If something doesn't catch your attention with the first minute or so, do you lose all interest?

Yes, usually, I lose interest, especially video. A book I’ll give a little more time, at least a page or two. Or I might flip to the middle of the book and see if it changes tone.

I read a book named “Spooner” that I hated at the beginning. Some perv boy sneaking into people’s houses and peeing in their shoes. I refused to out it down, but read only half-heartedly. OMG. I love that BOOK! Unfortunately, it got away from me before I could re-read it and savor the whole story.

No , I usually try to give the director or author the time to develop the story in the hopes that my interest will pick up but not always .
=)

No I read everything, sometimes I regret it though. Badd endings are the bane of my reading existance.

Even if a movie or book is not interesting during the first few minutes, I just continue to watch or read it (especially if I have nothing else to do), you never know, you might like it. It might even end up being one of your all time favorite movie or book.

I have a compulsion to finish books that I start. Though I have no problems ditching a movie or video.

I’m very patient. And my attention span is both shorter and longer than average. Depends on what is vying for my attention.

Are we related, that you know of, @fluthernutter?

Well I…

@Symbeline “pithy”

I don’t lose interest that quickly. There have been plenty of times when I stopped reading a book or watching a movie about half way through because I couldn’t get into it.

Movies get 20 minutes.

Books get five chapters or 100 pages, whichever comes first. Exception: If I fall asleep while reading it five times, it gets shelved. Jane Austen was removed from my book collection due to exception rule.

All a book needs to catch my attention is to have a plot, characters, dialogue, and understandable prose. It doesn’t have to be an interesting plot or good dialogue; every book teaches you something, even if it’s just about the author’s fetishes or hangups. (Twilight, I’m looking at you.) I think reading everything that’s out there gives you a well-rounded understanding of books and a good crap radar.

I’ve finished some really terrible books, and some seriously long, meandering doorstops. For some reason, the only thing I could never finish was Naked Lunch. In a book with conventional narrative, my brain just goes on autopilot and I don’t even notice that I’m reading. With Naked Lunch, it was like I had to individually comprehend every word and it took… so… long.

@Symbeline Well, you….butterfly!

I made a run at War and Peace 4 times in my life, vowing to read it. I made it half way through, then started skipping the war parts and going straight to the peace parts. Now I can say I read it. Pretty much.

People’s attention spans were SO much longer back when books like that were written. Have you ever picked up a Reader’s Digest from the 50’s and compared it to a RD today? Pretty mind blowing.

@Dutchess_III Masters & Servants is one of the best I’ve read and by golly, about 4 inches thick, give it a shot sometime if old England interests you.

I hate to give up on a book or movie. What if I miss a good ending? It has to be really bad for me to quit. As some of you can confirm based on the crappy romances that I have read.

Yes. I can confirm the @Juels reads some really CRAPPY books!

Got your back, @Juels! :-)

@ibstubro Thanks, knew I could count on you. It would be embarrassing to have someone see my kindle activity. If you’re looking for a romance that gets your attention in the first chapter, then check out Wallbanger by Alice Clayton. ;-)

@Juels I loved that book! It was so funny

@Valerie111 Did you read her Redhead series? There is a 3rd book coming out next month. Also, Wallbanger sequels will be coming out next year. There has even been talk of turning Wallbanger into a movie. Yea!

@Juels It’s on my to read list. I’ve been waiting for the 3rd book to come out so I can read them all together.

I just finished reading A Humble Heart by R.L. Mathewson. It was amazing! If you haven’t read it, I think you would really like it.

@Valerie111 Thanks! I’ve had a dry spell looking for the next good book. I’ll check it out.

@ibstubro Are you certifiably nuts?
Then, yes. We might be related. ;)

I also have a suspicion that our homes may look a bit similar. I used to sell on eBay and still hit up estate sales. Wonder if that’s related to a certain temperament?

I used to sell on Ebay. I quit when I got not one single bid for my husband in 6 months. But that’s OK. Shipping would have been a nightmare.

@fluthernutter They tried to certify me, but I cleverly funked the test.

We don’t have flipping Estate Sales here…the towns are too small. Instead, the family does away with the best stuff, burns all the ephemera, then calls us to get the leaving to sell at our auction. I wish that was an exaggeration or joke.

Well, sure, @Dutchess_III, if you sold him whole. The parts are always worth more than the set, and are much easier to ship. Duh!

Oooooo. OK. I’ll try again!

Just make sure to get his driver’s license and make sure all the organ donor boxes are checked.