ploughing through a book you dont want to read

[cleofatra]

Ever have to do this? I have a list and now have been given a book to read by MIL. She has read it, passed it to me and then wants it back for her daughter to read. Wouldnt mind my views on the book.
Totally not my kind of book but now I have to speed read it before I can get to Book of Dust :(

Its called Reflection if anyone wants to give me any cheat notes.

Ooh dear, that's unfortunate, isn't it? I've had similar with gifts of books I've no interest in reading. I just have to hope no one will ever ask. I always want to ask, if I've given books, how the recipient enjoyed it but (mostly) stop myself! It's more tricky if it's Dh and he actively can see me not reading it. I have to be honest and tactful. Or say not got round to it yet. But asking for the copy back makes it tricky.

Don't know that book. If it were me in that position, I'd google it. Good Reads or even wiki cam help.

Life's too short IMO

Can’t you just say? I never take it personally if people don’t enjoy a book I’ve lent them, everyone has different tastes. In fact I pass books on I haven’t been able to get through in case someone else might enjoy it.

Say you tried but couldn’t get into it? Sometimes that happens, even with ones you’ve chosen for yourself and thought you’d like.

I’d never stand on ceremony with dh, nor he with me.

It has happened to me a few times. I usually have a go but I sometimes say it wasn’t my sort of book. Just recently was given a book that the owner really loves but it is really dog eared and yellow with age. To be honest I don’t fancy reading books that have been round the block so many times I wonder if anyone has been reading them on the loo. But that is me! Always wonder about that since my sil said she read books on the loo. Don’t know what to do about this one as the lender really loves this book.

Either just say it wasn't your cup of tea or just pretend you've read it.

Why don’t you either just say it’s not for you or google? Life is too short!

Look up the reviews on Amazon. They will give you the gist and you can just pick a review you fancy and use that.

I’d never try to BS about having read a book in case you get drawn into a conversation about it and can’t answer. Awkward. Just give it back and say you haven’t got time to read it because you’ve got other things you plan to read.

Not any more.Ditto life's too short.If a book's recommended and it's not grabbing me I give it a fair try,but then give up for something more enjoyable.And if asked if I enjoyed it I'm honest and say not for me but thanks for lending.We don't all like the same music /food/tv programmes etc and so books are no different.

It’s happened plenty of times with me!
Just said the same on another thread re Eleanor Oliphant, also loaned to me by MIL! We usually like the same book but it was quite an effort to finish it, but I wanted to because i like talking about books to people, even if I don’t like it.
Also did the same with The Psychopath Test by Jon Ronson. Didn’t enjoy it but enjoyed discussing it with BIL.
I’m in a book club and we all have fairly different genres that we enjoy and choose from, at times i find them a struggle to get through but the whole point of book club is to open your eyes to things you wouldn’t pick yourself, and I find myself with a much broader mindset when it comes to choosing new books to read.

Life is way too short to read a book that is not floating your boat.
Just be honest, tell her you gave it a go but it just wasnt your thing. I’d appreciate someone’s honesty.

Give it back and say you can't get round to it right now, so it would be better if she passed it on to her daughter first rather than hold her up. If you are lucky she will forget about it. If not, it takes the pressure off you now. Maybe you can ask what it was she enjoyed about it and have a conversation more generally (and avoid reading it). Or do the Amazon reviews thing

Had to do this numerous times in Uni, it’s the worst feeling ever!

In this case I would go on Wikipedia look up the book, read some reviews on Amazon and give it back with a generic comment or two. Then spout some of your revision if pushedfor an opinion. Life is too short to read boring books!

Unless it’s a classic, or your MIL wrote it, I wouldn’t keep going. As everyone has said life really is too short. I’d read fifty pages and then tell her honestly that it just wasn’t your cup of tea.

I've realised recently that life really is too short - I am not going to read all the wonderful books in the world before I die, and I don't want to waste time reading crappy ones.

I would give it back saying that you're in the middle of a doorstop at the moment and you know she wanted it back for her daughter so you're passing it back now rather than keep her waiting.

Is it the Diane Chamberlain one? A load of my friends love these but I tried one once and couldn't get on with it at all. Fortunately I get on with them well enough to be able to tell them. I pussyfoot around my MIL though (hence the rather dishonest answer I've suggested above!)

I used to keep on reading books because I thought I had too for sone reason. Not anymore. I’ve only given up on a handful of books but I’m so glad I did. The lady one was recommended because I’d read Memoirs of a Geisha and was basically badly written soft port billed as historical fiction. Utter drivel.