Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I am asking this because I am trying to read an old book of James Patterson, who writes thrillers/horror. This one seems to be a dud so far: "Black Friday." From 1986. First published as "Black Market."
I am going into Chapter 14(they are short chapters) but by now most of his books should have gotten my attention in a good way. Usually by the first or second page. I guess some of his earlier works aren't the best...
How many chapters will you suffer through to try to get into a book before you toss it? Or do you just keep reading in hopes it will get better?
I don't really go by Chapters, I usually just read until I've had enough. I try to give it a "fair" chance which is usually about a quarter of the way in - I figure if it hasn't grabbed me that point, it probably won't ever. But sometimes I don't even make it to that point or sometimes I'll read to the half way point. Once I finished a book I wasn't enjoying because several reviews said it picked up in the second half - which it did but it still wasn't great.
If I don't like the first few pages, I will skip ahead and try chapter 2, and if I don't like that after a couple of pages, I'm out of it. I can do that at the library, so I rarely get a book home that I don't finish.
However, at the library, I usually just open the book to a random spot, and read a page. If I'm not yet sold, I'll pick another random page. That's a pretty good indicator.
I'm not conscious of this, but when I get to the place where I'm bored beyond what's fair, I look at the number on the page, and it is always somewhere between 50 and 60 pages.
Location: Montreal -> CT -> MA -> Montreal -> Ottawa
17,330 posts, read 33,025,722 times
Reputation: 28903
Sometimes I suffer through too many. (The book that I'm currently reading may -- Man Walks Into a Room by Nicole Krauss be one of those, but I'll try for a bit longer.)
Sometimes I don't suffer through enough. Say what? I think that I hate the book, I put it on the shelf, and a month or a year later, I'll pick it up again and love it. Must've been the right book but at the wrong time before.
Sometimes I suffer through too many. (The book that I'm currently reading may -- Man Walks Into a Room by Nicole Krauss be one of those, but I'll try for a bit longer.)
Sometimes I don't suffer through enough. Say what? I think that I hate the book, I put it on the shelf, and a month or a year later, I'll pick it up again and love it. Must've been the right book but at the wrong time before.
Girls are so fickle........ Joooooooooking, ladies..
I'm good for about 50 pages, but that's IF I like the voice, and you can tell that within a page or two. If I do like the voice then it's a question of whether the story grabs me.
Location: Montreal -> CT -> MA -> Montreal -> Ottawa
17,330 posts, read 33,025,722 times
Reputation: 28903
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mr. Humble
Girls are so fickle........ Joooooooooking, ladies..
I'm good for about 50 pages, but that's IF I like the voice, and you can tell that within a page or two. If I do like the voice then it's a question of whether the story grabs me.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
