What kind of book "Calls to you to keep at it?"

Jenson_AKA_DL mentioned she was sort of grinding her gears on a book right now. This happens to me as well. I know it's practically impossible to qualify or quantify these things, but what calls to you?

Sometimes I find myself staying up to finish something I don't think is particularly well written just because I have gotten so sucked into the story I have to find out how it ends, NOW. I'll use Nineteen Minutes as a perfect example of this. Other times I find myself dragging over something I am thoroughly enjoying, just because I don't want it to end. Middlemarch was one of these. But many of the other books I get stalled on or don't feel compelled to have my nose in every minute, well... I can't always figure out what the issue is with them. The Zookeeper's Wife is one of those.

What about you?

After a slow start, I now hear Wolf Hall calling me all the time. Right now...I've left it at the nanny house, so I can't get to it until tomorrow. sigh.

*whispering* I also have a couple ER books who yell at me every once in a while: "quitter"! I do need to get back to them.

My 400 shelf calls to me constantly, but I know I don't have the attention span to really get into them right now.

I remember the first book I stayed up all night to read - in fact I didn't even notice I hadn't slept until my alarm went off. Then I realized I needed to go to school.

I just recently finished World Without End after a hiatus of about 1 1/2 yrs. I was reading it while waiting for my daughter who was in 4-H camp meetings. Once the year ended, the book sat on the floor in the back, sad and neglected. My daughter bugged me to finish it so I did. I have to wonder, why didn't I finish that fabulous book?

I got stalled in several books at the end of last year, all books I was really looking forward to reading. I eventually went back and finished Wolf Hall, which I think is way overrated. I got stalled because it ocurred to me that the way Mantel was achieving sympathy for the protagonist was pretty disingenuous, sort of literary sleight-of-hand. The reason I went back was I was over 3/4 way through and I wanted to see if there was something I was missing as to how great everyone else thinks it is. I still think people have been hoodwinked.

I am now finishing Chronic City and loving it. But I don't know if I'll go back and finish The Children's Book. Byatt is one of my favorite authors, usually, but I dunno, this book is a real chore. The characters aren't compelling, they mostly seem like one or another type of whiner. And somewhere in there I sense Byatt is dissing her own readers; who needs that crap?

So, my second question is this: How much do you think what's going on in RL at the time impacts your ability to enjoy a book?

If I'm busy and my reading gets chopped up into little segments, I definitely find that my enjoyment of almost any book is diminished. I'll pass over a book that I want to enjoy so I can make time for it later.

#6 Probably more than one wants to admit or could accurately assess. We're just humans, after all.

What's going on in RL totally impacts my ability to enjoy a book. I've been devouring non-fiction like it's going out of fashion since January and I just realised it's because, while I was over-loaded with PhD stuff in the lab, I just couldn't enjoy it. I needed fictitious fluff to divert me (yes, I admit it, I even read the Twilight saga ... sue me!). I gave up my English degree years back because I just stopped reading for pleasure period. It's the only time in my life that's ever happened and there was no way that any degree was worth the sacrifice.

RL totally affects my reading. If I'm stressed or down, I only want to read fluffy comfort reads or depressing, destructive, dystopian SF.

I think the last book I read all night was World War Z. Bad idea. I didn't sleep the next night either.

#3 - I don't think I was up all night, but one of the first books I remember being yelled at for reading past my bedtime was a biography of Annie Sullivan, mostly detailing her awful childhood. *shudder*

I agree with the rest of you. When there is too much on my plate I find it difficult to get through anything too dense or chewy.

I don't read fiction while I'm actively writing - planning a novel, yes, writing it, no. But it doesn't stop me reading non-fiction, and there are some very fiction-y non-fictions. Currently on The Time Traveller's Guide to Medieval England by Ian Mortimer.

First book I ever read under the covers until after my parents had gone to bed? Black Beauty.

Another thing to wonder is how much does hype or expectation play into our reading experience? (Perhaps this is another thread?) I think I am susceptible to book award hype, which can make me expect more of something that either wins a major award or gets lots of praise from literary types. If something aims high, and most of the "right people" think it hits, I want the moon. (I'm thinking Wolf Hall again here.)

I haven't read squat since I was put on the 6-2 shift. I have to get up at 4am, I am not a morning person. When I get home, around 3:30, I'm too tired to read, so I putter on the computer, fix dinner, do chores, etc. I have to go to bed by 9 or the next day is tough. I've always read at night before. This is a part of my life right now which I am not liking, and I hope it is just a phase.

