When I would rather clean the house than read my current book I know it is time to give up on it.

It depends on whether I bought the book ( maybe on recommendations!) or got it from the library or as a Kindle freebie. If it was free or library-then I have no compunction about dumping it after a couple of chapters when I realize it is not for me.
If it a book I paid for I struggle longer, maybe 50-75 pages before giving up. Even then I hang onto the book thinking I might give it another try-but when I cull my bookshelves and see them sitting there unfinished after several years I finally donate them to the library. I have become much more discriminating about the books that I buy.

Pat

Frances, I laughed so hard I sprayed my keyboard with herbal tea! You speak the truth!

I give up easily and all of the time. I might as well admit it.

oiveah, if you've never given up on a book, I'd say it's time you started giving up on some. Some of them just aren't worth your time, and only you can be the judge of that, but believe me, the world is filled with books that aren't worth reading.

I have no problem giving up on a book. In fact, after quite a few years spent being a student, when one absolutely had to read through the required readings, I'm very glad to be able to toss a book aside unread. It's a privilege students don't have.

To answer your question, I might give up on a book after the first chapter, or I might not give up on it until I'm two-thirds of the way through. It all depends on the book--and quite probably my mood as well.

If you've bought the book and feel guilty about having spent the money, you can always sell it--or give it to someone you think might like it.

Frances - Hahahahaha!

Life is too short to read bad books. Or even boring ones.

Rosefolly

Frances, I agree, if I'd rather clean the house then it is indeed time to give up on the book! LOL

Seriously, it depends on the book and my mood. Sometimes I'm just not in the mood for that particular book but may feel like finishing it another time. And sometimes the book just isn't going to appeal no matter how promising it looked at the library.

What the others said...Life is too short to continue with a book you just don't like

My sister says you read enough pages to equal 100- your age, so if you are 90, you only have to try 10 pages, then ditch it :)

I used to plough my way through really boring books but threw out 'popular/must-reads' rubbish after a few pages. Now the worthy tomes join the frivolous stuff. The older I get the less time I am prepared to waste on something I am not enjoying.

I have given up many a book if I find that the characters are shallow and beginning to annoy me, I read for enjoyment.

There are lots of rubbishy books out there.

This year while reading a very long and very strange book, I broke down and "skimmed" for the first time. I felt very liberated as a reader, and I know I would not have finished the book otherwise.

Perhaps you should put the Marquez book aside, assuming you have a good enough memory to be able to pick it up later this year.

It sounds like this book is somewhat experimental in form. I know this makes me sound like a philistine, but I have stopped reading books which are tiresomely difficult or unpleasant to read. I used to be a very high-minded reader, and would frequently make myself struggle with books I did not actually enjoy reading.

I do believe, however, that readers should challenge themselves. It's comforting to have favorites, but it is ultimately very limiting to just read the same book over and over again. I very much prefer books written in the 19th century, whether they be classics or potboilers. Yet I hear all the time that these books are difficult or boring, usually from readers who have not actually read them.

Your reading time, however, is not infinite. If you genuinely don't like a book, walk away from it.

Sorry for wandering away from the main topic of this thread.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/jul/24/edge-closing-the-book-on-a-bad-read/?page=all

If able to open this site you will all find it very intersting and amusing.

Well, I finished the book this afternoon. (BTW I realized this was the seventh book of Garcia Marquez's I read, as opposed to the sixth, which is what I mistakenly said in my post.) I am not a better person for it. I don't feel more intelligent to have read it.

I think about the play RED that was about Mark Rothko, who said that art isn't about being beautiful or putting a painting above a mantlepiece. It is supposed to capture a mood, a point of view, and most importantly feel something. I definitely was transported to this world in the book and for that I suppose it was a very effective book. I just didn't care very much. Anyway, I hold on to books because I wouldn't want to disrespect the writer by giving up in the middle. It would be particularly difficult for me to give up on a book when I have read six previously by the same author because I feel as though I have a relationship with the author in some way, almost as though he is an acquaintance or a friend.

