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Reading Room:  how long does it take you to know...  |
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farmmilkmama
True Blue Farmgirl
2027 Posts
Amy
Central MN
USA
2027 Posts |
 Posted - Jan 23 2012 : 7:24:00 PM
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...if you're going to like the book you're reading?
I've been told I'm a VERY picky reader.  I can always tell in the first chapter if its a (fiction) book I'm going to like and if it hasn't sparked my attention by then, I don't continue. Anyone else like this, or are you more "forgiving"? 
--* FarmMilkMama *--
Farmgirl Sister #1086
Be yourself.
Everyone else is already taken.
-Oscar Wilde
www.farmfoodmama.blogspot.com
www.thehmmmschoolingmom.blogspot.com |
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knittingmom
True Blue Farmgirl
665 Posts
AnneMarie
Edmonton
Alberta
Canada
665 Posts |
Posted - Jan 23 2012 : 7:25:45 PM
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First few chapters and then I skip to the end (bad I know) but if it doesn't grab my attention, it just doesn't. (I don't skip ahead in books I'm enjoying though :) )
Farmgirl Sister #3759
"There is no foot so small that it cannot leave an imprint on this world"
"The things that matter most are not really things after all" |
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farmmilkmama
True Blue Farmgirl
2027 Posts
Amy
Central MN
USA
2027 Posts |
Posted - Jan 23 2012 : 7:35:02 PM
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Ooh! Skip to the end! I never thought of that....
There's a reason I pick the books up at the library, and I skim them thinking "Yeah, this looks good!" but then I get them home and can't get into them. Skip to the end! At least then you'd get the point of it...right?
--* FarmMilkMama *--
Farmgirl Sister #1086
Be yourself.
Everyone else is already taken.
-Oscar Wilde
www.farmfoodmama.blogspot.com
www.thehmmmschoolingmom.blogspot.com |
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jessabelluh
True Blue Farmgirl
349 Posts
Jessica
South Dakota
USA
349 Posts |
Posted - Jan 24 2012 : 05:06:03 AM
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When looking at books in the library, I pull one off the shelf and read the back (or inside cover) for a little information, if it sounds good, I will usually read the first page. Reading the first page will almost never steer me wrong in deciding if it is something that I will enjoy or not.
~jess |
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grammytammy
True Blue Farmgirl
585 Posts
Tamara
Binghamton
ny
USA
585 Posts |
Posted - Jan 24 2012 : 06:51:13 AM
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100 pages only. I now have a Kindle and haven't set a % read to end with.
FarmGirl 2495
God loved us so much He gave His only son to die in our stead. |
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edlund33
True Blue Farmgirl
1503 Posts
Marilyn
Renton
WA
USA
1503 Posts |
Posted - Jan 24 2012 : 07:48:35 AM
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I usually check the inside and outside covers, and maybe the foreward first. Reviews on Amazon are also helpful. If it sounds good I'll read for at least 100 pages. Sometimes I'll sneak peek in the middle or the end if it's really boring. But I usually try to get myself to read the entire book once I've started even if it isn't catching my interest. I've read some great books that really came together for me at the very end, and then I was able to look back on the earlier information with a whole different perspective. This happened most recently for me with the book "Secret Life of Bees" by Sue Monk Kidd. I like surprises, so for me it's usually been worth the effort to read the whole book.
Cheers! ~ Marilyn
Farm Girl No. 1100
http://blueskyanddaisies.blogspot.com
Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail. - Ralph Waldo Emerson |
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farmmilkmama
True Blue Farmgirl
2027 Posts
Amy
Central MN
USA
2027 Posts |
Posted - Jan 24 2012 : 08:17:18 AM
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So if there is something that turns you off to a book you thought you might like, what is it? For me, it's generally the writing style or the voice. I might think its going to be a good book or have potential but when I finally get into the voice of the narrator, if it bugs me...it's outta here!
--* FarmMilkMama *--
Farmgirl Sister #1086
Be yourself.
Everyone else is already taken.
-Oscar Wilde
www.farmfoodmama.blogspot.com
www.thehmmmschoolingmom.blogspot.com |
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Amie C.
True Blue Farmgirl
2099 Posts
Finger Lakes Region
NY
2099 Posts |
Posted - Jan 24 2012 : 09:35:57 AM
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Usually I can tell from reading a few pages. Once I get into a book, there are very few I won't see through to the end. Often I don't know for certain what I think about a book until months, even years later, when my mind has had time to sort out the wheat from the chaff, so to speak.
