What percentage of books do not bother reading to the end?

[MrsTiddles]

I am trying to turn a leaf. I used to be quite harsh and would toss a book aside at around page 50 if I was a) bored b) felt it was badly written or silly etc

but I just read The Private Lives of Pippa Lee (and commented on that thread) all the way through, to great reward, when my instincts for the first 50% of the book were to toss it.

Now I'm thinking about all those books I failed to finish and wonder what gems I may have missed.

Anyway, interested to know how many you start but don't get to the end of. And when I say start, I mean more than the first 10 pages while standing in the library / bookshop etc.

good question. Before DD i would say i finished 90%. Now i probably finish about 30 % - and in all likelihood only the really crappy ones that make you feel slightly seedy afterwards

I practically always finish novels, but tend only to get 1/2 way through "improving" non fiction. I always mean to pick them up again, but rarely do.

Can't say a percentage (I don't "do" numbers if I can help it!) but really it depends on how many other things I have to read at the same time. If I'm bookless other than the one I'm not enjoying, I may well persevere for a 100 pages or so: otherwise I use the 50 page rule.