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Flipping Pages: A site for Filipino shelfarians from all over the world

A community of people who love to read, collect, swap, mooch, talk about, sell, touch, smell, look at, give away books.

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  • faye v

    Read or Stop!!!!????

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    We have so many books to read and so little time to spare. With our accumulating collections...do you honestly read it all?
    I know someone who reads the first 100 pages or so...then lessens to like 50. Thats her deciding factor whether to continue reading or not. If she likes the first few pages she continues... if not, she pulls out another from her shelf...thats why its essential to have something always with in reach

    How do you go on deciiding when to stop or struggle till the end?

    faye v started this discussion 12 months ago. ( reply | permalink )

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  • maydiwayatangnawawala
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    i go by mood. if i'm currently into mysteries then i read mysteries. i don't think of giving up on my other books that don't hold my attention, because i know one day my mood will change. before, i couldn't stand urban fantasies with buffy-like heroines--i preferred high fantasy with willowy characters. now i can't get enough of urban fantasy.

    posted 12 months ago. ( permalink )
  • annapi
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    If I'm not enjoying it, I stop. Sometimes I'm just not in the mood for the type of book, and it will languish for months before I pick it up again. But if I am really not liking what I'm reading, I get rid of the book.

    posted 12 months ago. ( permalink )
  • rubybabydoll
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    if i started reading a book, its imperative for me to finish it, unless it is THAT bad that i had to put it down.
    this only happened once in my whole life. yes, it is that awful and i cannot relate to the author who was writing the tale.
    i'm really OC no? :P
    if i'm not enjoying a particular book but i want to find out the ending, i put it down for the meantime then i'll pick it up again when i'm in the mood.

    posted 12 months ago. ( permalink )
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    • xxx

      xxx 

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      I fall under this category. I never let a book remain unfinished for long. Pag tinigilan ko kasi, makakalimutan ko na kung ano nangyari, which would push me to start reading the book from the beginning again. Hassle. :)

      posted 12 months ago. ( permalink )
    • Sumthinblue.com
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      ako din!

      posted 12 months ago. ( permalink )
    • annapi
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      Long long ago I was like that too - I felt I had to finish a book in order to judge it or I wasn't being fair. Then I grew older and realized there are too many books, too little time. I can't waste any time anymore on bad books, my TBR pile is way too big!

      posted 12 months ago. ( permalink )
  • Sabin Figaro III - mired in the Principia Discordia
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    I finish every book. If a book becomes boring and tedious I pick a book I know I will like as my next read. I then force myself to finish the "bad" book, convincing myself that I can't read the next one if I don't finish the first. I'm gullible that way.

    posted 12 months ago. ( permalink )
  • Marie
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    I usually give books three counts, or else they're out of my library.

    posted 12 months ago. ( permalink )
  • RM Raneses
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    I read every book I have to the last page. I feel it's my duty to finish them even if the quality is sub-par.

    posted 12 months ago. ( permalink )
  • philyoh

    philyoh (edited)

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    So far the only books i stopped reading were Joseph Conrad's "Heart of Darkness" and William Golding's "Lord of the Flies" even though I've heard so many good reviews about these books. Maybe I just have to try again. But here's where the struggle comes in: do you go back to that book which did not interest you, or just pick a different and more interesting book? Minsan kasi parang you will also feel that you have missed something kung hindi mo rin tinapos yung sinimulan mo?!

    posted 12 months ago. ( permalink )
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    • rubybabydoll
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      agree -- if i didnt get to finish a book that everyone says is good then i definitely think i've missed out on it.

      posted 12 months ago. ( permalink )
  • narj
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    Before buying a book, I make sure that my level of energy/excitement for that book when I bought it is enough to make me finish reading it. I do not automatically hoard books when some of them are not in my target (a-must-read) list. Kahit yung books na super boring pala and makapal (800-1000+ pages, i.e. Tom Wolfe's A Man in Full) kaya ko pa ring tapusin. If a book did not interest me for a very long time, I'd sell it siguro or give it away pero never pang nangyari ito sa akin.

    posted 12 months ago. ( permalink )
  • maydayeve
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    The only book that i wasnt able to finish, and thus remains a challenge read for me was "One Hundred Years of Solitude" i read it 6 yrs ago, but i vowed to read it someday when the mood drives me on. Nowadays, I swing from a "mono-bookist" to "poly-bookist" depending on the mood, i alternate heavy topics with light ones. But i always finish a book, like the others i feel like i missed something if i didnt get to finish it. So, i read, pause and read again :-)

    posted 12 months ago. ( permalink )
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    • Onnie
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      Oh mayday... I recommend you re-read this. I hope the right time comes. You'd be suprised there are rewards for waiting. You'd be (re)reading this book in a new light.

      posted 12 months ago. ( permalink )
    • maydayeve
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      Onnie..yes, i will get back to Hundrered Years.... though i dont know when.

      posted 11 months ago. ( permalink )
  • Fredda R- enjoying social theory books and philosophy for n0w
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    people who finish reading books just because the started it, even though they dont like it or find it boring, are MASOCHISTS!
    anyone agree with me???!!!!

