in WOOL and the Pact is as much a part of the plot of the book as anything else so, sometimes, waiting for an explanation is worthwhile.


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## Nancy Beck (Jul 1, 2011)

Good post.

What keeps me reading are emotionally bonding with the characters and an interesting/fun plot.

What turns me off is a little more tricky for me to figure out. Sometimes it's a character who suddenly starts talking and acting like someone (or some_thing_) else, without any explanation. If there's foreshadowing that the character took something or is remembering some event from the past that made her act that way, then I'm fine with it. But if the explanation isn't at least plausible or is never explained, that will make me quit.

Sometimes an author will press one of my buttons emotionally. It could be something as simple as the character describing how lonely she's been since the end of the world (Dust and Kisses, Dean Wesley Smith). I actually had to put that one down the other day, because the character kinda described what I've been going thru (minus the end of the world thing ); it affected me that much. The characters, and their situation, though, made me pick it right back up again, so that was an okay emotional button to press.

Other things that have made me quit a book are being rife with typos (the occasional one doesn't bother me because no book is perfect); characters somewhere along the line who end up stupid or boring or grating (like a Mary Sue, who could be boring and grating for being so perfect at everything, but probably not stupid. Probably. ); and a character says something wrong about an area you know so well - like a certain sports team not having cheerleaders and one of the other characters supposedly tried to make their cheerleading team.

Yeah, petty, but that's the sort of thing that takes you out of a story.


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## RJMcDonnell (Jan 29, 2011)

I will stop reading a book after 50 pages if there are no likeable characters and no other redeeming features.


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## Sherlock (Dec 17, 2008)

I know it's time to quit when I look for something else to do instead of read.  It means I'm bored and need to move on.

I also do not accept child abuse, animal abuse or torture in any book.  It may be very important to the plot, but it ends it for me.  Not my cup of tea.


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## Cactus Lady (Jun 4, 2014)

Lucas Bale said:


> I take the point raised very early on about expecting the reader to 'know' the world you've created, but part of the fun is accepting a 'treaty' and seeing wh it was agreed later in the book, particularly if the author reveals it well. Hugh Howey does this very well in WOOL and the Pact is as much a part of the plot of the book as anything else so, sometimes, waiting for an explanation is worthwhile.


I'm the same way. I don't like to have everything explained; I enjoy the puzzle of figuring it out for myself or seeing the world gradually unfold. I wonder if this has anything to do with readers who are accustomed to mostly reading other-world fantasy/science fiction vs readers who mostly read fiction set in our world? I mostly read other-world fantasy, and part of the fun is seeing the world unfold a little at a time and figuring things out for myself from the context, which is something you get used to doing when you read a lot of other-world stories.

As for what will make me quit reading, two things: 1 - I have to enjoy and care about the characters. If a book has unpleasant or boring characters, I'm done. 2 - I have to care about what's happening. My last DNF, I loved the characters, but there were a whole bunch of different things going on that didn't all seem to be related in any way, and most of it I didn't care about. Those plotlines kept getting in the way of the things I did care about. So finally I just skipped ahead to see how the storyline I was interested in turned out and what happened to the characters in the end, then set it aside.

Oh, and one other thing. If a book is just plain unpleasant and depressing, I won't spend time on it. If I want unpleasant and depressing, I'll go read the newspaper.


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## N.D. Taylor (Jun 17, 2014)

Great post.

I quit reading when I'm unable to suspend my disbelief anymore. If it's fantasy or scifi, fine, I can ignore a lot. I fit's contemporary or set in some realistic setting and the facts are wrong, I become irritable and have a difficult time taking it seriously.

What keeps me reading is when I NEED to know what's going to happen to these characters. When I begin to love them and have invested time in getting to know them. I like characters who are fully fleshed out, who feel like real people.


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## Grace Elliot (Mar 14, 2011)

Atunah said:


> Another I quit was "Pillars of the Earth". There it was just too simplistic for me. It read to me like, "He went up the hill, he turned left, he went in the woods, he did that and bla bla. So even though the book was right down my alley as far as genre and subject, I didn't like how cardboard the characters were. There was just no emotion of any kind anywhere to be found.


Totally agree. I so wanted to like Pillars of the Earth, but the writing style put me off. I'd bought a paper copy, which shows my commitment, and ended up giving it to the charity shop.


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## Tristan Cruz (Apr 2, 2014)

What makes me quit is when there is nothing left to imagination because the writing is grotesquely too descriptive. Whether it be violence or sex -let me put it together. And when it comes to romance novels and love, the definition of romance is:_ inclined toward or suggestive of the feeling of excitement and mystery associated with love_. Again, romance has mystery in it, so don't give it all away. Sex isn't as good if you can't draw it out. And my final thought on this, and a quote I also live by: "Love is poetry, not perversion."

I suppose to each their own. However I like things being hinted toward so I can that I can put it together to true to the definition of Romance.


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