Have you ever started reading a book because you "feel in the mood" to read it, but then the next day, or a few days down the track, you "don't feel in the mood" to read it, and it takes forever to get through because you keep thinking about what book you are going to read next and realise you've read a whole chapter (or chapters) and it has gone in one eye and out the other?
I have.
I finsihed a book about a week ago that was 200 pages long, and
R E A L L Y spread out on each page. I did a quick approx word count and it only added up to 36,000 words. That's damn short. I was in the mood to read it, and then I wasn't. It took me three weeks to finish it. I feel sad for wasting so much time (it is precious nowadays you know).
R E A L L Y spread out on each page. I did a quick approx word count and it only added up to 36,000 words. That's damn short. I was in the mood to read it, and then I wasn't. It took me three weeks to finish it. I feel sad for wasting so much time (it is precious nowadays you know).
Perhaps I should have put it on the side lines and started a different one until my "mood" reappeared.
Anyone else ever have to deal with mood change dictating your reading pace? You ever kick yourself for letting it?
I recently took three weeks to read a book, while normally I average more more than three books a week.
ReplyDeleteBut this is a book I have been putting of reading for nearly a year, and I was finally in the mood to read it now. And it needed three weeks.
So, I know how you feel.
I have a habit of finishing every book I start no matter if I'm not into it or even enjoying it. I always kick myself for wasting time doing that but it's a habit I've yet to kick.
ReplyDeleteThat's what happens when I force myself to read books on deadline. I get books that are crap and I can't get through them... then I fall behind and can't catch up.
ReplyDeleteI thought reading was suppose to be fun!
CD
That's what happens when I force myself to read books on deadline. I get books that are crap and I can't get through them... then I fall behind and can't catch up.
ReplyDeleteI thought reading was suppose to be fun!
CD
I've had moments like that. I have a stack of books and the one I pick to read first is horrible (or I'm just not in the mood anymore). Then the whole time I'm reading it I'm just thinking about how much I want to be reading one of the others.
ReplyDeleteKnow how you feel.
Yes, absolutely. Sometimes those short books can feel really long, especially if they move slow.
ReplyDeleteMost of the time I can read a book in a few days, other times it's a stuggle. So yeah, I get this "mood" a lot too. :)
ReplyDeleteI'll finish a book even if my mood changes, otherwise I might never go back to it. Those are the ones that take oh-so-long to read, and you have to fight the temptation not to finish. Of course, if it's a library book, then I have no problem returning it before I'm finished. ;)
ReplyDeleteI can relate! If I wasn't in the mood for a book, it would take me too long to finish it because I'd hardly pick it up. Now I read 2 or 3 at once, so there's something I'm always in the mood to read.
ReplyDeleteBeen there, and as I never like to give up on a novel it can take me forever to finish it!
ReplyDeleteSometimes if I'm not in the mood but the book is still good, I'll just set it down and tackle it later.
ReplyDeleteIf the book is grabbing me though, I never finish. Like you said, why waste time?
Uh, yeeeah. I’m going through that right now – and it’s a great book but I just don’t feel like reading.
ReplyDeleteTotally know what you mean. I have many helf-read books by my nightstand because my mood for them just fizzled. It is sad, but what can you do? There's SOO many books and soooo little time. :(
ReplyDeleteYes, love, I totally hear you. And it doesn't necessarily have to do with the book itself. It's usually just moi.
ReplyDeleteOh I hear you. I'm a 'mood' person too. I have to be in the 'mood' for certain books, movies and even food or else it's jut not worth it.
ReplyDeleteI'm a slow reader to begin with because I'm dyslexic. So...it's not uncommon for me to take 2 weeks or longer to read a book. Because I'm so slow and there are so many books to read, if I find myself reading the same page over and over because I can't remember what I last read...I will set it aside and move on.
ReplyDeleteA timely question. I zipped through my last book, enjoying it but not really absorbing it, because of a book I desperately wanted to read finally making it to my TBR pile. And after the first chapter, I realized I really wasn't in the mood to read this book. The author hasn't done a great job of engaging me either...
ReplyDeleteThis is why I have 6 books by my bed, all with book marks. I just pick up the one I'm in the mood for. Unless I find one that I'm really in to.
ReplyDeleteI try to limit myself to one book at a time, and I think I'm like you with not stopping even though I'm not "in the mood". I think it's a bad habit, though...
ReplyDeleteMy mood dictates everything when I read. There's been many a time when I've had to set books aside. But I keep them beside my bed so I can grab them when the mood strikes
ReplyDeleteMood can certainly cause a book to drag. Once I started a book, I would always read the whole thing before picking up the next one. Then, it took me a month to get through the first 100 pages of The Adventures of Kavalier and Clay. I just wasn't in the right mood yet. (I loved the rest of it.)
