What are some books that started out a bit slow for you....that you pondered giving up on, but decided to stick with it - only to find you absolutely loved it in the end? 

For example, when I started to read "A Confederacy of Dunces" by John Kennedy Toole, I wasn't sure what to expect.  For me, at that time in my life, it wasn't the genre that I was into.  But when I finished it, it  positively made me smile. 

Also, I started to read "David Copperfield" years ago, couldn't get past page 5.  I picked it up earlier this year, and now it's one of my favorite books of all time. 

Anyone else?  :)

I thought "Message in a Bottle" started slowly, but it suddenly picked up and I was really glad I ifnished it. :) I wouldn't say it's one of my favorite books, but it's one I enjoyed and I' m glad I read it. :)

I started Lord of the Rings numerous times and always gave up on it after 10, 20, 50, 60 pages.  I saw the first movie, and decided if the movie was that fantastic, the books had to be better!  I slogged through about the first 110 pages, and then, fell in love with the book, and all the books thereafter.  Funnily enough, I read the Hobbit so many times and absolutely loved that.....

Pretty much any book written before 1920, or anything from 1920-1950 that's really dated and time specific I have trouble getting into.

Anna Karenina was a great example of a book I ultimately really liked, but it was hell getting throught the first half.

I'm tackling War and Peace in September, hopefully I can get through that first chunk.

Lord of the Fading Lands by C.L. Wilson.

I had a hard time getting into this.  I like fantasy and romance so I was looking forward to reading it. But then I I just couldn't get it going. Since I had books 2 and 3 already I forced myself to pick it up again. I'm glad I did because I ended up really enjoying the 2nd half and bks 2 and 3.  Now I can't wait to read book 4 when it comes out soon.

Rebecca ...wasn't sure I was gonna make it through this one but I got sucked into the story!

Chris B-

There was a time I could only read Russian Lit.  I read War and Peace - it took me an entire summer to get through it.  Believe it or not, there is a story amid all that war...lol  A very good story, actually.

Tara S-

I read The Hobbit and half of the Fellowship of the Ring, and I couldn't get into it.  I still have the books.. I'm hoping to revisit them sometime soon :/

Oh, I second Lord of the Fading Lands.  Wanted to give up, but I really liked it.

Pretty much everything I've read by Trollope.  His books always take me at least a hundred pages to get into, and then I wind up loving them.

First, may I say that I'm really glad that you started this thread?   I see sooooo much talk about the 50-page rule (that if you don't like a book by page 50 you should give up on it).   While there may be some vailidity to this rule, it also makes me a little angry.    There are a lot of great books out there that take a while to get into, and I don't think you should throw a book aside just because of that.

Oooh - That felt good to get that out!  Now I can answer your question.

The one book that springs immediately to mind is Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguo.  The beginning of the book is all about some kids growing up at an English boarding school, and it gets boring and frurstrating reading about kids and their pettyness.  Then about half way through the book you find out that all is not what it seems at the boarding school, and it becomes a totally different story - a great story.

Thought of another one!  Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen.   I knew the story of course, if not from the mini-series or the movie then I could have learned the story practically by osmosis, since someone seems to be discussing this book at any given time.  But I had never read the book, so last summer I determined to read it.   Well, I tried numerous times to get into the book, but kept falling asleep!  Then I thought maybe the audio version would be better, but I hated the narrator.   So I tried a different audio version, which had a much better narrator, and was finally able to get into the rythym and humor of Austen's writing.    Definitely glad I kept trying.   I see what all of the fuss is about now :-)

Lynne J-

I try and read every book I start.  It's a rarity if I give up on one - I think I did it twice.  I still have them, so I may go back and read them still.  Of course, there are books that I had trouble reading, finished them, and then flung them across the room in anger for their stupidity.  Such are the consequences. :/

Rebecca, which someone else already mentioned.  Fortunately, my teacher, who had it on our supplemental reading list, had warned us that it only got good after the first 50 pages.  I'm usually a "stick-it-out-to-the-ender," but another book I really thought I was going to dislike until I got all the way through was The Corrections.

Just about any book by James Mitchner, an author popular in the 1970's.      His books were long and started soooooo slow.   It took me a year to get into one of them.

Lynn - I don't have a set number of pages that I'll read before I give up.   However, I have over 100 books here to read and simply no longer have the patience to slug through half a book to get to the good part.    TOO many books that are good all the way through.   I am also very aware, as I get older, that I have a limited amount of years to read.   I want to read books that really entertain me.

I love ya, Cozi, but I think that you and I will have to agree to disagree on this one.   I don't stick with every book.  There are some that I give up on.   But the two examples that I gave above are in my personal top 10 of books read in my life, and I would have missed out on them if I had given up after 50 pages.

I put down The Last Time They Met by Shreve.  A friend of mine told me to give it another shot.  I haven't yet, but she did the same thing: hated the slowness in the beginning and then got sucked into it.

I loved Never Let Me Go so much I reordered it for my keeper shelf.

I am glad that I didn't give up on Life of Pi.  I totally get why others couldn't get into it, but by the end I was really thinking hard about that liferaft and animals and food and what bravery really is..........

Pomegranite Soup by marsha Mehran.  Usually I give up if I am not into a book by 50 pages.  This one seemed a little disjointed at first.  But I kept going.  By the time I reach 100 pages, I was hooked on all the characters.  It turned out to be a wonderful story.

I actually gave up on Never Let Me go...you guys are making me think I should give it another try.. I gave up on it for the exact reason that Lynne mentioned. It seemed like this boring story about a boarding school.

 One that I am really glad I did not give up on was The Red Tent..it started a bit slow but it is my all time favorite book.

Oooh! I want to read The Red Tent.  It looks interesting...

Taking Liberties by Diana Norman. I didn't love the first book in the series (A Catch of Consequence) and so was a bit hesitant about reading the second (Taking Liberties), but I'm glad I stuck with it. It turned out to be very good.

Oh, and I agree about the Lord of the Rings--it was another that I had a hard time getting into at first, but was wonderful once it picked up.

Dawn- Go back a try Never Let Me Go again. It was a really great book with a interesting twist. Don't give up on it!

It took a while but once I got into A SUITABLE BOY it started to fly and I was dying to know who she picks. It had a satifying ending and I think I will reread it one day...