It’s finally Friday! One week to go and I’m overly excited, I don’t think I’ve ever been more in the Christmas spirit than this year, I am even decorating gingerbread houses with my best friend, how can that be?! Today I’ll be discussing how I deal with problematic books – as always, Let’s Talk Bookish is hosted by Rukky @Eternity Books.
I always give them a chance
I’m not someone to end a book after one page of reading. Some blogger once wrote that a book must be treated with respect because it’s always the heart’s work of some author – and I live by that. Even if a book might not be what you expected and you therefore didn’t enjoy it, the author still poured their heart into it and that shouldn’t be forgotten. Which is why I tend to give each book a chance and never immediately stop after just a few pages…
But when do I stop?
I don’t force myself to read a problematic book all the way through, life’s too short for that and time too precious. I usually give the book five chapters if it’s one I strongly dislike and 70-100 pages if it’s okay but I can’t see any development. Five chapters/ 70 pages are, in my opinion, enough time for the author to make a point, introduce the characters properly and create a certain plot line. If that hasn’t happened, I put it down.
However, you should never force yourself
Never force yourself to stick to a book / a certain page count just because you want to give it another chance. If you realize that this book isn’t right for you 100%, maybe you strongly disapprove of a message or if some plot is too intense – do yourself a favor and stop. We all read for entertainment (except if we have to read for school/work) and if you don’t see any entertaining factor, then just stop and read something fun!
That’s it: I’m always that girl saying Give it another chance!, but sometimes you just have the feeling that you two won’t get along and that’s okay and reason enough to put it down!
I hope you enjoyed this discussion, tell me: how do you deal with problematic books? Do you have a certain page limit you read until you decide it’s enough? Feel free to comment! Happy reading!
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Great discussion!
(www.evelynreads.com)
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Thanks so much!
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That’s great advice Jane, not just for problematic books, but for all books in general. I always try to give a book a chance as well, and most of the time, I force myself to finish, which isn’t the best. I’ve got to remind myself that there are better books out there that I could be reading, or other things I could be doing. Yeah, it’s an author’s hard work, and books aren’t written in a day, but it doesn’t help the author or me if I hate the book.
Anyways, great post and happy reading ❤
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Thanks so much, I always love hearing (or reading in this case😂) from you! I also used to be that way, I never DNF a book, but I’ve becoming more and more critical these days….
Happy reading!
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It’s uncanny how similarly we think 😜😜 70-100 pages or about 20% is what I give a book too before I decide if I should continue… I only checkout after a couple chapters if it’s the writing style that’s not working for me… I hate purple prose or too metaphorical kind of writing, so I can’t go longer with them… but otherwise I agree, we should give some respect to the author for the effort they put out.
I think I also read a lot of reviews before I start to avoid such situations, so most of the times I know exactly what I’m getting into and so it lessens disappointment ..
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Hahahahhaah OMG I love it when we think alike! And me too, too metaphorical kind of writing is so annoying and also sometimes too hard… like when I want to relax, I don’t want to have to overthink every second sentence and figure out the exact meaning?!
And yes, that’s also how I do it! It helps with being less disappointed! Happy reading!
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OMG I can’t do the overthinking… reading starts feeling like a job when I have to reread sentences to understand their meaning 😬😬😬 that’s actually one main reason why I still prefer reading more YA fantasy and very apprehensive about adult SFF.. I just like the language to be a bit simpler and straightforward, so that I can concentrate on understanding the characters and themes more 😊😊
Happy reading !!!!
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Oh, I completely understand you – I feel the same way! YA is just so much easier and also a lot more fun sometimes (not so dark and near to real life which can be sad)!
Happy reading to you too!!!
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