I know that a lot of readers are perfectly fine with not finishing a book. They say that life is too short to waste time reading something that you're not loving. I do agree with that. There are so many books that I want to read, and of course I'd rather be reading a book that I love rather than something I'm having to force myself to finish.
But I have a hard time giving up on books! First of all, I always wonder if maybe things are getting ready to turn around. Maybe the next chapter is the one where the book goes from mediocre to amazing. I'm afraid to put a book aside, not knowing if it's going to get better later, and I just didn't give it enough of a chance. Also, there's the fact that I can be stubborn and it bugs me to not finish something that I've started.
Lately I've been having this issue with middle grade books. I love children's books! I especially love clever, imaginative, memorable children's books. But over the past few months, I've read a lot of dull, repetitive middle grade stories. With most of them, I've been so tempted to just stop. The thing is that most of those books are quite short and easy to get through. Even if I'm not loving them, it seems silly to not take another day or so and just finish it. {I have to admit that I wouldn't feel that way about a big, intimidating book. I wouldn't have a problem with quitting a 500 or 600 page book that I wasn't enjoying.}
And then I think about books that weren't easy for me to read (certain classics like Bleak House come to mind). The plot might have dragged at times...maybe I was bored and had to pull myself through it. But by the end, I'm usually glad that I finished reading those books. (Even Wuthering Heights, one of my least favorite books ever. At least now I never have to wonder if I'm missing out on that one, ha!)
So what about you? Are you okay with not finishing a book, or do you feel the need to keep going? Do you read a certain number of pages before stopping, just to make sure?