Do you abide by the 50 page rule?

I used to force myself to read all the way through books that I'd started, but wasn't enjoying. Now I just give up after a few chapters. The most recent books I've closed prematurely are crime novels -- one by a long-established crime writer (the story was dull, characterisation negligible and writing deader than the corpse) and another by a literary author who also writes crime (I didn't give two hoots about the protagonist, the victim or any of the supporting cast).

There are plenty of other stories to read.

Maybe 5 pages...if that.

I give them the first chapter. If by the end of the first chapter they haven't given me something, anything that'll compel me to keep reading, I don't. Life is too short to waste on books you hate, especially when you have a never-ending reading list. I admit I don't always follow this rule completely. If it's an author I've read before and liked, obviously I'm more willing to give them a chance. If it looks like it might be a slow burn but there's something (a concept, a character, or anything) that catches my interest, I might wait a little longer to see if the story catches fire. But at some point, the story does have to catch fire.

Yeah, I'm getting old and my eyes aren't what they used to be. Five pages max. If the book hasn't grabbed me by then, then I'm better off finding something else to read. Not enough time, too many books.

As an English major, I had to read many books I did't like, but many that I did. If I purchase a book, I am pretty sure already that I will like it because I put a lot of thought into it. When my brother, Kenfusion, recommends a book, I know I will like it. If the book is by an AWer, I will read it even if it isn't what I would usually seek out. I have not been disappointed yet!

First chapter, or until the third glaring mistake. I'm vicious when browsing - I read to reject.

Usually if the first chapter hooks me, I'll read the rest.

I don't have a rule. I have abandoned books less than one paragraph in and I have given up on books 200 pages in. Usually that happens when the book stresses me out or angers me too much, not because it's boring. I gave up on Where Did You Go, Bernadette even though I thought it was excellent because I could relate so well to the petty grievances in the story that it was making me all stressed out. I gave up on Khaled Hosseini's latest book 3/4 of the way in because it was just too heart-wrenching. As I get older, I guess I just feel like life is stressful enough without having to read stories which break my hippoheart and make me all depressed the entire day.

I read to the end. But I'm pretty judicious in choosing books. I've only been badly disappointed about eight times, and two of those were on the same book. (BRILLIANT book, except for the end. It wuz all a dreem)

ETA: It was really a fantastic book, up to that point.

ETA2: No - really. It was.

Nothing quite so specific. I read until I don't want to. My thing is I'm a reluctant reader so I have to put an effort into reading the beginning of anything, even if it's brilliant. Heck the first chapter of THE HUNGER GAMES took a lot of work for me and by the end of the book I was cancelling plans with people so I could finish reading it. So for me it's always a struggle at the beginning. And can take a couple chapters for me to get into something. But if I never get into it, I just kind of stop reading. I don't even really notice I've stopped. It just happens.

Putputt said:

I don't have a rule. I have abandoned books less than one paragraph in and I have given up on books 200 pages in. Usually that happens when the book stresses me out or angers me too much, not because it's boring. I gave up on Where Did You Go, Bernadette even though I thought it was excellent because I could relate so well to the petty grievances in the story that it was making me all stressed out. I gave up on Khaled Hosseini's latest book 3/4 of the way in because it was just too heart-wrenching. As I get older, I guess I just feel like life is stressful enough without having to read stories which break my hippoheart and make me all depressed the entire day.

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This is pretty much my take. At some point, I might think, "that's just too stupid," and set it aside. In another case, there was a historical tome that I took back to the library after about 15 pages. The author was damn well going to use EVERY piece of research into that novel, and that was a bestseller! Then there's the one nonfiction book that I stopped about halfway through. The layout made me exhausted (very narrow margins, tight font, huge paragraphs with a tiny paragraph-start indent).

I don't have a "rule" but if I'm not into it by the time I have to put the book down the first time, I'm not likely to ever pick it up again.

If the first few pages don't grab me I won't read the book. I've abandoned a lot of books! If it's an author that I usually love I will make an exception and read the first few chapters to see if it improves.

auzerais said:

I do not feel honor bound to finish a book just because I started it, and I only read as far as I want to, whether that's 25, 50, or a hundred pages. I will give up on a book ten pages from the end if I really can't bear to continue. Life is short and my reading list is long.

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This is my take too. I think I was in my 30s when I finally realized, "Hey! I don't have to finish this book!" and tossed one aside.

Now I stop when I lose interest. Or if I'm somewhat interested, I might skim a lot. Skip a few pages and catch up with the plot. Skip some more.

And a couple of nights ago, I walked out of a movie at a theater, after about 20 minutes. We'd driven about 25 minutes to get to the place, which was showing a film we'd missed seeing close by. My husband wanted to see it, I was indifferent. "Jupiter Ascending," if you're wondering.

