tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3337042377966398742.post5482819694361486384..comments2024-02-22T07:47:22.661-05:00Comments on The Bathroom Monologues: Broke My New Years ResolutionJohn Wiswellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07416044628686736927noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3337042377966398742.post-92041632011837506262012-04-11T05:41:43.783-04:002012-04-11T05:41:43.783-04:00I will put a book down if I don't like it to s...I will put a book down if I don't like it to start with and come back later, sometimes that works and sometimes it doesn't. If it doesn't I give the book a wave good bye. There is no point reading something that is not an enjoyable experience, when this happens I pass the book on.Helen A. Howellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12748128819820230841noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3337042377966398742.post-69045265024908335112012-04-10T18:19:01.999-04:002012-04-10T18:19:01.999-04:00I try hard to finish books and, like you, will giv...I try hard to finish books and, like you, will give them second and third chances. These days I am getting better at simply giving up. There are many, many books I enjoy or learn from or both. If a book cannot manage either I recycle it. Someone else may benefit and it clears space in my overloaded shelves.Elephant's Childhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06650565833097914052noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3337042377966398742.post-28735552571018831182012-04-10T14:01:29.566-04:002012-04-10T14:01:29.566-04:00I wonder if that "finish your dinner" me...I wonder if that "finish your dinner" mentality, drilled into most of us by our parents, bleeds over into reading. It makes sense — as eating can be both pleasure and nourishment, reading can be both pleasure and mental nourishment. It's when the pleasure is not there, is when we have the problem.<br /><br />I never thought about the idea that a publisher or agent could make life difficult over a negative review. Having said that, I will stand by my one-star review of <i>The Road</i>. When books with little (or no) plot and character development get not only published but hyped, that hurts everyone far more than an egalitarian publishing platform. The writers of "dross" can point to such work as evidence that attention to craft is unnecessary.<br /><br />So what works have earned a big "DNF" this year?Larry Kollarhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08317037795075278427noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3337042377966398742.post-61094664425661645482012-04-10T13:33:25.350-04:002012-04-10T13:33:25.350-04:00My hubs very seldom quits a book in midstream. He...My hubs very seldom quits a book in midstream. He's read mny things that I would find mind-numbing, many of which he claims to have enjoyed. He's a fast reader, though, and travels a lot so it's not a huge investment or opportunity cost if he doesn't like a book. I, on the other hand, am a painfully slow reader. Many years ago I arbitrarily decide that if I wasn't intrigued by a book by page 50, it had to be set aside. When time and enthusiasm are short, though, this results in my setting aside a good many books, which could be a net loss. There are downsides to both approaches and probably there's a happy medium in there somewhere that I have yet to find.PJhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07521953491880916840noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3337042377966398742.post-61949398943610980752012-04-10T13:12:16.472-04:002012-04-10T13:12:16.472-04:00I used to feel that I was 'quitting' if I ...I used to feel that I was 'quitting' if I stopped a book because I didn't like it. So what happened was I just stopped reading until I slogged through the book I should have dropped. This is not a good thing. So when I get bored with a book, I just drop it and move on. Too many good things out there to read to read something I'm not interested in.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16518183823230864763noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3337042377966398742.post-11388134947428733902012-04-10T12:32:09.410-04:002012-04-10T12:32:09.410-04:00I'm a slow reader, and a generally grumpy revi...I'm a slow reader, and a generally grumpy reviewer. Around the same time I decided that my New Year resolution should be to not buy more books (I have too many unread books), I decided that I didn't have time to push through books I disliked. But, yes, I feel slightly guilty about it. Or rather, that I feel I'm not seeing some quality that should make the book compelling to me. I've never considered going back and rereading a novel I didn't like, though a few come to mind that I might take a second look at. (Like Animal Farm, in fact.)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3337042377966398742.post-86522948264375965772012-04-10T09:47:34.775-04:002012-04-10T09:47:34.775-04:00I can see both sides. I like to give a book a good...I can see both sides. I like to give a book a good honest shot before I give up on it, but if I'm starting it for the fourth time without finishing, or forcing myself to read on, it's not really worth it, is it?<br /><br />I htink you can learn from a bad book without finishing it. All you have to figure out is why you don't want to read on.Lauritahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03688820247531607677noreply@blogger.com