But when the very last chapter ruins it, that's the worst! |
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traildancer
True Blue Farmgirl
485 Posts
Loyce
Glide
OR
USA
485 Posts |
Posted - Jan 24 2012 : 10:39:41 AM
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I will read the frontsipiece and can often tell if I even want to check out the book. Once I start to read I can usually tell in the first chapter. Sometimes the writing style is just too pedantic. A few times I have stuck it out for more than one chapter hoping for improvement. Doesn't happen. But I make exception for the classics.
I HAD to read so many books and retain information in college that I don't waste my time on something I don't like. Plus I no longer read for retention. Solely for pleasure.
The trail is the thing.... Louis L'Amour |
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GirlwithHook
True Blue Farmgirl
922 Posts
Alyce
Madison
WI
USA
922 Posts |
Posted - Jan 24 2012 : 11:40:53 AM
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Gosh...a couple of chapters, maybe? I sometimes do the "peek to the end" thing too. What turns me off varies a lot, but it's usually the writing style. I remember that I tried several years ago to read a memoir written by a college student who was raising his brother, but the entire thing was so full of text-speak and smug hipster-ness that I put it down without even checking it out of the library.
On a similar note, has anyone abandoned a series without finishing it? I basically did that with the Harry Potter books: devoured the first four, was uncertain about the fifth (although it grew on me), hated the sixth, and put the seventh down unfinished. (Please don't ever ask me about J.K. Rowling and characterization unless you want to see smoke pour out of my ears!)
A hook, a book, and a good cup of coffee.... |
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jessabelluh
True Blue Farmgirl
349 Posts
Jessica
South Dakota
USA
349 Posts |
Posted - Jan 24 2012 : 2:53:22 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by farmmilkmama
So if there is something that turns you off to a book you thought you might like, what is it? For me, it's generally the writing style or the voice.
That's what usually does it for me too.
~jess |
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Bear5
True Blue Farmgirl
13055 Posts
Louisiana/Texas
USA
13055 Posts |
Posted - Jan 24 2012 : 3:06:04 PM
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I usually know the book will be good by the first chapter. But even if I don't know, I cannot not finish reading a book.
Marly
"It's only when we truly know and understand that we have a limited time on earth- and that we have no way of knowing when our time is up- that we will begin to live each day to the fullest, as if it was the only one we had." Elisabeth Kurler-Ross |
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Amie C.
True Blue Farmgirl
2099 Posts
Finger Lakes Region
NY
2099 Posts |
Posted - Jan 24 2012 : 5:24:37 PM
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Alyce, I gave up on Philip Pullman's "His Dark Materials" series with only a couple of chapters left to go. Not a huge fan of Harry Potter, but I thought this series was worse. It started out with such promise, but then turned out to be simply mean-spirited and derivative. That whole long anthropological episode in the second book was just a rip-off of CS Lewis' "Out of the Silent Planet"--and so many other ways in which he seemed to be trying soooooo hard to be the anti-Lewis.
Also, his strong female protagonist got so much weaker as soon as her male counterpart came into the story...it bugged me that even their names seemed to be casting them as representatives of gender-assigned qualities: "Will", reason and action; "Lyra", poetry and the arts. Grrr...sorry, I don't want to bore you all or insult the many people who really loved these books. Zipping it! |
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avlfarmgirl
Farmgirl in Training
14 Posts
Cameron
Asheville
NC
USA
14 Posts |
Posted - Jan 24 2012 : 6:14:57 PM
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First sentence--should be engaging and well written, regardless if it's a guilty pleasure or a learning opportunity
It's what you do that makes your soul. ~Barbara Kingsolver |
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graciegreeneyes
True Blue Farmgirl
3107 Posts
Amy Grace
Rosalia
WA
USA
3107 Posts |
Posted - Jan 24 2012 : 7:36:24 PM
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Definitely writing style and voice for me - I am pretty picky too. Any more I give it two chapters, then it's over if it hasn't caught my attention or sympathy. There are just too many books in the world that I'm never going to have the time to read to waste time on one I don't like:)
Amy Grace
Farmgirl #224
"use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without"
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AmethystRose
True Blue Farmgirl
254 Posts
Rosemary
Huntingdon
PA
USA
254 Posts |
Posted - Jan 25 2012 : 07:06:39 AM
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| I gave up on Diana Gabaldon's series a few books ago. I read the first one when my daughter was a baby. It was supposed to be three books. The daughter is now twenty one, and the series isn't finished. I also had the Outlandish Companion, a reference book which you needed to refresh your memory when the next book in the series was released. When she released books that were not part of the series, I lost interest. |
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traildancer
True Blue Farmgirl
485 Posts
Loyce
Glide
OR
USA
485 Posts |
Posted - Jan 25 2012 : 1:28:33 PM
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I have read all the Diana Gabaldon books (the Outlander series) except the newest one. I really enjoyed them. However, I tried to read her Lord John books (I think that's what they are called) and just couldn't.
