Is it rude to not finish a book club choice that was selected by someone else?

Well, I suppose you could be honest and say that you did not like the violence in the book, therefore stopped reading it. Or, you could ask AI to give you the story and pretend you read it. Depends how many questions and how deeply they discuss it. Good luck on whatever choice you make. In the past, when caught in that position, I have remained silent and, if asked, said that I was unfortunately unable to finish it because of ...insert reason.

I have recently come to the conclusion that life is too short to read a book that you are not enjoying.

If asked I would politely say sorry, I tried but it’s just not my cup of tea

Of course it’s not rude. Be brave and just give your reasons for not continuing.

Our book club celebrates its 20th anniversary in the autumn. My friend and I started it when we worked at the hospital together and I truly believe what has kept it going is (a) only meeting once every two months to give us all chance to read other books - especially if one is a slower reader, like me and (b) we come up with new ideas - change of venues and how to choose books, whether to score etc. The opportunity to enjoy a glass of wine always features! I van honestly say we truly talk about books for the whole two hours. We find it a joy.

We always say “this isn’t homework” so don’t feel you HAVE to finish the book. Life’s too short! Good luck Pleasebenice.

I think I'm a bit odd, as I just can't bring myself to NOT finish a book, no matter what.

GrannyGravy13

I have recently come to the conclusion that life is too short to read a book that you are not enjoying.

If asked I would politely say ^sorry, I tried but it’s just not my cup of tea^

I totally agree GrannyGravy13

I’ve done it a few times and I’m not the only one in our group, GG13 echoes my view.

I eventually gave up my book club as I really hated some of the book choices and struggled to read them. In the end I felt as if I was studying for an A level and never had the time to read the books I really enjoyed.

GrannyGravy13

I have recently come to the conclusion that life is too short to read a book that you are not enjoying.

If asked I would politely say ^sorry, I tried but it’s just not my cup of tea^

That’s a piece of advice that someone gave me many years ago and it’s good advice. He also said it doesn’t matter how far into the book you’ve got either.

We are usually quite honest in our group and will say that we didn’t finish a book because we didn’t enjoy it or didn’t have time. We also admit to skimming books that we find boring! I think what is rude is when someone turns up, hasn’t finished the book and doesn’t want us to disclose how it ended. It means we can’t have a proper discussion.

This is one thing I enjoy about book club. There are so many different views on the same book. I usually read the book we have been given and I have discovered some wonderful authors that I would have discounted in the past but on occasions and with the best will in the world I cannot finish the book. Say so at your next meeting. Everyone there is entitled to their take on the book and it would be very boring if everyone thought exactly the same.

Not in the book club that I go to. In fact we've changed how we do things now, we are small in number and diverse in taste so we read what we want to, use the meeting to recommend books to the group members, usually say if we think a member won't like it and generally have a nice chat over a meal and a drink. It is very relaxed and most enjoyable.