S. Worthen | Weblog

I don't see opening a book as a commitment to finish it. I figure life is too short, and I have too many books on my to-read shelf, to persist with struggling through something that turns out to be boring or especially bad (though I have a fair tolerance for moderately bad).

With non-fiction books and collections of short stories, I often skim and read just the parts I'm most interested in. With novels, if I find I'm really not interested in the plot or characters, I'll generally skip to the end and read that, then put it aside - because, as a plot-junkie, I find it very hard not to know what happens, even in a crappy book.

There are also a few books on my shelf that I know I've not finished, not out of any particular dislike, but just a vague lack of enthusiasm to continue, combined with too many more exciting books to read instead. I generally do eventually pick those up and finish them, but it may take years.