The trail is the thing.... Louis L'Amour |
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sjmjgirl
True Blue Farmgirl
566 Posts
Stephanie
Mt. Vernon
Iowa
USA
566 Posts |
Posted - Jan 25 2012 : 8:15:14 PM
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I read the book cover mostly. It has to be really, really bad for me to give up on a book.
Farmgirl Sister # 3810
Learn the rules so you know how to break them properly.
- Dalai Lama |
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vintagediva1
True Blue Farmgirl
1251 Posts
Michele
Brighton
Michigan
USA
1251 Posts |
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buggysmum
True Blue Farmgirl
110 Posts
Shelly
110 Posts |
Posted - Feb 01 2012 : 05:03:24 AM
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| I am really picky about my reading. Probably too picky. But I usually give it around 3 or 4 chapters before I give up, unless the writing is awful, and then I give up sooner, because it's just not worth the time. |
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Melina
True Blue Farmgirl
435 Posts
Melina
USA
435 Posts |
Posted - Feb 01 2012 : 08:34:12 AM
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I usually give it a couple of chapters. I have to be able to identify with a character or I just can't do it. I'm too old to waste time on a book which is a chore to finish. I'm the same way with movies and tv shows. Guess I'm just getting cranky in my old age!
The morning breeze has secrets to tell you. Do not go back to sleep.
Rumi |
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Bayou Girl
True Blue Farmgirl
252 Posts
Jennifer
Star City
Arkansas
USA
252 Posts |
Posted - Feb 01 2012 : 08:56:18 AM
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| I agree with many of you. I will allow three or four chapters to "get into" a book. I really liked the Mortal Instruments series (well the first three books, anyway). Then, C. Clare published a prequel to the series and I didn't like it at all. It has turned me off from continuing the original series. |
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mudpony farmgirl
True Blue Farmgirl
57 Posts
Jo
USA
57 Posts |
Posted - Feb 14 2012 : 3:50:25 PM
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| I must be really picky I guess! I know from the first paragraph! The voice has to catch me right away or it's a no-go! |
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kathleenshoop
True Blue Farmgirl
102 Posts
kathleen
oakmont
pa
USA
102 Posts |
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kathleenshoop
True Blue Farmgirl
102 Posts
kathleen
oakmont
pa
USA
102 Posts |
Posted - Mar 01 2012 : 06:50:26 AM
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Identifying with characters...that's such an interesting notion! It's funny how the same character can evoke the sense of "identifying" in one person and not in another. I guess that's why there are so many books in the world! From an author's perspective, that's the hard part--creating characters that are specific and unique, yet somehow appeal to a wide audience!
http://www.amazon.com/Winner--Best-Regional-Fiction-Midwest-ebook/dp/B004XR50K6/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1311971654&sr=8-2
Author, The Last Letter, The novel for every daughter who thinks she knows her mother's story...
AFTER the FOG...coming May, 2012 |
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Melissa_Foster
Farmgirl at Heart
6 Posts
Melissa
Williamsport
Maryland
USA
6 Posts |
Posted - Mar 02 2012 : 06:38:43 AM
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When I read a book, if the first chapter doesn't hook me, I put it down and pick up another--but I usually return to it another time to see if it was just that moment in time, or I was in a different mood. Quite often I then enjoy the books.
Enjoy each and every day, no one else can do it for you. Read, write, pay-it-forward.
www.MelissaFoster.com
Check out my books: http://amzn.to/rrYSPA |
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Reading Room: how long does it take you to know... |
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how long does it take you to know...
