How do you decide when to give up on a book?

I generally give up after 100 pages or so if it hasn't caught my interest by then.

Life is too short to slog through a book just because other people liked it.

Life is too short to read books you're not going to enjoy, OP.

My biggest enemy is boredom - I have to be engaged to keep reading. Although the last two books I've abandoned were for other reasons. One because of a graphic animal-abuse scene that I couldn't make it through and one that turned into a Christian novel half-way through. None of the reviews mentioned it, but apparently the author found god and released a new, improved printing featuring extra Jesus. Blech.

I usually know by about 20–30 pages in if I am going to continue to the end of a book.

There are too many great books out there to spend time on those that don't speak to you.

When it is too stressful, not-engaging, not-interesting, or not "well-researched."

I have never been ashamed in just straight up throwing a book down if I'm not in pretty quickly. Not everything is going to be everyone's taste, and classics of all genres can be dull if you don't find the premise interesting. Too many books out there to slog through anything lol

If I get bored, I drop it. Maybe I miss out on some gems that 'get good after the 7th chapter' or whatever, but I'm not fussed

Could be the first chapter, ¾ through the book, halfway through a series... If I'm bored I'm out lol

There are millions of books, no need to waste your time on a bad one. I go by my gut; if someone I know recommended it I'll stick it out longer. If it has lots of praise or I like the author I may read several chapters hoping it gets better.

I have no qualms quitting in chapter 1. I started Life of Pi and quit like 10 pages in because the main character is insufferable. I quit Dear Miss Metropolitan because I didn't like the style of narration; the story sounds great but I don't enjoy reading it so I move on.

Conversely, I've stuck it out with books that weren't what I expected but still were interesting. Song of Achilles was one of those; it turned out to be a gay bodice ripper but by the time I found that out I was already interested in the storyline and wanted to see it through.

I've dropped books for being boring, poor dialogue, incosistency, basically anything that majorly breaks my immersion. I was reading the newest book is Andrew Rowe's Arcane Ascension series, which I had loved up this point, and got to ch. 18 where he breaks all the rules of story writing and character development to basically go on a IRL political rant. I still havent picked that book back up.

When it becomes a chore. When the stupidity surpasses my ability to tolerate stupidity. When the writing is poor enough to detract from the story.

If I'm reading a book, I normally give it a couple of chapters. If I don't like the style of writing or the story isn't engaging, it's very unlikely that it will get better later on.

If I'm listening to an audiobook, I give it a lot longer because I'm usually doing something else while listening and there's less effort required to progress.

A recent exception is The Power. I read that until 49% because it was okay. Somewhat interesting but I just didn't care about the characters and I hated the writing style. I thought I should like it more because it was a bestseller and turned into a TV show. I got around to reading reviews which confirmed that it wasn't just me who didn't get it and I'm so glad I stopped. I should've dropped it after two chapters.

This is something I've struggled with. I read a lot of trending books in high school like Hunger Games and Twilight but ended up reading 50 Shades of Grey to the end and it honestly turned me off of reading for a while

I'm not the fastest reader so it really seemed like I just wasted a lot of time

30% in I ask myself if I want to continue. That's a fair shake.

If I get to about 40% of a book and I don't care about what happens to any of the characters, I'll just drop it.

I'll usually flip to a random page in a new book and read a few paragraphs to see if I like the way the author writes. If it doesn't click with me; phrasing, vernacular, etc, I won't bother with it disregarding whatever the story is about.

I'll give it 100 pages. If I find I'm not excited to read it the next night, I'll drop it. Too many books to waste time on something not resonating with you. If a book is good, it'll happen before you have finished 100 pages. If the "good parts" only happen after the first 100 pages, I'll drop it. Life's too short.

I've always been a really fast reader so yeah if I don't finish a book in the first couple of days I've pretty much lost all interest in it.

Either I’m hooked from the first sentence or I’ll never be. Simple as that.

I'll give an example. I read the first two sentences of blood meridian and decided not to read it and move on. I just don't have the time to commit unless the book really grabs me.

When my brain starts to wander off or I’ve read a chunk and can’t remember what went on. I then ask myself if I really care what happens next, if not it’s time to ditch.

I have a Kobo ereader at my bedside table and read almost every night in order to fall asleep, so when I dread picking that up I know I either have to double down and finish the book or drop it. So far it has only happened once in recent years. That time it was Salvation by Peter F Hamilton, a hefty chunk of a book. If it’s a novella I generally try to read more often just to finish it.

You have no obligation to finish a book. There are too many good books out there to waste time on one you don't like!

(Also you're completely right, 7 1/2 Deaths... was such a brilliant book but his follow up had that second album problem. Hopefully the third will be great)

@1019throw Depending on the length of the chapters, but usually 3-5 of them does the trick.

If I find myself skimming pages and pages. I know I've lost interest in the book.

I don't typically give up. I mostly read non-fiction, so I always wait to see if there's something for me past page 200.

I gave up on "Foucault's Pendulum". I started it as a teenager and obviously it was way above my league. I still want to pick it up again at some point in the future.

I also passed on "Postmodernism, or, the Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism", because I couldn't even understand the introduction.

It's very rare I give up on a book but that's mostly because I choose books I know I'm going to at least find passable entertainment.

The one I should have given up on was "Annihilation." I hated it starting about 20% in but kept going to see if it got any better. So many people loved it! Nope, in the end I was just angry at myself for reading that boring junk.

Around the point where you start looking for excuses not to read it and need to force your way through it

I try to do it before I even touch it. 😊

The best way to do that is to select your next reads by relying on your own previous reading (that gets easier as you read more), or on the opinions or recommendations of people that know you very well or have very similar tastes.

I haven't abandoned a single book in years. The few times I was tempted to throw something aside, it was because I was misled by hype (and comparisons that seemed promising but didn't deliver), or - most commonly - because someone gave it to me as a present.