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Fiction

bif

(26,150 posts) Thu Jul 18, 2019, 08:09 AM Jul 2019

I usually give a book 50 pages before I give up. How about you?

Life is too short to read something mediocre. If a book doesn't grab me in the first 50 pages, I put it down and move on.

9 replies

= new reply since forum marked as read

Highlight:

I usually give a book 50 pages before I give up. How about you? (Original Post) bif Jul 2019 OP

I usually give a book 75 pages. madaboutharry Jul 2019 #1

Same for me.... Zoonart Jul 2019 #4

Max of 5 pages, but usually just a few paragraphs. The only fiction I've found worth in2herbs Jul 2019 #2

51 pages True Dough Jul 2019 #3

Funny! bif Jul 2019 #6

Forty for me. Polly Hennessey Jul 2019 #5

No set number of pages. PoindexterOglethorpe Jul 2019 #7

I've given up on page 5. Tracer Jul 2019 #8

I give it to the end of the Amazon sample yellowdogintexas Aug 2019 #9

madaboutharry

(41,993 posts)

1. I usually give a book 75 pages.

Reply to bif (Original post)

Thu Jul 18, 2019, 08:17 AM

Jul 2019

There are several goalposts for me. When reading fiction I need to find a character I care about. Non-fiction needs to be written well and the topic explained in a way I understand. Dry and boring may result in an adjustment to my page limit!

Zoonart

(13,711 posts)

4. Same for me....

Reply to madaboutharry (Reply #1)

Thu Jul 18, 2019, 08:57 AM

Jul 2019

thought I have been seeing a lot of really poor fiction lately and have given up at under 50 pages.

in2herbs

(3,874 posts)

2. Max of 5 pages, but usually just a few paragraphs. The only fiction I've found worth

Reply to bif (Original post)

Thu Jul 18, 2019, 08:26 AM

Jul 2019

reading is Harry Potter. Otherwise, always non-fiction.

True Dough

(24,053 posts)

3. 51 pages

Reply to bif (Original post)

Thu Jul 18, 2019, 08:40 AM

Jul 2019

I find people who only give 50 are just lacking patience.

bif

(26,150 posts)

6. Funny!

Reply to True Dough (Reply #3)

Thu Jul 18, 2019, 11:00 AM

Jul 2019

Polly Hennessey

(8,052 posts)

5. Forty for me.

Reply to bif (Original post)

Thu Jul 18, 2019, 09:56 AM

Jul 2019

PoindexterOglethorpe

(28,039 posts)

7. No set number of pages.

Reply to bif (Original post)

Thu Jul 18, 2019, 02:36 PM

Jul 2019

If it simply doesn't grab me, I stop reading. If I am not liking it, I rarely get 50 pages in.

I will say that I cannot abide books written in the present tense. Those don't make it beyond the first paragraph.

And yes, life is absolutely too short to waste time reading a book that doesn't work for you.

Tracer

(2,769 posts)

8. I've given up on page 5.

Reply to bif (Original post)

Tue Jul 23, 2019, 09:45 AM

Jul 2019

When the writing is so awful that I wonder how on earth the book ever got printed.

I've also slogged through to the end, as I did with that extremely boring best-seller "A Gentleman in Moscow".

yellowdogintexas

(23,401 posts)

9. I give it to the end of the Amazon sample

Reply to bif (Original post)

Fri Aug 2, 2019, 07:10 PM

Aug 2019

LOL I get a lot of free and 99cent books from the various sites which send you lists.

If I see one that is appealing, I read the sample.

Because of these daily lists I have discovered a large number of great series which I might otherwise never have found.

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