When you read a new book, how long do you read it before you decide it sucks?

Question

Do you know in the first few pages? Or do you stick it out for a couple chapters? Or do you keep reading, just out of sheer stubbornness, all the way to the end?

Answer 1

I usually go about 100 pages into a book before I give up on it. Some books can take many chapters before they really take off. I don't like to give up on a book completely. Often, if I find I just can't get into it, I put it aside and try it again at a later date. I've had several books that I am really glad I tried again because I found I really enjoyed them on the second try.

Answer 2

After all the books and other material I've read, professionally and for fun, I've become VERY selective in my reading, and so I can often tell by the very title and the book cover whether the book's even worth picking up. I give professional literature a bigger chance simply out of necessity or professional pressure. Even then, with all I've read, I can "smell a skunk" early, so I can dump it early. I'm much more demanding on any fictional / recreational material I consider. The subject has to be EXACTLY what I want to read before I even pick up the book, and then the nonsensical blurbs on the back covers or jacket may give "clues" that I will react to. If there's a picture and brief bio about the author on the inside of the back of the cover, I'll look at it and that can help make my decision. IF the book gets that far in my "evalutative process", then I'll take a look at the actual text, and IF the initial "evaluation" of mine has got me that far, I'll likely read close to 50 pages before I decide whether to keep going or not. If it's an "iffy" issue of whether to read or not, the book gets around 30 pages of my time before some decision is made to read further or dump it. There's just too much "out there" to read to waste my time on the plethora of junk available, and I consider my time valuable, as I hope you do with your time. Your time is waaaayyyyyyyyy to valuable to waste it being stubborn. All you get is a headache and bad memories, and there's plenty of that in the world for free. You won't have to buy a book for that, so an author has to put some significant thought into writing before I'll put significant time into reading their material. You consider your time that valuable, and you'll develop your own "evaluative process" over time, and you'll be an expert at deciding whether to continue or not. God Bless you.

Answer 3

All the way to the end. I even read Stephen King's 'IT' and most people I know who have started it have discarded it before the end. Brilliantly put together (childhoods, adulthoods etc) but the ending was just wa nk. Big screaming spider. There - for those of you that haven't read it, don't bother - I've revealed the end!

I ALWAYS start books whilst in the bath so that I can get at least thirty to fifty pages into it. Once the idea of the book has formed, imagination will take over and will make me want to continue...

Answer 4

Me? out of stubbornness i usually finish it, and it is usually a really good book.Some of the best books i read started out dull. If i'm really having a hard time gettig into the book after the first 3-5 chapters (depending on how long they are) I flip ahead to the middle of the book and read a page, that usually lets me know if a books gonna get better(who's that character?when did she die!!!whats gonna happen?) i dont read the verry last page tho, however tempting it may be, i know its gonna ruin the whole book if i do. So my suggestion is just hang on and try to finish the book.

Answer 5

Usually I'll read about 75 pages into it. If I still don't like it, or I don't feel I'm on the verge of anything exciting, I just let it go. There have been times I didn't really even read that far into the book and stopped, but when back later to finish it and I loved them (Emma by Jane Austen and Angels & Demons by Dan Brown). I usually am really good at just picking out books to read because I look at summaries and descriptions before starting.

Answer 6

The absolute quality and readability of any book depends upon the suspension of reality that the reader experiences as he or she actually reads the book.
If there has been no suspension of reality by the second or third chapter, it is not well written and the reader should question whether or not it is worth continuing to read.

Suspension of reality happens when a reader forgets what he or she is actually doing and becomes involved IN what is happening in the book.

Answer 7

I try to stick it out,but if it really sucks all the way through about 4 or 5 chapters then i cheat and look ahead.

Answer 8

I am an avid reader. My technique is to read the first chapter and then flip to the last five pages and read them before I discard a book as hopeless.

Answer 9

3-4 chapters

Answer 10

It depends on how desperate I am for reading material. If I'm reading a book that hasn't captured my interest in, say, 100 pages, and I know I've got something better waiting, I'll give it up. If I have nothing better to go to, I'll keep slogging. Sometimes persistence is rewarded, sometimes not.