How Many Pages Before You Abandon a Book?
Wednesday September 2, 2009
I am goal driven, so it is hard for me not to finish something. There are so many books that I want to read, though, that I've decided I can't waste time on books that don't capture my attention in the first 100 pages. The most recent book I've abandoned: The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton. It changed viewpoints and time periods too much for me to become invested in the story.
How about you? Is there a limit to the number of pages you will read when the author does not connect with you?
Cover Photo Courtesy Simon & Schuster
Comments
You bet! Fifty pages is usually my limit. If I go over it, I am usually disappointed anyway. The days are gone for me when I used to soldier on and finish no matter what. Time is just too valuable.
100 pages or 1/4 of the book, whichever is shorter!
I agree 100 pages or less. I have too little time to read for enjoyment so I want to get hooked right away.
Life is too short and there are too many books. I am OK to give up pretty quickly. If it doesn’t grab me after 5 pages, I need a pretty compelling reason to keep going.
I pretty much keep at it. My ah-hah book was Gone with the Wind. I found it so boring the first 100 or so pages that I put it down. It took several years before I picked it up again. I still thought it was boring at first, but it sure got a lot better!
I keep thinking there is something I am missing and it will get better, so I struggle to finish it. I usually give it up 1/2 way. I just finished Cheat and Charmer for our book club, I am glad I read it, but it was a struggle. Book club keeps me reading, other wise I will quite sooner.
My limit is 50 pages (more or less). Gone are the days when I’d suffer through an insufferable book, thank goodness!
About half the book before I will seriously give it up. There are a few that never get better, but I think most have some value. Today’s society of instant gratification is too ready to throw anything away that doesn’t grab them immediately.
50 pages is my limit but I have stopped after Page 1. Sometimes you just know!
Hmmm I really liked “The Forgotten Garden”
I give up on a book after 100 pages or so. It drives me nuts to have to do that too!
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2-3 pages – my limit. I have to like the author’s style of writing!!!
I usually read about 100 pages before I abandon the venture. There are so many badly written books out there today. I recently read a biography that was written like a college term paper with quotes everywhere jumping from one topic to another.
Deborah, I love shelfari too! Great site.
As for how far I’ll read … I’ve tried Palace Walk by Naguib Mahfouz about 3 times, but I just couldn’t get beyond about 100 pages or so.
As much as I hate to give up on a book, I’ve decided to move on. Life’s too short to waste rereading a book you just don’t like!
I don’t have time for books that don’t WOW me early on. If I am not enamoured by page 50, its history:)
50 pages
I once heard about an equation, though I cannot think of it now that basically determined how many pages you should read before abandoning a book based on age and the older you got the less pages you needed to read. It sounded like a very strong suggestion for the fact that with age comes wisdom (in what books are going to be worth it).