Thursday, June 14, 2007

Booking Through Thursday

1. Do you cheat and peek ahead at the end of your books? Or do you resolutely read in sequence, as the author intended?

2. And, if you don’t peek, do you ever feel tempted?

I used to do this quite a bit in my younger days. For me, it's sort of the same as peeking at your Christmas gifts - a little unsatisfying in the end. The only time I do this now is if I am not enjoying a book and not planning on finishing it at all. In that case, I'll sometimes skim the rest or just go straight for the last couple of pages.

I think I am tempted to look ahead! One thing I will admit to doing is looking a few pages ahead if I'm at a critical point in the storyline and I have to stop reading for some reason. Usually I am at work when I do this.

13 comments:

Iliana said...

I never peek! I'm always afraid that if I find out too much then I won't want to finish reading the book.

Anonymous said...

Hehe I used to know where my mum hid the christmas gifts before she wrapped them so I could nose through them every year! I occassionally peek, but it's by no means every time.

Matt said...

I also never peek. Sometimes I'll look at the end of the book to see how many pages it is and I'm always very careful not to look at even a single word as I fear I might ruin the ending. I like the suspense, not knowing, keeps me going to the last page.

Daphne said...

I like the analogy to opening Christmas presents before Christmas. My uncle helped me do that once when I was kid and I was so disappointed that the one thing I really wanted wasn't there. It almost ruined Christmas that year!

Stephanie said...

Nope. Not a peeker. It just isn't the same, if I know how it's going to end!

I do, however, shake Christmas presents!

Happy Reading!

teabird said...

Like Matt, I'll look at the page numbers to see how many pages are left - but the content? Never...

Rowena said...

I don't peek but I do get spoilers from my friends, I think that counts as the same thing though, huh?

Trish @ Love, Laughter, Insanity said...

I'm not a peeker, but that doens't mean I don't feel the temptation. But for me, when the temptation is the greatest--those are the best books! Must resist looking...

Tara said...

Thanks everyone for stopping by!

Bookgirl - I know what you mean.

Rhinoa - I used to peek too!

Matt - I do that EXACT THING when I check the pages! I also love the suspense.

Daphne - I'm kind of miffed at your Uncle!

Stephanie - I still shake presents myself!

Teabird, me too.

Rowena, definitely counts as peeking, I'd say.

Trish, you are right, the ones most tempting do usually turn out to be the best!

Detroit said...

I hear ya! I forgot that I have done that before too - with a book that I knew I was not going to finish so I went to zee end! Thanks for stopping by!

Literary Feline said...

I am not a peeker nor am I tempted even if I may want to know what happens next. It just never crosses my mind to cheat like that. :-)

nutmeg said...

As I was reading your post I was thinking, no I never peek - it would ruin it. But then I thought - but I do look ahead a couple of pages sometimes when I'm at a very tense point in a novel - and there you had just written the same thing! I peaked a few times when I was reading A Thousand Splendid Suns recently ;-)

Anonymous said...

Well, I will admit that I am a peeker. Now, I don't do it at Christmas anymore after the time when I was 12 and I opened all my gifts when my mom went shopping with my siblings. Horrible Christmas! But...sometimes I can't stand the suspense, so I peek. Am I terrible? Ha!