Usually, when I start a book I finish it. If I don’t, it’s because it gets buried in a corner.

In the last week there were two books I was listening to that I had to stop and return to the library. One, there wasn’t any saving it for me considering the number of curse words in the opening paragraph. The other was a 20 hours audiobook that I listened to for 8 hours. There was much I loved about the book, and I told my husband if I’d had a paper copy, I could have skipped the parts that stopped me cold, but an audiobook doesn’t allow you to do that easily. (And no, I won’t tell you what books. It doesn’t matter, because I’m certain some of you probably loved the longer one.) But it got me thinking…

Are there elements that stop you cold in a book and make you walk away?

For me there aren’t many.

+ Language would be one. If it’s excessive and doesn’t add to the character or intrudes on the story, I’ll stop.

+ Excessive violence. Yes, I write suspense, but you’ll notice (if you read those), the violence is largely off the page.

+ Characters just didn’t grab me — this is rare. I’ll usually keep plugging if I’m the least bit interested in the plot and characters. It’s amazing the number of books I’ve plowed through that others quit. But I have to want to spend time with the characters. It helps if I’d love to travel with them or have coffee with them.

There are other things, but they vary from book to book.

I’m giving myself permission to enjoy the many wonderful books out there, rather than stay committed to one that isn’t engaging for one reason or another. Lest you think I haven’t read any wonderful book this month, here are a few of my top reads from January:

I may be on a historical kick. Look at all these time periods!

And if you haven’t already, be sure to join the blog tours for Lethal Intent and enter the giveaways for that novel! You can find the Celebrate Lit tour here and the Partners in Crime tour here.