BACK TO LIFE AND BACK TO BOOKS
I’m actually embarrassed by my failure to post anything in recent weeks. I’ve been sick – some time in hospital and much more time recovering at home. I’m still convalescing and improving but rather more slowly than I’d hoped, but fortunately my brain now seems to be working again which is great relief. I’m spending a lot of time reading and in the last six weeks have found some I loved, and others that I abandoned for a whole variety of reasons. I write soon about the ones I loved, but I thought this survey by Good Reads produced some interesting results. It’s about the reasons why readers give up on a book and the point at which they do it. I often give up quite early in a book and it may not be because I think it’s a bad book, just that it doesn’t appeal to me – it could be great topic but I don’t like the way it’s written, or perhaps beautifully written but not really ‘speaking’ to me. I’m a firm believer in giving up if you’re not enjoying it or finding it interesting, and I do know that people give up on my books and I’m okay with that.
When do you give up and for what reason? Have a look at this link below and see what other people think.
http://www.goodreads.com/blog/show/424-what-makes-you-put-down-a-book
Liz Byrski 
Firstly Liz, absolutely no need to be embarrassed ! I’m sure that all your readers and blog followers are a forgiving lot, and understand that if you are unwell, you aren’t going to be blogging! I hope that whatever it was that caused the hospital stay is well on its way out of your system, and you are feeling better with each day. Yes, from experience, I can say that some things simply take time…
Re this topic, yes it IS interesting as I sometimes buy books that have won this or that award, start them and think ‘Why?’ I often persist doggedly, or will give up and think I may go back to it later. I usually don’t though. There are some books that I have started to read, found them difficult, for one reason or another, and have bought them again as an audible book download, and thoroughly enjoyed someone else reading them to me. There’s several like that. It’s usually that there are large numbers of characters with difficult names that I just don’t seem to ‘grab’ onto, and yet listening, makes it fall together rather well.
I will also persist with a book that has been written by one of my favourite authors, simply because I like to read their writing, and, even if the subject matter wasn’t quite what I’d hoped for, it’s still worth the read.
There can be some books, usually autobiographical, that can be so very disturbing and thought provoking that they can only be read in the time it takes to drink a coffee, then put down, for those disturbing words to be processed, before taking a deep breath and starting again. I read one recently, and I shall not forget it for some time, maybe never.
Then of course there are the books you feel you Should read, some of the Classics, some of the really top listed books. I don’t always manage to get through them, and from the article you linked to, I don’t feel so guilty that I haven’t as I see there’s lots of people who don’t!
Thanks for your blog…it’s interesting, as always….Linda.