What makes you put a book down?

It depends on the book, the main thing though is if I'm not engaged anymore, I'll keep reading but if it still doesn't engage me then I'll put it down.

But, I will use Mini Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella as an example. This is part of a series, and I hadn't read the previous books, thankfully. The main character, whose name I can't even remember, has no sense whatsoever. All she cares about is shopping, and she's a terrible mother and... actually, I don't want to think about it. I was annoyed at her. There's a financial crisis so she decided to throw a huge expensive surprise party for her boyfriend or something, and basically everything she did made me want to strangle her. It was very vaguely funny at some points, but needless to say, I soon put the book down after twenty pages? Maybe more, maybe less, I only got that far because I had to read it for university.

 

However Sophie Kinsella (whom I read and hate)is a far better example to use if the motivation of the question has roots in publish-abilty.... The pop-corny Kineslla sells !

 

Not better, just more stubborn. But as I get older, I find that is changing, at least when it comes to reading what I am not enjoying.

 

True. Writing romance genre fiction will make you rich.

 

Fiction or non-fiction?

Non-fiction can be risky, sometimes its highly opionated and poorly researched drivel. I have no problem putting trash away.

Fiction I am much more forgiving of because Im also a writer and know how hard it can be. The only fiction book I had to put down was written by a famous author I wont name because he has lost his art and was honestly boring me to death...:redface:

 

The two first books of the Shopaholic series were absolutely amazing and funny and despite all of the MCs faults and weird logic, you could understand her and see a little bit of yourself in it. And then it just went straight downhill. Or more like from the top to the bottom of a canyon. I'm scared of reading Mini Shopaholic, but I feel like I have to since I've read the rest of the series.

But anyway... a bad character that I can't connect with. A Wizard of Earthsea being the first book in mind when it comes to that. I was forced to read the whole book by my English teacher, and even at the end I had no idea who the character was, and everyone could have died at some point and I wouldn't have cared a bit about it. I would have put that book down very quickly if I had a choice.

 

I can't remember ever putting a book down, because I refuse to pick up something I know will be bad. Well, there was one book that was recommended to me by my goth friend: It was a YA novel written about a teenager about teenage vampires. This was ages ago. Probably when I was a sophomore.

All I remember was that it was crap. I gave up about two pages in.

I must be really stubborn because I read that book twice. There was even a period of time when I read her first novel, The Fountainhead, in high school and would walk around turning my nose up at everybody. But that sort of idiotic behavior would fizzle out once the memory of the reading the book died down.

 

bad writing
stupid plot element
unlikeable/unbelievable main character

 

I rarely put a book down once I start it, purely because it would bug the hell out of me for weeks that I didn't finish it (even if I didn't enjoy it).

I started reading Catch 22 years ago but for some reason or other I put it down (I wasn't not enjoying it just other things got in the way). It's been bugging me for years that I never finished this book so I bought a copy last week and I intend to re-read it!

I'm exactly the same with movies, If i start watching a movie, no matter how much I hate it I will sit through the entire thing. I've never walked out of a cinema/movie theatre early. :/

 

for me, I like to read books with deep character stories or battles they go through. if I start one that's just about the world like in a fantasy story or about other stuff, i will put it down.

i don't like horror too. I won't read those..

 

1. One thing that makes me put a book down is when an author has an ideal story that is cliché. How many times have you heard about a murderer wanting to try to rob the bank and the protagonist is one of the witnesses to the scene? How many times have you heard a romance story where the protagonist finally wins the woman’s heart?

2. One thing that makes me want to put the book down is when it takes too long to reach the central conflict of the story, like Mallory stated. I don’t want to hear your biography about what happened to you. What is the story about?

3. The author has complicated vocabulary, and I have to scan over the words or look into a dictionary for the word. Has anyone had that happen to them before? I would rather send the book to President Obama first before purchasing the book to see how he would like it first.

4. Disconnected chapters take me out of the focal point reading the book. I’ll surly put it down if the author talks about something about the main character and then talk about a totally different character without any connections to the main character. That’s why I only read the first two chapters of Gone, written by Michael Grant.

5. Too much back-story is the kiss or death of the author’s book, in my opinion. Better yet, I can’t stand to read books that have little or no descriptive narration. I would definitely put the book down if the opening story starts with the back story. I don’t think I would read the second paragraph, even if it is interesting. That makes me think that there will be more back-story/exposition than action.

