*You are welcome to use my meme - just credit me please*
Question: At what point do you decide if you like a book or not? If it's not your cup of tea, do you stop reading or fight through it until the end?
Answer: I can tell by the first chapter if the author's writing style fits my reading taste. Also, if the concept grabs me right away and builds an outline of qualities I look for, I continue to read. Usually, I give the book until 100 pages. If I find myself having a hard time getting through it, I unfortunately put it down and move on to another. But, I always try to go back to it eventually, just due to the fact I feel sort of obligated to finish a review book. So yes, the first 100 pages can either make or break a book for me.
I'd love to know your thoughts, so leave me a comment :) Have a question idea? E-mail me at lafemmereaders@yahoo.com and I'll give you credit!
19 comments:
I agree. I can usually tell right away. But I try to give it 50-100 pages.
If a book makes me laugh, and not in a cynical way, or think or feel anxious for the character, then I'll like it. However, if the book starts off a super detailed description of how hot someone is, then I'm not likely to make it past page 30. XP That's not why i read.
I think most of us avid readers who have already developed our tastes for books can tell early on...but like Juju, if I find myself having some trouble with a book, I'll try to stick with it for at least 100 pages. I'm usually not a quitter...I try to suck it up and finish unless I find something fatally wrong with the book (I've only never not finished twice).
♥Isalys
I use the 100 page mark too. If you haven't caught me in the first 100 pages, well, I have other, better, more interesting things to read. There are a few exceptions. If someone I trust recommended the book to me, I'll give it a go or I may skim a bit to get to the "good parts" but then I'll definitely talk about that when I talk about the book.
ya'll are pretty generous! i'm 50 pages or bust. i agree with El, however, in trying to come back to it at some point. sometimes it's a case of right book, wrong time.
however, if upon the second try it doesn't happen for me...that's it. like zombie girl, that's not why i read!
I can usually tell within the first 100 pages, too. However, It's extraordinarily rare that I put a book down. Once I start, I commit to finishing, even if I don't like the book. Maybe I should change that.
I agree, sometimes I pick up a book, read the blurb and first sentence and think 'I will not enjoy this book, I know it'
Sometimes, you have books that you think are...okay but you read them anyway...but don't re-read them.
But for me, it's also rare to not make it through the whole book if I've started it. I've only done that with a handful of books.
Agreed! I can usually tell if I'll like a book before I hit the hundred page mark.
For those few books I do put down I feel bad for not finishing it but I really want to read something else for one reason or another. I do try to come back to it... although that may take a long time.
Hmm...I've actually never really given much thought to a page number- rather than chapters. I usually know by about chapter 5, maybe more if the chapters are very short, if I like the book or not. But I will say, I have read a few books where I loved everything about except the ending...like it was horrible and left me completely disappointed to where I completely forgot about the other 95% of the the book I'd read.
Has this happened to anyone else?
I don't have a set page count. Usually I gauge it by my interest in reading. If I find myself preferring to do things other than reading, then that's a good sign to me that I'm not really into the book.
Once I start looking for laundry to fold instead of spending time reading, then I know for sure it's time to find a new book.
Like you, I also use the 100 pages rule, though I also have trouble with not finishing a book so a lot of the time, if I don't like it after 100 pages, I'll just start skimming until I'm interested again.
It takes a lot for me to give up before 100 pages...Usually, if it's under 300 pages, I'll just finish it. I don't like giving up!
I usually have a pretty good idea early on, but I rarely, if ever, stop reading a book. I read fast enough that it isn't too much of a problem to just finish.
And, I've read some rather meh books that have such a stellar ending, it bumped the book up!
Very similar for me, too. If I'm not impressed by the first 100 pages--sometimes less--then I drop it. Depending on the reason I stopped reading, I may or may not go back to it. If I'm not going to pick it up again, then I go ahead and review it but I don't give it a rating (at least, not on the blog, but I do give it a rating on Goodreads).
I know a lot of people say "Oh, but it picks up by the end!" Not good enough. I'm not going to torture myself through a couple hundred pages just to get to a possibly good ending.
Great question!
-Amelia
I usually read at least half of the book before giving up. Unless it turns inappropriate and then I'll stop sooner.
Nice feature!
Yeah, I'm probably the same. The first hundred pages I can tell if this is the book for me, but tbh I usually finish every book I start, even if I don't really like it. I'll just read it gradually - I always have that sliver of hope that it'll get better haha.
I like your idea. Especially if it is a review book to go back and finish it. But if it is a book I've chosen, I need to start setting a point, like 100 pages, when I will give up on it if it is not getting better. I have to remember I have over 300 books sitting at home waiting to be read, and to move on if it isn't good.
It's funny to read your post today, I'm having that delema right now. I'm more than half way, but the book is so boring and I find I rather watch Boomerang then read it. I think I'll muttel through.
I want to participate in this!
For me, I fight through to the end. Because while I agree with you about the first 100 pages sometimes the ending can redeem it.
Asher K.
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