Friday, July 1, 2011

Friday Blog Hop: What Keeps You Reading

In the spirit of the Twitter Friday Follow, the Book Blogger Hop is a place just for book bloggers and readers to connect and share our love of the written word! This weekly BOOK PARTY is an awesome opportunity for book bloggers to connect with other book lovers, make new friends, support each other, and generally just share our love of books! It will also give blog readers a chance to find other book blogs to read!

This week's question is:

What keeps you reading beyond the first few pages of a book, and what makes you want to stop reading a book and put it back on the shelf?

There are a few things. First and most important, I need to care. I need to care about the characters and what is going to happen to them. I need to be invested in their story enough to want to continue. Second, there needs to be some anticipation. A hint of something big to come. It doesn't matter how much I connect to a character, if all they are going to do is sit on the couch or go to work and school day in and day out, well, that's lame. I could just take a look at my own life. There needs to be SOMETHING going on or at least the promise of something.


Thanks for hopping by!!


8 comments:

Melanie Novella Ray said...

Hey, that was similar to my answer! Except you formulated it much nicer. Yes, there has got to be some reason to go on or it's like pulling teeth to finish. When it has a really good hook you can usually finish it up in a day or two. LOVE those books.:)

http://readitin7days.com

Alexis @ Reflections of a Bookaholic said...

I agree with you about caring. I have to like the characters or they have to intrigue me.

Elizabeth said...

NEW FOLLOWER...cute blog.

I usually give the book 50-100 pages. I usually read all of the books I start. I would bet only 5 books have been put down.

I have a giveaway for NIGHT TRAIN on my blog.

PLEASE STOP BY IF YOU LIKE!!!

Elizabeth

http://silversolara.blogspot.com

Amy said...

I have to say that I usually finish every book I start. I feel like I should atleast read a quarter of the book and truly give it a chance. Most of the time, even if I'm not loving a book I'll finish--why stop now I'll tell myself. There is one book that I stopped reading though. It was Far From the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy. I don't know why, but for me reading this book was torture. I actually dreaded trying to read it. I eventually realized I was wasting precious time and moved on to bigger and better books.

Check out my blog:
I Ponder The Page
www.iponderthepage.blogspot.com

Susan (Reading World) said...

I love your answer. For me, there's something in the voice of the character or the narrator in the book that draws me in to the story--that makes me care about the characters and what's going to happen to them.

Alison Can Read said...

Hopping through. I agree with you on anticipation. If I'm not looking forward to anything, I don't want to keep reading.
My Hop

Jo K said...

I agree, there must be a good story and intriguing characters to keep you reading.

Have a great weekend!

Beyond strange new words

Cookie’s Mom said...

Great answer, Rachel! I asked the question featured today, but I really wasn't sure how I would answer it if Jennifer selected it!

My attempt: http://cookiesbookclub.blogspot.com/2011/07/what-keeps-you-reading-crazy-for-books.html

We have some similar ideas around relatable characters.

Great blog (following you)!

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