Dine to Read

Are you a finisher or a ditcher. Do you struggle through your impulsively selected 800 page read to the bitter end?.........or do you lob it and run for the hills? I'm afraid I tend to stuggle through. I get a funny sensation of bad Karma if I start a book and abandon a few chapters in. I do think life is too short to read bad books but on the other hand my OCD gets the better of me.

I am a reluctant finisher, I have to see if books get any better. Pounder, I felt the same about 'The Autograph Man' by Zadie Smith, I waited for the story till the last page, and then realised it was never going to materialise!

I did ditch 'The Yacoubian Building' by Alaa el-Aswany as it was too stressful trying to remember the cast of about 100 characters! I also ditched 'The Testimony of Gideon Mac' which was a coma-inducing read.

Come to think of it...maybe I'm a ditcher??!!

I couldn't get into it, all the characters had about three names each! I just found it frustrating.

I'm a ditcher.

If I'm halfway in and not inclined to head to bed early just to get a chance to sneak in a few chapters before bed, a book just hasn't done it with me.

Recently, I've abandoned Middlesex (sorry, Catch). A while ago, I was about to give up on The Book Thief but finished it and shouldn't have bothered.

I also hated The Sea with a passion, but because it was relatively short and I mistakenly thought that there must be something to it if it won the Booker Prize, I stuck with it. I try to stick with a book, but if it is several hundred pages long and I'm really not enjoying it, I begin to think that life is too short....!

I've had to ditch 'Marley & Me'. Couldn't hack it.

It's dreadful Pounder- keep clear!

Life's too short to read a boring book!

I loved it! It is a feel good kind of book. There's no real plot, it's more a collection of stories. Didn't cry at the book ... but did at the movie!

I agree withb ingrid lifes to short to read a boring book. boring books should be banned. but in saying that i'm no ditcher once i start a book i have to finish it. As to Marley & Me its a fun flick but thats were it stops!

99% of the time I'm a finisher. If I get past the first few pages I get less fussy and can put up with most things.
Occasionally something is just too much hard work though - maybe once a year I'll find something I just can't get through.
I do remember picking up a Patricia Scanlan book years ago and in the first few pages the character went out on to the balcony and inhaled the morning air "like a smoker inhaling the first cigarette of the day". I haven't tried reading any of her stuff since, though I'm quite happy to read other chick lit!

Hi gang!
1st post - thanks Ingrid for telling me about Eileen's new endeavor!!
I am nearly always a finisher although seriously struggling to get into Eat Pray Love... love the idea of it, but it's a little self indulgent for me!
I could never get past the first 2 champters of the Lord of the Rings (I also tend to fall asleep after the first 2o mins of the movie though!)

I am nearly always a finisher but could not get into "The Historian" by Elizabeth Kostova recently...anyone else the same? It is now gathering dust.
Its mad to see some of the books others have loved/hated. I liked Marley & me as it was so diff to what I normally read, loved loved The Book Thief & Time Travellers Wife but didn't like White Teeth. Eat Pray Love was very indulgent but again so diff to the norm it was interesting.

I normally finish a book but have recently put aside a book recommended to me. Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon. I will probably give it another go but just wondering has anyone here read it?

The RTE adaption of 'Amongst Women' was brilliant. Did you see that Claire?