Booking through Thursday asks: If you’re not enjoying a book, will you stop mid-way? Or do you push through to the end? What makes you decide to stop?
It's rare that I find a book I don't enjoy, because I tend to rifle through books before I leave the library with them. I examine them to ensure that the author's style is readable. There are occasions in which a book fails to 'grab' me, at which point I simply switch to another book: I'm constantly reading, and don't want to stopped. I'll return to the book every few days to see if it clicks, but if not it'll find its way back to the library. Unfinished books are like challenges to my honor, though: I will seek satisfaction, provided I didn't quit out of disgust. It took me three tries scattered across two years to read The Selfish Gene, for instance, but after I did a little background reading in biology I made it through. (My hurdle was the section of the book that focused on chromosomal crossover.)
There are times in which I make myself work through a book: maybe it's mandatory reading for school, or because I am determined to learn about the subject, read something from the author, or finish the book because it has a reputation. Most of my school texts have been interesting, though it takes force of will to make it through articles by Max Weber. Sometimes books are hard to get into, but with a little perseverence I can crack its shell and start making progress.
Hey, sometimes books don't deserve to be read. As a librarian I am constantly telling students that it is OK to abandon a book, but they have to give it a fair start. I like Nancy Pearl's rule: Read 100 minus age before abandoning.
ReplyDeleteHere's my blog:
http://headfullofbooks.blogspot.com/
Where are you a librarian? I am a high school librarian-teacher at a public school in Washington State.
-Anne
Alas, I am not yet a librarian; I have to get that MLS first. I hope to be a public librarian somewhere after that, though. :)
ReplyDeleteIt was a liberating moment when I realized I didn't HAVE to muddle through a book. There are so many wonderful things to read and time is precious. I can put it down if I don't like it (even Fannie Flagg).
ReplyDeleteI am a former U of M student. Montevallo is a lovely campus!
This is my first time meeting a fellow Falcon on here: a pleasure!
ReplyDelete(I used to have a link to the UM library up here, but I thought the library links cluttered things up...)
BTW - If you haven't already been around to my place I've posted my version of the 55 question book meme you had here a while ago.
ReplyDelete