How do you get through books you hate?

[autumnleavesonthefloor]

Sarah J Maas has announced the 6th and 7th books in her ACOTAR series, which means that I need to read the Crescent City series. The issue is I absolutely hate it, but it’s key to understanding the next books! Any tips please?!

Life is too short to read books I hate. I give it a few chapters and if I don’t like it, it’s in the donation pile.

Read a summary online.

I second @CrustyBread1977. Life's too short for bad books.
I've even skipped a book in a series I love and it wasn't all that bad.

I don’t. According to my kindle, I’d read 23% of the last book I did-not-finish. I realised I wasn’t particularly interested in the characters and the storyline, so decided not to continue. Reading the Amazon reviews afterwards to see what others thought, plenty of people loved the book, but others also didn’t feel connected to it.

Sadly in this case I don’t think it’s really possible, as apparently they’re tied quite closely together.

It’s a shame because I genuinely love her other series, but this one just doesn’t do it for me at all

Exactly this. Why bother unless you need to for work or an exam?

I ask chat GPT to give me the plot and ending if I’m really struggling with a book but want to know what happens. Or go on Reddit and ask for someone to tell you.

I stop.

Okay, I’m not asking whether I should or not. I need to - I’m asking how I do it?

If I don’t like a book I have decided at my age to give up on it. Life is too short.

Listen to it on audible instead. Use headphones and get on with daily tasks at the same time.

Honestly why would you? Life is too short!!!

I’m quite used to not really understanding everything that’s happening so I just accept that I’ll get less out of the other books.

I don't think there's an answer , you either read it whilst hating it, you never know it may grow on you, or you don't read it.
A readers experience is individual hence no answer.

I can't, I'd probably read the last page and then google a summary.

Approach it as if you're studying for an exam and set yourself the task of reading a certain number of pages or chapters before you put the book down. You could even make notes to help you focus.

I pushed through with the Things We Never Say by Elizabeth Strout. It didn’t do much for me - too much introspection, storylines that didn’t seem to go anywhere - but by the end I kind of got it and it did leave a thoughtful impression. I generally agree with the “life’s too short” principle on books we don’t connect with but sometimes it’s worth persevering.

Chris Ryan said that the SAS deal with torture by breaking time down into tiny parts and surviving to the next one. If I can just live through the next 30 seconds, and then the next 30. Have you thought about that? Just think one page at a time. If you can get through the next 30 words, you can get through 300,000 eventually.

I don't. Life's too short to read books you don't like. I'm only a few months short of the age my mother was when she died and am acutely aware that my time is valuable and running out. I only read/watch what I want and ditch the rest.

Speed reading, skim over the unnecessary fluff, and take more time over the bits which are more relevant to the story. Also set yourself a target like 30 pages a day, or 15 mins a day.

This is how I managed to get through Wolf Hall, although why i was so determined to finish it, I haven't a clue! Maybe I just lived in the hope it would get better. Then maybe I would understand why so many people love it (although I still don't)

@HealthyLiquorice The Wolf Hall series with Mark Rylance is just bloody brilliant literally have a look at that?

I don’t

I don't, but if I had to I'd skim read.

I don't
I'm not doing A level english lit so don't have to read anything. I have been known to turn up at Book group and say "didn't finish it"

@MrsMitford3 I was put off watching it because of the dreadful book! But I do love anything from that period in history, so maybe i should give it a try, thanks

I also don't.

Life is too short.

It was The Road that did it for me.
No offence to anyone who loved it but I was reading for my Book Club and suddenly thought "what a load of pretentious wank" and shut the book.

Never again will I waste my life forcing myself to read something I don't enjoy!

Try a AI summary?