ReplyDeleteNow I make sure to be in the middle of two books at a time, in different genres. If I'm not in the mood for one, I reach for the other one. No more dragging.
I have NEVER not finished a book. Well, except once. 36k though? That sounds incredibly short. I do hear you though. If it's not that good, why waste the time?
ReplyDeleteI think being in the mood to read is important, otherwise you'll get bored much sooner than you might have otherwise and it'll take longer.
ReplyDeleteI put books down all the time--I also try to keep in mind what was happening when I did for my own writing! :D zoikes~
ReplyDeletebut I do think mood plays a huge role in reading and interest. The problem is how to predict/control that in readers? hmmm... <3
That is really weird to have 36,000 words spread out over 200 pages. Odd indeed. What was the purpose?
ReplyDeleteDefinitely! And I always feel guilty for it and usually stick it out and take too long to finish it - just like you! :-)
ReplyDeleteLike JayDee, I am in the habit of finishing every book I start.
ReplyDeleteThen came THE PASSAGE : a book that could be used as an entire class on how NOT to write a book. I slogged my way halfway through the thing, and I finally realized I would have more fun re-reading one of my favorites.
Reading a book on my Kindle helps because I read more than I realize without physically turning pages and counting.
Always a good post, Roland
That happens to me all the time. A sign of a good book to me is always being in the mood to read it, which I'm finding is happening less and less. Maybe I'm becoming too picky.
ReplyDeleteEvery once in a while I hit one that is just the wrong pace or theme for where I am, so I hear you. Usually I just set it aside, but I read a lot of library books, so those that get taken back in the short term, sometimes don't get picked up again.
ReplyDeleteI reward myself with reading for pleasure at bedtime...so the amount of sleep I get depends on the book I'm reading...Right now I'm reading Nightshade City...I keep falling asleep with it, it's that GOOD! Poor hubby is getting neglected...
ReplyDeleteI definitely get in moods to read certain things. Sometimes I'll be in the mood for something light, sometimes for something fantasy or memoir or short or long or... any number of things. And often I just set that book down and pick up what I want to read until I am ready for the book. Sometimes I think it confuses people who buy me books as gifts when it takes me a year to read the book they bought me, yet I've got through 20-30 others, but that's just the way it is. Reading is a pleasure, it'd be a shame to turn it into something forced and not-fun. :)
ReplyDeleteOnce I get into a good book it's hard to put it down then I realised I have let everything else I needed to do go.
ReplyDeleteSo now I get jobs done first.
Take care.
Yvonne.
It happens to me ALL the time.
ReplyDeleteWhen it doesn't, I know I'm reading something good. I"m a picky reader.
You just nailed my reading method: Mood only.
ReplyDeletePlus, I have to enjoy the book.
I read a 500lb (page) bonzer that must have taken me four months. It was one of four or five books I was reading, and I finally, around p300, said, SCREW IT! and skimmed the rest.
Just to, you know, say I "finished" the dang thing.
I read another YA book that was only 250pp long, just finished it, and I started it back in the early summer.
But Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman, which I had (obviously) not yet read, I knocked out in a week or two.
I still have this book next to my bed I am stuck on about page 150. Time for a skim-n-chunk, I think.
- Eric
Indeed I have. Recently I started a biography that I had been looking forward to reading, but had to put it down so I could read a couple of books that I promised to review. I'm keeping the biography by my bedside so I can get back to it ASAP. Sad to say though, I have several books, all nonfiction, that also sit somewhere with bookmarkers showing where I left off when I just got in the mood for something else. Will I ever get back to some of those?
ReplyDeleteLee
Tossing It Out
I don't know... I usually read for fun. If I find myself thinking, "I need to finish this book, but I don't want to right now," then I don't. I usually get back to it sooner or later!
ReplyDeleteThat usually happens to me when I've picked up a book off the bargain rack. I only bought it because it was a good deal...It never made my top TBR list in the first place, so it takes forever to get through.
ReplyDeleteI have that same problem, especially when I'm reading and the book doesn't keep my attention.
ReplyDeleteHi gorgeous! LOL! When I was pregnant that is! Now I'm very picky with what I read because of my editing schedule. <3
ReplyDeleteXoXoxoXo
I do that. Sometimes the mood fades, and sometimes I never get a good chance to get into the book because I have to do other things. I need a chunk of uninterrupted reading to establish a little momentum.
ReplyDeletehaha! That's totally me. When I go to the library, I pick up five different books that match five different moods. Then when I get them home, I pick up a book from my own shelf and start reading it. I'm extremely ADD when it comes to books sometimes. But at least we're reading something, right?
ReplyDelete