6. There are some books that “tell” rather than show. Wouldn’t you put a book down if you picked up one that “tells?” I would.

7. I can’t stand to read first person novels, though some readers enjoy reading 1st person stories.

8. I’ve read books that have too much “luck,” if you know what I’m talking about; when the character has too much magic. This probably explains why I don’t read fantasies. This would question my suspension of disbelief.

 

Did you read any of the Harry Potter books? If so, did you find them kind of preachy? I did.

 

Wow guys, great responses!

Kat on page 1 - Teens discover through online research that fairies live in their town? And the fairies leave glitter? Lol...are you serious?

Yeah I don't like Chosen One stuff either, it's Sue-ish and annoying.........

Ok so quick question on something.

I'm currently writing a dystopian novel, where the factors that make the setting bad are things like totalitarianism, authoritarianism from the gov, surveillance/spying, etc...kind of like 1984 or V for Vendetta, and the main character starts a resistance group thingy that fails and then later she escapes somewhere else, but it's all about discovering freedom...I'm a Libertarian and this is obvious to anyone who reads the novel, because there are things that are deliberately similar to current issues...but I don't want to be preachy, either. Like I don't want to be annoying and ram stuff down my reader's throat, and I don't have any Ayn Rand-ish diatribes or anything, it's all pretty action based.

Is this an example of agenda-based writing? What are some steps I can take to make sure my story doesn't seem preachy?

This isn't why I started the thread, but some of the thread's responses motivated me to ask.

 

I'm not 'offended' easily contents-wise. There's much **** going on in the world, and being confronted with violence, -isms etc wouldn't bother me.

Similarly unlikeable characters can be more fascinating and interesting to read about than cookie-cutter stereotypes. Someone mentioned Hardy, so case in point for me is Michael Henchard.

What makes me put a book down is pretentiousness, too much description especially in the beginning (East of Eden was a struggle, although I liked it as it went on), but also inane and superficial plots or characters.

I'm open to many genres, but some wouldn't be my first choice to pick up in the first place, including the dreaded 'chick lit' and much of what comes from fantasy-land...

 

I must confess that I am one of the few people who have never read a Harry Potter book.

First of all, I guess everybody has his opinions, writers included, and it is going to be nearly impossible to keep them completely out of any book. That doesn't automatically make a book preachy. My advice would be, simply use common sense. Don't exaggerate, don't always be nice to the characters who happen to share your opinions and don't always be bad to those who don't. Don't paint everything black and white according to your agenda. Keep it reasonably realistic. Keep the third person narrator as a neutral observer (i.e. don't give him a judgemental tone).

 

I'm another one of that rare species, we could form an exclusive club!

 

I don't think I've actively put a book down per se - it's more that there have been a few (probably less than half a dozen) where I just haven't been bothered to pick it back up again. Usually this comes about through boredom if I'm honest.

 

If I am reading a book, I usually put it down. There hasn't been one book I haven't put down.

 

I think there are more of us than you realize. We are a hearty band!!

 

Thats ok I read them for both of you !!

 

I can honestly say I only remember one book I've put down and never picked back up again because I dislike it. That would Pride and Prejudice. I got 20 pages in, and didn't understand a word of it. So I put it back on my bookshelf. I'll pick it up again when I'm old and wise.

But getting back to the question: Predictable storylines and general fiction.

I hate general fiction because it's full of predictable story lines. What do I mean by predictable? Well, I'm a good guesser, if I can figure out the ending of a book, that's okay, I knew how Harry Potter would end by the third book, (I got it right). It's the 'how' that makes me keep reading then. But if I can figure out how a book is going to end, there's no point in me finishing it, it's boring. A lot of general fiction does that to me. And I hate it!

So now I read and write high fantasy, because you get a lot of wiggle room to make it different.

 

You're so good that way.

 

Or if it's Lord of the Rings

 

Two things that will make me put a book down:

1. A prologue. In fact, I often won't buy a book if there's a prologue.

2. A bunch of backstory at the beginning of the book (see #1; but it doesn't have to be in a prologue). I'd like for the author to get on with the story. I don't need the full history of your fantasy world, all of its religions, the crops that everyone grows, or what happened to the protagonist on their 4th birthday

 

Extremely long chapters with no breaks. I don't always have time to sit and read a 100 page chapter and I can't stop mid-chapter unless there is an obvious place to stop. Even a line break is enough. Something that will immediately tell me where I put the book down without having to backtrack.