Giving up on books
We’ve all been there: you buy an exciting new book from the bookstore, you take it home and start reading, and after a few chapters you throw it down in disgust! Not all books are equal. And if you’re a heavy reader, chances are you have come across books that you just didn’t like for one reason or another.
Usually, when this happens it is not because the book is bad (although sometimes that’s the case, but it’s rare) – instead, you and the author have differing opinions about what makes a good book. Usually this gets into issues of style and so forth.
Some people I know will hardly ever give up on a book. They’d rather trudge through a bad one than start something new. I’m of the opinion that reading, first and foremost, should be fun and entertaining. Time is valuable, so it’s not worth spending valuable time reading something that you’re not enjoying. Unless your reading the bad book for a class or you are a book critic, then you’re kind of stuck.
Now, only one question remains: how much do you have to read before deciding to give up on a book? The bad news is that this is a matter of personal preference and there is no "right" or "wrong" answer here. Personally, I’ll read a few chapters before making a decision. I’ve read many a book that started out kind of dull and boring, but as I got further into it, the book began to get much, much better.
But if you read a lot, you begin to develop an "ear" for what you like. I don’t have to read very far into a book to know I’m not going to like it. Also, when I buy my favorite literary magazine that publishes only short stories, I usually know by the end of the first or second page if I’m going to enjoy the story or not. If I’m not going to enjoy it, I simply move on to the next one.
The point of this post is that there’s no shame in giving up on a book because chances are you’re reading for pleasure. So if the book isn’t giving you that desired pleasure, then you’re just wasting your time.
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- Enhancing books with extra ‘goodies’
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