Thursday, August 25, 2011

Are you a Book Finisher?

"After all, tomorrow is another day."

That's the closing line from what famous novel?

Ms. Scarlet could tell you.

Here's what I'm wondering today: Do you tend to read your books all the way through to the end?

Or do you tend to stop part way and never finish?


If you tend to stop--why?  You get bored, busy or distracted?  Does it bother you not to finish?

And does your answer to the question change depending on whether you're reading fiction or non-fiction?

A Teletext survey of 4,000 Britons found that almost half of the books they bought remained unfinished. I'm guessing their American counterparts aren't much different. But you tell me, are you typically a book finisher or a book abandoner.

I'll tell you in my next post if I'm a book finisher or not. (What do you think?)

Meanwhile, if you are a book finisher, you'll probably recognize some of these Best 100 Closing Lines from well-known books.  If you're not a book finisher, pop over and see what you've been missing.  :)

And thanks for answering my nosey questions about your reading habits.

15 comments:

  1. I enjoy reading. I am a book finisher. Rarely do I leave one unfinished. It may take some time to finish a not so good book, but I do finish. May even read another book or two before I go back to finish that one.
    Happy reading.

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  2. Rachel ~ First, I totally want to believe that you are a book finisher!!!!!!! You are a book lover, book connoisseur!

    I am very choosy with my book reading time. So if I choose to read a book (almost always non-fiction at this season of my life), then I finish it. But I do have a few in a basket that I will finish "one day". ah-hem. hopefully.

    Hugs,
    Sharon

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  3. Finisher, all the way! It's incredibly rare for me not to finish a book - usually because it has turned out to be crude or violent in some way I wasn't expecting. I read Christian fiction, mysteries, women's fiction exclusively - I don't like the craziness in other books.

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  4. I am a wee bit ADD {self-diagnosed & unmedicated}, so if it doesn't grab me within the first couple of chapters, I put it down and don't think twice about it. With fiction, I have to hear my voice within the text somewhere; I have to identify with one of the characters. For non-fiction, I just have to hear something that I've never thought of before or worded in a different way that makes it relevant to me. So, I guess I need to feel me within the non-fiction as well. I guess that makes me a *self-absorbed* reader??? If it doesn't speak directly to me, I can't sink into it.

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  5. I'm commenting annonymously because I'm often a book abandoner! So shameful!

    I don't know why. I just move on to other things or other books. If it is really realy good, I'll finish it though.

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  6. I almost always finish - especially fiction...however, there was one very popular series by well known author I just could not get into..could not get past first 100 pages in first book. You notice I'm not naming it since I always get lots of comments like "I can't believe you didn't like that"..."that's my favorite of all times"...etc. etc. I've tried more than once - even have the series on my bookshelf still!

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  7. I tend to finish my books. Even if I leave them for a while, I always come back and finish.

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  8. Brenda, I think I have an idea of which series that might be. I never got into it either.

    Course I also hated the movie The English Patient and everyone said that was great.

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  9. Read books to the end - especially if they are fiction. I want to know how the story ends. Unlike my husband, I won't read the end first. Hmmmmm...more than you requested! Monica

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  10. I am a book finisher.
    Except for one just recently. I tried and tried but I couldn't get into it... "Reading Lolita in Tehran".

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  11. I am a book finisher however it takes me awhile...sometimes months to finish one book. I like to read non-fiction so I also flag pages if something really hits me powerfully and at the end of the reading I go back to all my flagged pages and jot down what caught my eye.
    I just persevered through Tim Tebow's biography entitled Through My Eyes. There were some hidden gems in the book. I was glad to finish but at the same time at parts found myself chuckling or with a lump in my throat.
    Blessings,
    Janet

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  12. I am a book finisher unless I just can't get "into" the read...but I give it a real try first so it does not bother me if I don't finish...Not every book is for me...Sue R

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  13. I'm definitely a finisher. Can't explain why, but once I start a book I am somehow duty-bound to see it through to completion. Sadly, this means that I take fewer chances with picking books up, and have probably missed some gems along the way...

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  14. I almost always finish a book. I finally convinced myself in the last year that if I'm not enjoying it, that there's no reason to feel like I "have to" read the whole thing. It goes against the grain, but time has become more precious to me.

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  15. I've always been a book finisher, no matter what...that is until I had my girls. Now if a book isn't cutting it I just can't see wasting my very minimal spare time to finish it. Thankfully that only happens about 5% of the time!

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