Now my debate is what to read next. And it may just be another book by the same author becuase I have here The General in His Labyrinth and I want to have a positive outlook on Marquez, and not the dreary one this book led me to have.

And thank you Junek 2009 for the article. Great read!

It depends upon the book's length and upon my mood. I almost gave up on Tana French's very long "Broken Harbor", but soon after passing the half-way mark, I saw where it was going in its character study --- far more than a mere mystery.

I can easily be derailed by the language, and must admit I could not get through either one of Hilary Mantel's novels.I usually am patient for the first 30 or 40 pages, but if I am not grabbed by something--- the language, the characterizations, the landscape, or the plot, out it goes! I've grown more impatient with age, and more particular in my tastes.

If you have read seven books by this author, it certainly sounds to me like you have a lot of respect for him, even if you had given up on this particular one!

I can completely relate to your description of having a hard time finding a place to stop! I do have a hard time with books like that.

Personally, I don't give up on very many books. I hate to give up on one and then not be able to add it to my list of books I've read. That seems like dumb reasoning to me, but I still think it when I'm not enjoying a book. I've also decided that I'm not really that picky about books; I tend to tolerate just about anything.

About 25% of the book. Though there have been occasions when I have enjoyed the book up to the halfway point and something then happens that totally POOFS! the magic feel, and I will fasforward to the ending. This is mainly for closure. If the ending is just horrible I then toss the book, but if it is intriguing, I will go back and skim to the finish.

Woodnymph, I have both Hilary Mantel's novels and am having the same problem as you. These are books I should enjoy but somehow I'm missing the bus. I havent given up yet though.

Re: Garcia Marquez - I really x3 tried with One Hundred Years of Solitude, but was just baffled. I hated it. It was for book club so I did manage to get through the whole thing but decided that this type of magic realism is not for me. :)

I usually give a fiction book enough time to establish the characters/plot line-or 50 pages, whichever comes first. I have discarded books fairly quickly when it is apparent that something is going to make me hate it eventually (the first glaring historic inaccuracy in The Other Boleyn Girl for instance.) I don't mind fighting through a challenging book: Dorothy Dunnett's King Hereafter is one that in parts just slogged, but overall it was worth the work.
I never feel disrespectful discarding a book-sometimes, instead, I feel that the publishing house is showing great disrespect for the readers by publishing and accepting money for schlock.

I'm fairly ruthless these days. I abandoned Skios (which was Booker long-listed) after about five chapters. It was clear that it was going to be funny-clever, but it had no depth. Happy to dump it. I abandoned Umbrella by Will Self (also Booker long-listed) after ten pages. It was then short-listed, so I gave it another go. This time it lasted a hundred pages....I was so relieved when it didn't win, or I'd have felt obliged to try it yet again.

Librarian Nancy Pearl (she who wrote Book Lust et al.) recommends giving a book 50 pages (or, if you're older than 50, just read how many pages for how many years you have). I have found this helpful in many cases.

However, it was years before I was able to DNF a book. ("Did Not Finish.") I would feel guilty for not appreciating the effort that the author had put into it, but as I come across more and more book titles, my time is a bit more precious so I am getting better at DNF-ing titles. Still not easy though.

(Plus I remind myself that I am not in graduate school any more. No tests. And if I don't like it, life will go on.)

I give it one chapter and if I'm not captivated, I give the book away.

I usually toss a book when I find that I am thinking about my grocery list while I'm reading it.

I used to try for 100 pages, but now I only read a chapter or two.

I give up on very few books (I am always reminded of a story I read many, many years ago in Reader's Digest of a person who was about to give up on a library book she was reading and found a note tucked into it: "Don't give up! It gets better!" :-) ) but if I find myself wanting to set it on fire I know it's time to stop.