Yes, hopefully you will adjust.

I've had this weeks long sinus infection that makes my vision get blurry. It is a pain to read when that is happening, but i've been doing it anyway :P

RL will usually affect me in reading choice, mainly between fiction or non-fiction. It's hard to contemplate something like the black book of communism when your schedule is killing all of your free time. I'd rather read some short adventures, fantasy, something I can just enjoy.

I think I realized that part of my reading indifference was caused by the poor light in my livingroom. Today I was pouring over a book full of photos of Hollywood Stars from the beginning through the 70s. I still fell asleep though.

I've had lots of books which I couldn't put down, mostly mysteries or adventures of some sort. Others which I want to finish, but can't read in large chunks, are usually histories of some sort. I really want to know what's in them, but find myself zoning out if I read too much at a time. Then there are those which aren't really compelling or great writing, I just want to know what the author is going to do with the characters and plot. Odd Thomas would fall in that catagory, and for me, the Harry Potter books as well. I usually read that sort of book very fast. I linger over books which are written very well, they are like a sort of poetry to me and I want to savor every word.

Some books are very hard to read but scream "stay on" at me. The latest such was The Search for the Perfect Language. It was good, interesting, well written... but sometimes it just was a wee bit over my head. Linguistics is NOT my home turf.

Sometimes I keep at it just because people I respect likes the series. That's the reason I've read not one but two Harry Dresden books, after which I decided that no, this was NOT going to get better.

I don't know which was the first book to make me stay up almost all night, reading by a torch. According to my mum I've had my nose in a book since I was about 8, and I honestly don't remember what I read back then. LoTR was the first that I kept under my pillow, though.

RL definitely gets in the way. Especially when I have to read loads of reports, or when I have to write them. Or when I just feel like I rather want to spend active time with family, be it watching TV, building Lego or working on son's writing skills.
If I watch TV no reading gets done. I only have a few hours a day not spent working or juggling logistics like grocery shopping, cooking, etc. Serious reading means I have to chip hours off my sleeping time. And I need my sleep.

To really enjoy a book I have to really enjoy the characters and feel connected to them. I think that's why I'm having a hard time with Blood and Iron, which is the book I mentioned in the other thread. The plot is okay, the characters are okay, but there is nothing I feel very connected to.

The RL thing also has a big impact. I tend to have headaches which really interrupt my reading along with just the everyday stuff. Then there are also all the things I always feel I should be doing instead of reading that make me feel guilty. Right now my biggest problem is that we have the heat set so low in my house that when I stop moving to read I freeze. If I cover up I fall asleep. Sometimes I walk in circles in the kitchen while I'm reading if I feel inspired.

Characters certainly have a lot of the keep at it appeal. If they're entertaining and resourceful I'm always going to want to just find out how they've gotten out of their latest trouble. This requires a bit of a bond to the character so they need to be a strong voice within the text. Books with multiple viewpoints seldom manage this for me. The world and the writing needs to be vivid and engaging too. Pedstrian worlds may make a good book, but they're hardly ever 'can't put down'. A high action ration also helps.

RL - less so. Unless I just don't have time for more than 10min segments. But then I'm less likely to fill them with reading anyway. Once I have the time (and the book) I'm hooked and RL can wait till a decent chapterbreak stopping place. Yes I've missed my busstop before, dinner has got darker than intended, drinks get cool, but the loo always wins.

I've been slogging through 'Dr Zhivago' for a little while now - I really like it. It's a great book. But I'm not going 'I can't put this down'. I do think sometimes it's a real life thing - if I've got time to read I might choose something I don't have to concentrate on, just some light entertaining fluff, perhaps? Brain power not up to Russian literature right now, I guess.

It took me a year, but I finished Upheavals of Thought and it was completely worth it, to the point that I'm developing the same relationship with Fragility of Goodness. Most of the philosophy is desperately over my head right now, but the more I read it, the less out of my league I feel.

Oddly, I find that it's easier (which may not be the right word) to finish books that I know I've got to get to the end of, but don't have any real emotional or intellectual connection to. I like to savor the books that grab on and don't let go. I've read Les Miserables twice that way, slowly but compulsively, like you eat rich, dark chocolate.

If I get sucked into a book, notably the Harry Potters, Gone With The Wind, The Cat Who books, then I can't put it down until I'm finished without extreme effort. Other books that I am enjoying but not sucked into, I can read at a leisurely pace