When we pulled into the parking lot I noticed a Barnes & Noble across the way. Went to the movie, I was bored quickly, and then whispered to my husband that I was going to leave and go to the B&N. He wasn't surprised. The movie was just $3.50 (second-run theater) so I didn't feel bad about abandoning it.

And spent the next 2 hours at the bookstore. Big improvement! My husband said even he, who likes a lot of special effects, said the movie wasn't very good.

Yeah, life is too short to read books I'm not interested in and to watch movies that are meh.

The other 200 pages might be equivalent to an afternoon writing or playing video games with a friend. Which do I value more?

I'll be honest. I picked up a book in a coffee shop recently, flipped to the first page, saw it didn't have paragraphs, and put it down after two sentences.

I like to buy my books, rather than go to the library. As such I don't ever buy one I'm even a tiny bit unsure I'll enjoy. It's rare I don't finish the book I've started.

Toothpaste said:

But if I never get into it, I just kind of stop reading. I don't even really notice I've stopped. It just happens.

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Any book I've ever stopped reading went like that. No rule or anything, and I didn't even really say this sucks I'm not going to read anymore. I might put it down one afternoon to go do something and forget about it.

But I finish about everything I read. Now I don't take too many chances like books out of my interest zone, so that plays a part. Regardless, I'll still give anything a fair shot. Which for me is way more than a couple of pages. Besides, I have wasted time in ways much worse than reading

Last book I stopped reading was Twilight. My arm was twisted something awful to make me read it. And I gave it a for real fair shot. I think I made it halfway and that was a struggle.

It's pretty rare that I don't finish a book. Really, a book has to just BORE me into not finishing it. Anything else, even active and passionate hate, and I still usually finish.

As others have said, some of it is an investment thing—I've spent enough time with this book already, I want to see SOME kind of pay off for it.

I also emotionally check out, especially if it's a book I dislike. I'll start reading it critically, dissecting exactly why I dislike it, what I would do differently, etc. It becomes a study exercise rather than a reading-for-enjoyment kind of thing.

I usually only stop reading a book if it is put aside (for sleep or because I want to eat or pour a drink or have another job to do or...) and I forget to pick it up again.

The fact I don't pick it up again is usually because it didn't hold my interest enough for me to be bothered to pick it up again.

I love the Jack Reacher series but a couple of his are still unfinished for that very reason.

Another reason for not giving you reader any excuse to put your book down - chapter breaks for example that are not at a point where the reader is left desperate to find out what happens next.

if I am not enjoying the book I jump some pages 80 or more and see if it improves, and if not I stop reading.

You know, there are so many books and so little time.
So the 50 page rule definitely works for me.

I read really quickly. So a book of average length isn't actually that huge a time commitment -- if I'm enjoying it, I rip through it; if I'm not, I skim to the end because I always want to know what happens. The depth and closeness of my reading depends on how much I'm enjoying the text but even if I'm not totally engrossed, I'm thinking about WHY I didn't enjoy something so I can work on that in my own craft.

My wife is crazy about Terry Pratchett but I can't read his books.

For me, it depends on both what made me pick up the book in the first place and why I'm tempted to put it down.

If the writing is bad, down it goes, usually by page 3. If the writing is fine but I'm just not hooked for whatever reason, I'll give it a few chapters. A few of my favorite books are slow to warm up. If the author is someone I've read and liked in the past, and/or the book was well-reviewed by a source I trust, I'm even more forgiving. If it's something I picked up on a whim because the blurb sounded interesting, I won't push on if it's not engaging me.

Putputt said:

Usually that happens when the book stresses me out or angers me too much, not because it's boring.

<snip>

As I get older, I guess I just feel like life is stressful enough without having to read stories which break my hippoheart and make me all depressed the entire day.

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I feel ya, hippo. I feel ya.

Toothpaste said:

Nothing quite so specific. I read until I don't want to.

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Ahyup!

laazy said:

I like to buy my books, rather than go to the library. As such I don't ever buy one I'm even a tiny bit unsure I'll enjoy. It's rare I don't finish the book I've started.

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+1

I usually vet my purchases until there's no secrets left for it to give up. I have never minded spoilers so I especially seek those out. I hate being blindsided by depressing/enraging surprises. If I'm in a physical book store, I'll page 69 it to see if the writing engages me.

If after all that, I get the book. There's a very high probability that I will finish it.

Sage said:

If I read to page 50, it's more likely that I'll finish the book because I've already invested that much time into it. I'm more likely to decide not to finish at some earlier point.

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This is usually my stance. If I've ready fifty pages of a 300-page book, I've read a sixth of it. I'd feel uncomfortable putting it down and not finishing it.