How many books by an author will you read before you decide you don't like what they write? (2 Viewers)

[centen]

Last year, a local bookstore did one of those book tour author stops for our book club. And while the author is a very nice person, the book itself was mid af at best. Like there was an entire subplot that was just dropped, and all the characters stopped talking about it, because the author clearly didn't know how to actually solve it. I remember rereading those chapters multiple times to see if I missed a "well, I guess we can't do anything about that" convo and nope.

The author has another book coming out and is visiting us again this September. I'm willing to borrow the book from my library -- I'm not spending money twice on an author who burned me once already -- but if I don't like this one, then I'm probably done giving her a try. I realized I'm a "two and done" kind of person, unless the reason I disliked the first book is because it was actually offensive.

How many tries will you give an author before you preemptively pass on their new books?

 

[Ahsoka]

Bold to assume I can remember authors names when reading a book If I know an authors name they’re either very famous or wrote multiple amazing books

 

[Selfmate]

one can ask the same question about songs from a kpop group before giving them up

 

[Tickita]

Like 1/4 of one book

 

[dark_tranquility]

a billion books

Stephen King is a wizard with full powers, that make all his books magical
Well in accordance with the thread, the books I got about serial killers : o
once it gets graphic I am out

 

[centen]

one can ask the same question about songs from a kpop group before giving them up

I think I have a higher tolerance. I'm at least willing to check out a new song, but it's also a lower investment. What, 30 seconds? As opposed to multiple hours.

With, again, the exception of things I find actually offensive.

 

[centen]

Like 1/4 of one book

I DNF pretty aggressively too. I told a friend this author's book wasn't very good, and they were like "but she's so nice! I have to read it!" And like you do you, but also, this might explain why they're in a reading slump. It's hard to engage with a hobby when you're forcing yourself to engage with bad work.

 

[mysteric]

I want to say two, but realistically, one
I read more non fiction than fiction though, and usually you can start seeing patterns of poor research or misrepresentation in the first book (harari, wolf, etc.) that being said, sometimes I give it a pass if it's funny enough (wynn-williams)

 

[RandAlThor]

1 or less. II can even kinda like a book but feel like the story is complete and not have any interest in the follow on books like say S.M. Sterling.
i read book one and had no interest in the rest. Grmm i hated got like alot took me at least 4 -5 times to finish it.
much prefer book of the fallen if ya want gritty dark.

Neil gaimian i bounced hard off American gods 4 times and never did finish and now i am glad :P

 

[centen]

1 or less. II can even kinda like a book but feel like the story is complete and not have any interest in the follow on books like say S.M. Sterling.
i read book one and had no interest in the rest. Grmm i hated got like alot took me at least 4 -5 times to finish it.
much prefer book of the fallen if ya want gritty dark.

Neil gaimian i bounced hard off American gods 4 times and never did finish and now i am glad :P

Gaiman makes me so sad because, although I found him hit or miss (and one of his misses is American Gods), when he did get it right, he wrote such compelling stories. The Ocean at the End of the Lane is a magical exploration of grief and connectedness and saying goodbye to your childhood. Sucks how much he sucks now.

At least there are enough other prolific authors whose work I like that don't have anything wrong with them.

 

[Deleted member 74]

honestly I don't really pay attention to the author's name unless it's a well-known one like Suzanne Collins or something or someone I've noticed writes many amazing books that I read