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We've been doing a bit of discussing our book habits here lately. We talked about our reading quirks and whether we prefer fiction or non-fiction and how we choose the books we read aloud to our kids. Today I have another question:
Do you feel compelled to finish every book you start or do you quit if you are not enjoying a book?
I tend to be picky about what I pick up to begin with. I read authors I know or books that come highly recommended from people I trust. That ensures that I'll mostly love... or at least like...what I pick up to read.
That being said, I've quit two books so far this year.
That being said, I've quit two books so far this year.
The first was The Great Gatsby
. I'd been feeling guilty that I don't read enough of the classics. Since this is short and there is a movie version coming out this year, I thought it would be a good one to start with. I got two pages in and decided there were many other books I'd rather read so I quit. (I'm reading The Wizard of Oz
to the kids now to get my classics fix.)
The second was Signs of Life: A Memoir
by Natalie Taylor. It was written by a young woman in her 20s who lost her husband while pregnant with their first child. It had the potential to be a heartrending and inspirational story, but instead the narrative came across as angry and bitter, and as the author spouted off numerous "f" words in the first chapter, I quit.
Have you quit any books recently?
. I'd been feeling guilty that I don't read enough of the classics. Since this is short and there is a movie version coming out this year, I thought it would be a good one to start with. I got two pages in and decided there were many other books I'd rather read so I quit. (I'm reading The Wizard of Oz to the kids now to get my classics fix.) The second was Signs of Life: A Memoir
by Natalie Taylor. It was written by a young woman in her 20s who lost her husband while pregnant with their first child. It had the potential to be a heartrending and inspirational story, but instead the narrative came across as angry and bitter, and as the author spouted off numerous "f" words in the first chapter, I quit. Have you quit any books recently?
I'm an avid book quitter! And by that I don't mean I quit lots of them, but that I'm more than happy to give up a book if I am not happy with it. Most of the books I quit are read-alouds I'm reading with the children. Like you, I don't usually read something I don't at least have a good recommendation on, but occasionally the opinions of the recommendation differ from my own and I find that I'm not ready to read said book to my children at this age, or at all. Most of them are good books overall, but share something in the family dynamic or attitudes and behaviors of the characters that we're trying to teach differently to our children. I think I've shared before that I'm pretty particular. :) In fact, I'm pretty much assuming that I'll be skipping most of the "classics" because most (I've seen anyway) leave something to be desired from a Biblical worldview... and that's the worldview we're trying to drive home!
ReplyDeleteLoving this little series, by the way!
I used to force myself to finish every book I started, but after I had kids, I decided that when I did actually get the chance to read, I was going to spend that time reading something I enjoy.
ReplyDeleteI'm a quitter and a stick-with-it-er. Lol... If I'm just not into it, I will often force myself to finish depending on what it is. Like Les Miserable is really drudgery at some points, but I wanted to read the whole thing. I ended up having to quit do to library fines though! But I most definitely quit if the book has really foul language or overly "mature" themes. Life is life and can get messy, but each detail doesn't need to be written out for all the world to see.
ReplyDeleteI'm not usually a quitter but over the past year it's been a little easier to drop a book. After being a few hundred pages into a tome that had some interesting characters but zero story line, I decided my reading time was too precious to spend on a book I did not enjoy and could not relate to in any way.
ReplyDeleteI tend to finish books I start, but I do occasionally skip parts and skim the end. It probably helps that I usually read non-fiction which is more "skim-able" and that I only read books that come recommended from people whose worldview is similar to my own. (I always appreciate your recommendations!)
ReplyDelete