Booking Through Thursday – Giving Up

This weeks Booking Through Thursday asks:

If you’re not enjoying a book, will you stop mid-way? Or do you push through to the end? What makes you decide to stop?

I will admit that once I start a book I can’t not finish it – with three very strict exceptions. I’m the type of reader where I need to know what happens, even if I hate the characters, some event or action, I just won’t be able to give up until I know how it ended. It will bug me, I won’t be able to sleep or focus on work or school. It’s just how I’m programmed. It happens with all books, good, bad, and mediocre. But my exceptions…

First, if I start to read a book and I’m just not in the right mindset I will stop reading it. I will pick up another book, or ten, but I will always go back to said book and read it again when the time is right. The whole time is right thing might sound cheesy, but if it’s truly not, I won’t be able to gain anything from what I’ve read.

Second, I will put a book down if I find it offensive or uncomfortable in any way. This exception is actually very, very difficult for me to come across. It takes a lot to shock me at this point. I’m young, but I’ve experienced a hell of a lot, I also study criminal and terrorist behavior/psychology – I’ve spent time in jails and prisons with inmates, human sexuality, I’ve worked with veteran’s and their families, and a whole range of other things. So if something does offend me, that’s a feat in and of itself, and while I’ll try to power through it, it may get to the point where I just throw the book at the wall or in the fire.

My third and last exception, Steinbeck. I just can’t stand Steinbeck. Everything about attempting to read his work just makes me physically ill. I avoid anything to do with him to the best of my ability.

So how about you? Will you power through a bad book or will you say to hell with it and grab something you’ll actually enjoy?