How to read difficult book?

My view about this is that life is simply far too short (especially for us oldies) to be reading books you are not enjoying.

Some folk regard books as something sacred and once started, they must be read to the bitter end. And there are shallow people like myself who give up and move on to the next one.

SpringyChicken

Some folk regard books as something sacred and once started, they must be read to the bitter end. And there are shallow people like myself who give up and move on to the next one.

I confess to being one of the former. Maybe it's a triumph of hope over expectation, but I can't start a book and not finish it. That's just me though.

My Kindle is littered with unfinished books !

I always used to finish any book I started but now I don't bother. As someone above says, life is too short. There are many really good books out there just waiting to be discovered.

If I’m not grabbed by the second chapter I give up. I have a library nearby so can just take it back and choose something else.

Sometime ago, well years, I tried to read the Glass Bead Game by Herman Hesse. I had 3 attempts and finally managed to get half way. At that point I decided I was not ever going to keep trying. Life’s too short!

Goodness there's loads of reasons for not finishing a book and if I'm not engaged with a book once I've read a few chapters, it gets ditched. Sometimes I go back to a book and sometimes it gets sent to a charity shop straightaway. tbh I don't give a fig if it's won a prize or is a bit of chick lit, it has to engage me.

Reminds me of my films watching list despite trying to be a 'stayer'

I don't give a fig if it's won a prize or is a bit of chick lit, it has to engage me.

Me too. Films as well. I do sometimes persevere if a book has been lauded by other people in the hope that I will find what everyone else has found but if I'm halfway through and still looking I will give it up. I have found that sometimes if I reread the same book at a later date I do enjoy it. Don't know if that's because I am in a different frame of mind, forgotten what it's about and why everyone loved it, or what.

If its boring I skip to the last chapter. I would not usually read a book I'm not enjoying. As others say, life's too short.
Although if it's a present from my Oh or one of the children I will make an extra effort.

Oh OH

In out book club we read Camino Island by John Grisham. In there one of the main characters the rather fetching Bruce who owned a book shop, declared if you still don't get into a book after a 100 pages it's absolutely fine to give in and stop.
We've used this as our mantra every since and it has served us well and removed the guilt.

So many books so little time.
Agree that life is too short to read a book you don’t enjoy but I feel obliged to read our book group books and quite often I’ve found that it’s taken quite a few chapters before I get into a book, I frequently find that I’m glad I persevered.

At my book club, we meet for a nice meal at the pub, chat about the books we've read since the last time we met and make suggestions about what someone might read for our next meeting. We are quite a diverse group, brought together by the love of riding not books. Sometimes I read the book, sometimes I don't and tbh, no-one minds. It is very relaxed and I've read some books that I've thoroughly enjoyed. I don't think we take it very seriously but it's always good fun.

I’ll quite happily just stop attempting any book which I’m not enjoying. Why struggle? Same with audio books if I don’t like the voice of the reader for example. I’m currently enjoying on BBC Sounds a Victorian Detective series set in Edinburgh - voice of Brian Cox.

I’ve been guilty of buying books on kindle at 99p - or even ones free to download. They are inevitably rubbish and I often don’t get past chapter 2 or sometimes even page 2! I keep telling myself not to do it again but I never seem to learn.

i read 3/4 books per week, if i can't get into a book by chapter 3/4 then i ditch the book.

There are very few books I have actually given up on but I have skim read some very boring chapters. I did give up on one because the spelling was so bad I couldn't bear it.

I don't like to give up on a book, but it sometimes happens.

I think some books are oversold on their cover blurb (I'm sure that's not the proper term), and end up being either badly written or boring. I will usually finish well written but boring, haha! Also if the main character is not well drawn out, or has qualities that don't make them attractive I won't finish.

Eat, Pray, Love.... fairly well written, but I found the main character so insipid and shallow that I gave up half way through her India trip. Somehow I enjoyed the movie.

Paperback mysteries with cute titles involving a cat or bakery ... I picked one up from a free bookshelf on vacation and could only read a few pages. I know these sell like Harlequin romances, but yikes, what drivel.

I have tried to read Catch 22 twice but had to admit defeat at the second attempt. I found Cloud Atlas hard going too.

I have been a book club member for some time and it has made me read books I would not previously have chosen to read. It has opened up a whole new world of authors to me but even though the vast majority of the books have enjoyable to unputdownable there have been a couple of absolute turkeys. The worst one by a mile was 'The Blue Flower' by Phillipa Gregory. Lots of encouraging recommendations on the cover but believe me it's only fit for firelighters.

Sarnia correct me if I am wrong, but I think you will find that The Blue Flower is by Penelope Fitzgerald and not Phillipa Gregory.

I never read a difficult book.
That's what I had to do at school, so I wouldn't voluntarily suffer.
My mum used to though, she would try and read it quickly, so it would be over with.