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[archersangel]

Poll #19277 if you don't like a book

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 20

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when do you know you like/don't like a book?

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within the first few paragraphs
2 (10.5%)

in the first 5-10 pages
3 (15.8%)

at least the first chapter
14 (73.7%)

what do you do when you don't like it?

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stop reading & move to the next book
12 (60.0%)

keep reading until the bitter end
6 (30.0%)

skip/skim most of it to find out the ending
4 (20.0%)

jump to the last chapter/few pages to find out the ending
4 (20.0%)

how often to run into a book that you don't like?

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about once per year
12 (66.7%)

every couple of years
6 (33.3%)

never
0 (0.0%)

Comments

[randomling]

I take a bit longer than that to decide I dislike a book (2-3 chapters) but once I decide I don't, I quit and move on to the next one. That happened to me three or four times last year. So I can't really answer your poll honestly, sorry!

[labingi]

I like that you're doing poll, but I can't answer because questions 1 and 3 provide for only a narrow range of experiences. But I appreciate that it's really got me thinking.

As for no. 1, I was 100 pages into The Brothers Karamazov, one of my all-time favorites, before I felt like it got good. The Trigun manga, another favorite, starts good for me, then maunders around for the rest of volume 1 before picking up toward the end of volume 2, and as for Iain M. Banks' Use of Weapons, I found it alternately sort of interesting and really boring until near the end, when I realized it's a work of genius. Conversely, I really liked The Jigsaw Woman throughout chapter 1, and it was all downhill from there.

As for no. 3, I run into books I don't like all the time. The vast majority of what I investigate to read I don't like. Now, the books I sit down to read I tend to like because I'm very picky in choosing them. But it's still probably more than one miss per year.

Thanks for the chance to hold forth.

Well ...

[ysabetwordsmith]

I love reading. But most of what hits the shelves today is crud. I don't mean simply not to my liking; I mean technically flawed, or so badly produced that I spot a typo on the first page. Used to be, I'd read longer, give it a few pages. I thought editors were lying when they said they could tell within a few lines. Then when I started editing, I discovered that it is indeed possible to discern quality very soon with high accuracy.

So now, I pick up a book, glance at the opening paragraphs, put it down, move to the next -- I'm only reading a few of them. If I bring one home and get bored partway through, I'll drop it. There's other stuff I could be doing. That said, my house is thoroughly lined with books.

[themis1]

I also find the questions too limiting. I can think of several books I've got half way through and lost enthusiasm for due to something that happens. As for 'books I don't like ...' that is definitely more than one per year these days. For example, if I get a book on recommendation and discover it's written in the present tense, it's very likely I won't finish it as I hate present tense writing - it's a fad and I wish it would go away. I mostly read SF and the current fad for grim, grim work means there are a lot of books I pick up, skim and put down again. I don't read to be depressed! I *do* read on average at least a dozen books a month, though.

[wanderer]

I can't answer the poll because it varies, especially based on the reasons I don't like the book!

With fiction, it can take a while to determine that characterisation is poor (or shallow) and when that happens I'll often skim-read or skip to the end, then never pick up the series again. If I'm actively not enjoying the book it gets dropped immediately. Sometimes if the book I don't enjoy is part of a series that I've otherwise enjoyed, I'll finish it for the sake of continuity and hope the next one is better :)
If it's a writing style that I'm not a fan of, I'll keep reading for a few chapters to see if I adapt - especially if it's well-written, just not clicking with me. It took me months to get past the first couple of chapters of The Fifth Season by NK Jemisin but I persisted because I knew I'd had similar trouble getting into the right frame of mind for her other series, and then adored them. In the end, switching from kindle to reading it on paper did the trick and it's one of my favourite books.
If it's a poorly written book, I'll put it down within a few paragraphs.

With non-fiction, I'll usually give it a few chapters, then if I'm not sure, sample a few sections from inside the book to confirm whether or not I'm interested enough in the subject matter to continue! Or for professional reading, use indices/titles/chapters to find key ideas without having to read the entire thing.

I use kindle samples regularly to find new books, so I rarely have books I've brought home with me/bought that I don't like, but I very frequently get samples I don't like! Way more than once a year.

[wordweaverlynn]

I can tell within a few lines if I'm going to like a book. It can take me much longer to discover I don't.

[cafeshree]

It depends on type of book, some books require a bit more of a commitment to determine like-ability. Also depends on whether I'm reading the book for fun, for work or for book group. If it's for fun, I determine whether it's the book or I'm just not in the mood for that type of book. If it's for book group then I struggle through or skim to the end. If it's for work, I'll really struggle through.

[book_lover]

The answers to the questions were limiting, so I'm going into more detail.

1) I can tell I'll like a book usually by the first or second chapter. That said, I've stuck with reading some books even though it was slow going because I liked the author, or I liked the premise and I wanted to see what the author would do with it, or the writing was really beautiful and I just enjoyed reading it, even if the plot was slow-going and it wasn't something I thought I'd find interesting.

2) Sometimes I'll give a book a chance, based on the reasons stated above. In the case of a badly produced book (lots of typos, grammatical and spelling errors, misused words, etc.) I won't give it a lot of time.

3) This year I ran into a situation where I had looked forward to reading the author's work, as a couple of his books had been sitting on my shelf for years, after a mentor recommended his work to me, only to find upon reading that the guy was really sexist and had a limited understanding of women's place in the world. In that case, I just gave up. I still have the two books on my shelf. I don't know if I'll ever feel inclined to try reading them again. I've run into similar problems with other authors of "great" books. "Dr. Zhivago" was extremely anti-semitic, for example. It brings home how much of what people create is based on the period of time in which they live(d). Some artists can transcend time, but they are rare.

To answer the question more directly, there were about 4 books this year that I quit for various reasons, including the one mentioned.

[mirlacca]

I run into books I don't like about once a month.