Comments on: Enjoying the Spoils

By: Jaye Puleio

Jaye Puleio — Wed, 29 Dec 2010 11:39:45 +0000

Is a skimmer! Lol. Went skimming with ze cousin..

By: LeeAnn

LeeAnn — Sun, 23 May 2010 22:02:51 +0000

I laughed out loud as I read your epistle. I started reading MANY years ago when you were never sure of a happy ending…and since I never read a book unless it ended happily (why on earth would someone spend money to deliberately feel sad – life is already difficult enough) I wisely read the ending. I can’t tell you how many people gasp and are aghast when I tell them I read the ending first to make sure it’s a good book. Well tough. I still pick up a wall banger occasionally, or the heroine is TSTL, but at least it ends happy!

By: jebe

jebe — Sat, 22 May 2010 00:00:15 +0000

I'm a repeat offender. I'll spoil books, movies and TV shows. I wanna know, I just wanna know. Call it ADD, ADHD, lack of discipline or lack of character, call it whatever, I can't stand the suspense. Sometimes I only do a modified read ahead. Meaning I only look ahead to the end of a chapter to see if things pick up, then resume reading. I did the modified look-see w/Harry Potter and I've done that in a few mysteries (Karin Slaughter). The only book I never peeked ahead was C.S. Harris, but that's b/c I'm in love w/Sebastian so I want to savor every moment w/him. ;> And thanks for mentioning the bit about secondary romances being a real sinker, Abi! I find that when things start slowing down, the secondary romance is sure fire way to get me to look ahead. I'm just not a secondary romance lover.

By: Rowena

Rowena — Fri, 21 May 2010 21:50:16 +0000

I always read the ending early. Normally when I am about a quarter or a third through the book. I cannot help myself – I even did it with the last two Harry Potter books even though I didn’t want to know spoilers. If the book is part of a series I will read the end of the last book in the series before I have finished the book I am reading in the series. (did that with the Lymond Chronicles – and asked my sister to hide the last book so I couldn’t read ahead and then had to ask her for the book back so I could read ahead).
Something I don’t think anyone mentioned – my father also reads ahead so I guess I either learned it from him or inherited it from him. I re-read books but my father rarely does.
I also, on occasions when I may be uncertain about a movie, watch the end of a movie. If I like the end, I’ll go back to where I was in the movie and continue to watch it. If I don’t like the end of the movie I just won’t watch anymore.

By: bavarian

bavarian — Fri, 21 May 2010 21:45:47 +0000

I’m always reading the ending first, sometimes even before the beginning! I even look for the last page of a mystery. Stupid, I know, but only once I’ve thus spoiled my own reading. Now with romantic suspense (which I prefer to straight mysteries) I’m more cautious and read only the last lines to be sure that hero and heroine are safe and together at the end.
But I must confess I’m not only reading the end first: I often skim, read the last chapter, go forward, try to resume my earlier reading, skim anew. Books I don’t like I skim generally very quickly and put them aside. But I also skim books I really like. Here comes the stress factor. A (very) good book with great characters and gripping action is too stressfull to read in order. I just have to read ahead. Then having the outline of the story, beeing sure that all goes well, I can lean back and savor the whole book from the first to the last line.
Otherwise ther are books which are a bit slow. Reading ahead, then backward, then ahead again can bring more suspense!

By: Tee

Tee — Fri, 21 May 2010 12:36:38 +0000

Jeanne Pickering: What I would like to know is, from those who don’t read the ending first, do you seldom re-read books?

So, yes, you're right, Jeanne. As one who doesn't read the endings first (as a rule), I rarely re-read. Most of the time, especially with longer books, I feel I've been thru the journey and won't take the time to do it all over again when there are so many other books to be read for the first time. However, in dry or in-a-funk periods, I have gone back to quicker reads that have been pleasurable for me in the past. This doesn't happen often, but I do have a few favorites that have passed the test of time.

By: CEAD

CEAD — Fri, 21 May 2010 10:56:55 +0000

I skip ahead sometimes, under three different circumstances:

1. I’m starting to think the book isn’t worth my time, and want to see if it improves enough to stick with it. (Usually the answer turns out to be no.)

2. I’m getting really worried about my favourite character, or about an increasingly tense situation. I’m one of those people who can get overly emotionally involved in what she’s reading, so if I’m afraid my favourite character will die, or start to suspect the author is about to do something I don’t approve of, I’ll skip to the end so that I don’t get an apoplexy if what I don’t want to happen happens.

3. I’m reading a romance and am starting to wonder, ‘Are these people ever going to have sex?

I try not to find out too much of what is going to happen when I jump ahead, but I’m not that bothered if I do. I enjoy re-reading books I love because I feel like I pick up more of the nuances the second (or third) time; there are books I’ll re-read every few years or so. So being spoiled doesn’t destroy my interest in the book.

By: Abi

Abi — Fri, 21 May 2010 09:44:55 +0000

Hey everybody, thanks for responding – and making me feel part of a ‘spoilt’ community

As for re-reading: I love, love, love to re-read. Sometimes I only re-read favourite parts, or I just open the book to a random page and start. If I haven’t re-read in a long time (let’s say years), I’ll go from top to bottom.

And re-reading is not just for favourites. I might come across a book on my shelf that I *know* I read but well, it’s vague so I’ll give it a read. I “discovered” Mary Balogh’s More Than A Mistress like that. It’s one of my favourite romance books ever and it had been languishing and hidden on my shelf for untold years. I guess the frame of mind or stage of life I was in when I first read didn’t allow me to enjoy the book as I do now.

By: rio

rio — Fri, 21 May 2010 08:12:41 +0000

When I am looking to buy a book from an unfamiliar author either on recomendation or experiment i will read the first and last page at the store then decide if its worth finding out what hppened in the middle.
knowin ho a book ends doesnt ruin it for me – my house is literaaly overrun with books i re-read again and again.

By: Sharon

Sharon — Fri, 21 May 2010 06:53:31 +0000

In response to Susan’s nicely stated comments: “I generally don’t because knowing the end truly does spoil the adventure for me. Even for romances with a guaranteed HEA, if I don’t go through the journey the same way the characters do, it just plain isn’t as pleasurable.”

I love this sentiment as I am sadly one of those who often reads ahead, mostly because I am frustrated by the lack of time I have to read for pleasure and don’t want to wait until the next evening. But I’m never happy with myself for doing this and I do think it ruins much of what you called “the journey”. I will try to keep this in mind with my next book.