I have a dilemma on book-reading on which I seek wider views. Some books take longer to drench you in. You have to keep going at it for 100-150 pages without getting hooked. But at the end, there's an obvious reward. I appreciate the fact that book-reading is very subjective. You may hate a book that the entire world has loved. And that's okay. But you have been told, you have read in the reviews, that it's a gem! What's your thought process when you are trying to read such a book? What's the breaking point at which you say to yourself, 'That's it. I am not reading any further. Let's move on to next one. There are so many books to read, why waste time on this one?' [I am putting up this question for reading a full-length book, and not audibles or abridgements.]

Well, I don't particularly have a very methodical thought process around this. If a book feels like a repetitive tirade or the author is just selling a pot-boiler then I abandon it. Now, I've started to screen books even more strictly before buying them or investing time in them. I am even more skeptical about books that are continuously over-hyped by everyone. Feels more like everyone is reading it just for validation from others that they are now "cool" since they've read this famous book. As you said, life is short, there are so many books to read and limited time on my hands. So, now no matter how hyped a book is, I try to judge whether the author is selling a pot-boiler or someone who was seriously dedicated in sharing their knowledge with the world. Every dude-bro is writing a self-help book or how to be productive all the time. Such books are just garbage and not worth anyone's time. All those New York Times Bestseller titles mean nothing. If I am reading a book on productivity and time management, then it better be written by someone with skin-in-the-game. Either a serious academic researcher on time management and productivity or someone like Cal Newport who is serious about this subject and follows what he preaches in his personal life.

I have left (and often) leave many books mid ways. Sometimes the book is not good for you and sometimes it is not a right time for you to read the book. That is why you should have a bunch of unread books - so you can pick one which is at the right time for you. And you can always come back to others later.

Agree with @loud-glass-33663, sometimes you're just not ready for the book. I started reading Nassim Taleb's books a few years ago when I had no background to what he usually talks about. It was one of the suggestions that are often made by some famous twitter tech guy. I disliked reading every page of the book because I couldn't understand what was going on. I picked up the same book this year and I was able to read, and more importantly, understand what is being said.

Wait what books take 100-150 pages without getting hooked?

@broad-camera-13514 The best example is "The Three Body Problem" — it takes about 150 pages, but after that, it's mindblown

@broad-camera-13514 Also, some classic heavyweight fictions/history take a lot of time, energy and patience to hook you in. Examples: Midnight's Children - Salman Rushdie Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Marquez Discovery of India - Jawaharlal Nehru

Oh yes classic fictions are so slow. I'm reading Ryan Holiday's Growth Hacking and the first 3-10 pages got me interested. Same with Deep Work, Steal Like an Artist and few others. Have you guys read Ted Chiang? Exhalation? Brilliant short fiction stories