What line has made you stop reading a book?

[TheFloofyOne]

I usually stick with a book, even if it’s not great. However, sometimes I’ll read a line that is just so ridiculous, I have to just give up.

Recently, I started in on a very cheap Kindle sale book that was bad from the first page, but the following line just made me want to throw it across the room-

“Lucy and Emma have doubled over in uncontrollable LOLs”.

Ugh yeah that would do it for me.

Also Our House Lucy Candlish. A woman is text flirting with someone she is seeing. The book had the back and forth of the text conversation with the woman’s last response followed by...

‘There was a companionable silence, during which I grew steadily more aware of the beat of my own pulse.’

YOU CANNOT HAVE A COMPANIONABLE SILENCE OVER TEXT MESSAGE, THE OTHER PERSON COULD LITERALLY BE HAVING A CRAP WHILST NOT RESPONDING TO YOU.

Hmm I dislike caps but it gave me that much rage, I ended up finishing it but only as it was a book club choice.

I was reading a crime novel, wiped the title. On the very first page, as two police officers are attending a body, there are TWO paragraphs with a detailed comparison of the height of one police officer vs the other. There was no context, it had no point in the story, one person being taller than the other wasn’t relevant ti anything.

I stopped reading there and chucked the book, assuming that if the writer was so ham-fisted on the, vital-for-hooking-a-reader, first page, things were unlikely to improve.

I blame a lack of skilled editors.

A book called 'One Moment One Morning' in which the main character decided from looking at another woman that she must be a lesbian. No relevance to the story, it was pretty much someone she passed in the street, but for some reason the author considered it relevant that this woman looked gay.

I donated the book to my dog, as she was going through a paper shredding phase at the time, but even she didn't like it.

"Dr Watson ejaculated"
He did it several times. I just couldn't keep reading (yes, I know my mind is infantile)

Not one line, specifically, but a couple of Authors I have decided not to read, which were decisions that came as I was part way through reading books. I agree that it's really difficult to stop reading a book part way through, but:

James Patterson. I love crime books. Love them. But I was reading one of his books and it featured yet another grizzly murder of a woman, and I suddenly thought "It's always women...and they've always been murdered in the most horrible ways...and to write that, he has to be able to think that, and I don't want to read a book by someone who can think like that.' That was the last page I read of a James Patterson book. (Disclaimer - I haven't read them all, perhaps some men are murdered in grizzly ways and I didn't read the book.)

Goodnight Lady by Martina Cole was another book I stopped part way through, after enjoying several others of her books. I suddenly thought "I don't like this, it's so graphic and I don't want these images in my mind. I don't want this to be what I'm thinking about for the next 600 pages." (it's an 840 page book). I now don't read any books by her.

It was a medical thriller-type book. On the first page it was a paragraph that went something like this:

‘The oscillating line on the EKG went flat. “Code Blue!!!” the beautiful young intern shouted, “get the crash cart and the defribrillator!!!”

Fuck that. Made my blood boil.

I have a few "author" friends (thanks amazon for allowing anyone to publish a book) and I've never got further than the first page. Seriously if you can't proof read the first page there isn't much point wasting my time.

A kindle free download called The Neighbour by Lewis M Penry, described the main character as having left his mobile phone at home, yet seconds later, as he stumbled across the mutilated body of a murder victim, he was able to take a photo of it, on his mobile phone...

I started reading The Slap and somewhere around the 1st or 2nd page that author dropped in the C word. I'm not a prude and in the right context I can sometimes find that word funny, but when its used unnecessarily I just find it vulgar so I put the book down and stopped reading.

Janes Herbert the rats. I know it was written years ago and times were different but

The protagonist is a secondary school teacher and is moaning about his job. He says

“Mind you, the crumpet’s alright” while looking at a group of schoolgirls

They walked to her car and he thrust his hand out imperiously for her keys. Yeah nah

Tried to read Decline and Fall by Evelyn Waugh for my Book Club.

I got to the very racist bit and just couldn’t keep going. I know it was written in the 1920s, I know it was a ham-fisted attempt to satirise racism - but I just couldn’t.

American Psycho the protagonist did something disgusting to a tramp. I won't say what. I stopped reading right there but 15 years later it still makes me feel ill to think about it.

I loved American psycho

FuckyNel The Rats was the first 'grown up' book I read, aged 11 or so, and that bit obviously passed me by. I do remember James Herbert being very fond of 'small pert breasts' though - there are at least a couple of pairs of SPBs in every book of his.

Tiptopj You dodged a bullet there - the Slap is awful. Horrid book about horrid people.
BonBonVoyage American Psycho still makes me feel odd over 20 years after reading it (though the business card scene is genius)
What makes me put down books is really poorly written chick lit type stuff with sloppily named characters like Polly/Holly/Jess.

MrsEricBama I've seen so many people say that so yeah maybe the author did do me a favour

Never read The Slap so I can't comment on that, but you stopped reading a book because it contained the word "cunt"? Really?

Bloody hell, I've taught Angela Carter and Carol Ann Duffy to sixth formers; it's a good job they weren't so precious!

Any book where the woman character 'pads into the bathroom' or 'pads across the landing' or just fuckin 'pads anywhere'.

I know then the book is going to be pure shite and stop reading.

"My sperm smelled of sandalwood she, of wild roses" from The Vampyre by Tom Holland.

All I could think of was an overpowering potpourri stink!

Kate Atkinson, the book where in the first chapter she mentions Dewsbury and describes it as something along the lines of "Where the women sell their children"...well Shannon Matthews had been in the news a few years ago so one woman had a financial interest in hiding her daughter ..but plural? Cases please, Kate?

I just thought "nah, cheap dig, shit effort"

Not read anything of hers since

Line 1 of Harry Potter for its ineffable snobbery.

Oh and a Mo Hayder book, first one ever read, first grim.part...nope.

Horrible torture porn from a church mummy bring shocking.

Hope she gives all the book profits to.charities relating to the crappy torture porn she churns out.

Bet she doesn't.

American Psycho. Bleurgh. I got past the tramp bit, but what he does to his ex later is beyond the pale. How is that entertaining? Enlightening?

I love The Slap. Also, The Dinner.