Around the Year in 52 Books discussion

Do you look ahead to see what will happen in the book? Do you always look at the end first, or absolutely never?

Robin P wrote: "Do you look ahead to see what will happen in the book? Do you always look at the end first, or absolutely never?"

Almost always never, unless I'm losing interest, so I skip a few pages. But I think I've only ever skipped to the last page on 2 books.

I rarely skip ahead with fiction books, as it feels like it ruins the whole experience. However, when it comes to non-fiction I almost always read the introduction and the conclusion, plus some snippets in the middle, in order to decide whether it’s worth my time to read it.

I never peek.

I rarely peek but once in awhile when it looks like a character got killed off, I will look ahead to see if they come back. And sometimes if I am not liking a book much, I will look at GR reviews about the book to see if it is going to get better. Usually those just confirm my original opinion.

I do know of people on GR who always look at the end of the book before they read it!

I basically always read the last sentence or page right when I start a book. Woopsie :) The rest I usually don't peek, unless I get really excited and peek at the dialogue ahead, then go back to read the parts properly.

Oh dear, no never!! I almost never read reviews for fear of spoilers, I don't read introductions or end notes or any of that because I don't want to know what's coming!

I don’t even like to read the blurbs on the inside cover or back before I start reading because they often have spoilers. I hate when they say “Jenny had the perfect life - then one day. . . “

I pretty much always look ahead...but not necessarily at the ending. I might randomly open the book or flip ahead 20-30 pages to see what's coming up. I have no idea why I do this as it makes no sense. it neither adds nor detracts from the enjoyment of the book win my opinion

The only time I'll peek, is if I'm close to DNFing a book. I check out the end to see if maybe it's worth it, or so I can DNF it and still know how it ends. But I usually don't even bother with that much effort if I'm not enjoying the book.

Jennifer W wrote: "Oh dear, no never!! I almost never read reviews for fear of spoilers, I don't read introductions or end notes or any of that because I don't want to know what's coming!"

The same! Unfortunately, people who write introductions tend to assume that the reader is already familiar with the work and spoil the experience. If I read the introduction it is after I’ve finished the book.

Robin P wrote: "I don’t even like to read the blurbs on the inside cover or back before I start reading because they often have spoilers. I hate when they say “Jenny had the perfect life - then one day. . . “"

That is one of my biggest book pet peeves! If the blurb gives away too much of the plot and I'm reading and reading just waiting for the book to catch up with what I already know! I always read the blurbs because I don't want to go in totally blind, but I have definitely rated books lower because the blurb gave away too much.

sometimes. if i'm not enthused by the book anymore, i will peek ahead to see if it's worth continuing. and sometimes i will read the ending.

i did this to a book last night.

I rarely peek. If I'm not enjoying a book or I think a character might die, I will peek just to see if they are on the last page.

The only two books I remember peeking at were Catching Fire (the second Hunger Games) and Lock Every Door (Riley Sager).

Never.

I used to when I was younger. Sometimes now I'll read the last line of the book if it's a romance to see if the couple gets together or not. I rarely do that anymore.

I always split my to-read pages up between days, and this requires me to turn to the back of the book to see how many pages are in the book. I never look because it would honestly ruin it for me.

Never! I limit reading of summaries / reviews to find out just enough to decide if I want to read a book or not.

I have one exception to 'peaking' ... I do use the "does the dog die" website to make sure there no harm comes to animals and try to skip books or at least the parts where pets die.

Never!

It depends. Sometimes I just can't resist flicking forward to see how a plot point resolves! I try not to as much as I can, though.

Joan wrote: "I used to when I was younger. Sometimes now I'll read the last line of the book if it's a romance to see if the couple gets together or not. I rarely do that anymore."

That is me! When I was younger I almost always read the end. Now sometimes I do for the same reason and sometimes I talk,myself out of it.

No no no, just no!

Never! I honestly enjoy the anticipation to much to ruin it for myself. I love speculating will everything turn out alright or will it go horribly wrong and what will happen next!

Almost always. Sometimes I'm getting bored and need to know if it's going to pick up, so I open a random page a good ways on and see if it's good. Sometimes I need to know who dies. Sometimes I need to know if the journey is going to be worth it. Sometimes I'm just impatient. But it's rare that I don't look ahead at some point during the read. Also, when deciding whether to read a physical book, I often flip open to the first page of the last chapter or even the last page of the book and see if I like what I find there before I read it.

It's funny ... when I was younger I would never look ahead to see what was going to happen or whatever. As I've gotten older, I do it on some books and others not. I think it just depends on my mood when I'm reading.

When I'm browsing through unknown books at a bookstore, I'm likely to read the first paragraph, then flip to the middle of the book and read a paragraph or two; and then I flip to a couple of chapters prior to the last chapter and will read a paragraph or so. This helps me get a pretty good overview of the book and let's me know if I'm interested enough to read it.

I try not to know the ending, but if I end up knowing for some reason, I still enjoy the the journey of getting there.

Blurbs giving too much away is annoying. And sometimes those blurbs don't always have correct information regarding the plot of the book.

Reviews such as in NY Times are also terrible for spoilers. Plus I am reading them to get a sense of the book and whether I should read it, not a summary of the plot!

Before I had children I never peeked; now I usually do, even if it's after I start. Some of the best books still have many surprises along the way, though, so I don't like spoilers of things that happen in the book :)

Robin P wrote: "Reviews such as in NY Times are also terrible for spoilers. Plus I am reading them to get a sense of the book and whether I should read it, not a summary of the plot!"

Yeeessss, it's awful when the ending is spoiled without warning by a reviewer!

I don't skip ahead, but sometimes I'll check that Does the Dog Die website so I can prepare myself.

If the book is any good, yes. If the characters are well written, I worry about them so need to make sure they come out ok and then I can enjoy the book.

Very rarely do I look ahead. I do hate it when the blurb gives away too much of the plot. I sometimes read a few goodreads reviews to see what other people think but never ones marked with spoilers.

Never.

This is a very interesting question because I always read the last page of a book first. To the point that I won't read a book if I don't like the words on the last page. And, I am so compulsive about this habit that even if I try to tell myself that I won't "peek" I usually can't stand it and by page 100 I have always read the last page. I even do it for mysteries. By the same token, though I will mark favorite parts of a book and go back and re-read them before putting the book down and calling it finished. I especially do this if the book is going to make my Top 10 Books of the Year List.

Never, ever, no, nope, nada - absolutely not. And if anyone gives me spoilers - I will end them! Okay, of course not, but I will be very irritated.

Never peeked

Felicia wrote: "Very rarely do I look ahead. I do hate it when the blurb gives away too much of the plot. I sometimes read a few goodreads reviews to see what other people think but never ones marked with spoilers."
Sarah wrote: "Robin P wrote: "Reviews such as in NY Times are also terrible for spoilers. Plus I am reading them to get a sense of the book and whether I should read it, not a summary of the plot!"

Yeeessss, it..."

I never read long reviews before I read a book, because as someone who peeks, I hate spoilers for all of the things along the way. I dislike blurbs that give out too much information for the same reason.