This is only part of my TBR pile ...
Today, we’re going to delve into all your dirty little secrets — reading secrets, that is.
When Gwen Hernandez, one of my Starcatcher sisters, posted about sometimes not finishing a book she’s started, it got me thinking.
Her argument against slogging through something she’s not into:
Why waste valuable hours reading a book I don’t enjoy?
It makes complete sense. As we all know, there are only so many hours in the day. When we’re trying to write, work out, cook, tend to the day job — and families if we have them — it leaves precious little leisure time for reading.
Yet I’m one of those people who slogs through every book I start. It may take me a while to pull it off my TBR pile, but once I have a book in my hand, I finish the darn thing. Even if it takes me a month … or I’d rather be visiting the dentist than reading it …
I’m not sure where this attitude comes from. Maybe it’s a remnant from my college days, when reading was my job. As a journalism major who took a lot of English lit and creative writing classes, I read tons. Even the semester I spent in England, when I probably should have been focused on exploring a foreign country, I took a full course load that included French lit, Literature and Politics, and Shakespeare. (I couldn’t pass up the chance to take a class on Shakespeare in England, from a British prof, now could I?)
Maybe it’s just what I refer to as my good, old-fashioned Midwestern work ethic. I also can’t call in sick when I’m not really sick. Heck, I work even when I’m sick … I have to be in bed, unable to move, before I throw in the towel and take a sick day.
Whatever the reason, I finish the books I start. It’s a good thing, then, that I tend to only start books I know I’ll enjoy. I usually stick with contemporary and historical romances, with the occasional weighty book club pick.
Hmm. Now that I think about it, I can’t say I always finish the books I start. Sometimes I don’t finish my book club selections. Case in point: “Edgar Sawtelle.” I don’t care if it was one of Oprah’s picks, I didn’t like it. Too lyrical— and it was obviously heading toward a bad end, seeing as it was a modern retelling of “Hamlet” (one of my favorite Shakespeare plays, by the way.) Trudy and Claude? Please.
How about you? Do you finish the books you start? Or do you refuse to waste time on books that don’t hold your interest?
I want to know!
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I used to finish every book I started.
Now – no way. Too many books in the TBR pile. And it’s not like the book has to be BAD. It might just not be my thing.
I do finish books of people I know (thankfully having teeth pulled is usually not the better choice) or if someone recommended it, I might give it a longer shot. Heh – when I have people read Outlander, I tell them “read it until she goes through the stones. Then if you still don’t like it, you can stop.” And they don’t. *laugh*
I still haven’t read that one … but thanks to the freebies at Nationals, it’s now in the pile.
I hear you on reading the books from people you know. As I meet more and more authors, it’s getting harder and harder to read all of them, though.
Thanks for the mention, Arlene. I’m not sure where I originally picked up the idea that I had to finish all books I started. A sense of pride I guess. I still don’t often put down a book once I start, but it’s now an option in my time management arsenal. 😉
I think I need to borrow a page from your playbook.
I used to be the same way. I would finish a book no matter what. After a while, though, I realized I was spending so much time not reading just because I didn’t want to read THAT book. There are so many books on my to-read list that I didn’t want to waste valuable time I could be spending on those. I still often give it a really good try, though. But at 50%, if I don’t care one way or the other about the characters, I’m done.
That sounds like a good policy. I should probably get real about the books in my TBR pile.I have some that I’ll probably never read.