    *^__^*

    posted 12 months ago. ( permalink )
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    • RM Raneses
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      Haha. I agree with you. When I continue reading a book because I feel it is my duty to do so, it is no longer reading for pleasure. :P Reading, in this case, now becomes a chore.

      posted 12 months ago. ( permalink )
    • hippie
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      sang-ayon ako sa yo. parang relasyon lang yan. kung binubugbog ka na at tinotorotot, aba e sibat na hahaha!
      pero pede rin namang mala-fpj: "umpisahan mo, tatapusin ko!"

      posted 12 months ago. ( permalink )
    • maydayeve
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      @ Fredda. I agree!

      Pwede ring intellectual self-flagellation! But i cant really help it, it becomes a challenge ksi.

      posted 12 months ago. ( permalink )
    • annapi
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      Yup, I agree.

      posted 12 months ago. ( permalink )
    • libreria
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      I agree :-)

      posted 11 months ago. ( permalink )
    • Chowhound
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      Absolutely.

      posted 11 months ago. ( permalink )
    • Marie
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      Hmm, no second chances talaga then? Basta if on the first try you didn't like it, discard na agad?

      posted 11 months ago. ( permalink )
    • fantaghiro23
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      I'm a masochist, and I'm proud of it! Masochists unite! (We find power in our pain.):P

      posted 11 months ago. ( permalink )
    • maydayeve
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      yes, unite! :-)

      posted 11 months ago. ( permalink )
    • Marie
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      give second chances to every book!

      posted 11 months ago. ( permalink )
    • rubybabydoll
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      uh-huh. add me up to the masochists :)

      posted 11 months ago. ( permalink )
  • cecille
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    I usually read the first chapter of a book and see if it fits my current mood. If it does, I continue reading. If it doesn't, I put it down to read for another time. But if it really fails to hold my attention, I give it away. Lalo na madali ako ma-distract, hehe.

    posted 12 months ago. ( permalink )
  • Oel

    Oel 

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    Sabi ni Nancy Pearl sa Book Lust, dahil sa dami ng librong dapat basahin, try to subtract your present age sa 100 pages, iyon ang dapat mong basahin. Pag hindi mo nagustuhan, pwede mo nang skip, at kuha ka ng bago or balikan mo sya some other time. So habang tumatanda ka, you get more chance to see different books.

    Pag hindi ko nagustuhan ang first few pages, tambay muna sya. Some other time babalikan mo rin sya and sa second or nth time, I guarantee you'll like it or will help u in some other way. If you love books by heart, they will love you hundredfold in return.

    posted 12 months ago. ( permalink )
    show 1 reply
  • Chowhound
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    In my case, I'll make some random recipe selection, sort of do a cookbook review. If at least one of the recipes I tried turned out to be really good, then I keep the book, otherwise I either return it if it's still within the 30 day guarantee, give it away or toss it (by that I mean put it in the forgotten self hoping to rediscover it again).

    With fiction and other types of books, I read the first 2 chapters. That's roughly about a hundred pages, I guess. If it managed to keep me interested in the first 2 chapters and managed to make me curious enough to go on then I consider it worth my time otherwise I return it, give it away or toss it (into the bin this time).

    posted 11 months ago. ( permalink )
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    • maydiwayatangnawawala
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      hi, chowhound. we're trashbins in our spare time... in case you run out of bins. :P

      posted 11 months ago. ( permalink )
    • islandhopper
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      we're trashbins, and we have no shame.

      posted 11 months ago. ( permalink )
  • gabrielmarquezwhore
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    with my job, i have but a few hours a day to read. but i almost always read during lunchbreaks and on the train to and from work. at night in bed to drive away heart palpitations brought about by last-minute chugs of Coke. sa bathroom din while doing my business :) that`s why i read multiple books at the same time and i have books all over my apartment, in each of my bags and in my nightstand.

    i usually have the energy and motivation to breeze through the first half of the book, but most of the time, the other half is a sluggish march towards the border. depende sa book. there are those that i intentionally read slowly because its just so good, i have to savor every little page. Garcia Marquez`s books for one. I can only remember a few books na d ko tinapos. I started Rushdie`s Satanic Verses and quit on the 10th page. I felt a little embarrassed kasi i read almost everything by him, even the tiresome Ground Beneath her Feet. Faulkner`s the Sound and the Fury, i`m still reading (3 years na and counting). I got through Doestovsky`s Crime and Punishment after 2 years.

    I guess its also age. U become more discerning with what u read. D na basta-basta. I`ve been reading forever and i remembered as a teenager, the smallest nudge will make me grab a book and read it like there`s no tomorrow. that`s one of my fears nga, to finally realize that i have read all the books i ever wanted to read in this lifetime. i could just easily read everything i read before but the thought of not holding a new and interesting book in my hands while i stand in line at the bank or sit on an especially long train ride, will drive me nuts.

    posted 11 months ago. ( permalink )
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