Did not finish ...

Yesterday, Dorte over at DJ Krimiblog put up a post about reasons for not finishing a book. I gave up with the blogger comment box after a few goes and decided that I'd do my own post, dovetailing with hers. I should start by saying that it is relatively rare that I do not finish a book. If I've parted with cash, 19 times out of 20 I'll read my investment (I was amazed that one commenter on Dorte's post said they do not finish 75% of the books they start). That's partly to do with buying policy (and I buy 95%+ all the books I read). I usually buy my books in shops and not online, so I can browse, or if I do buy online it is either an author I know and like, or I've read a review by a trusted reviewer (usually one that feeds into the Crime and Mystery Friendfeed). That stops a lot of books I'd struggle with entering the house. That's not to say that I don't sometimes pick a book off the shelf, read a page or so and put it back, but what's going on here is deciding whether I'm in the mood for that kind of book, rather than making a final judgement. On the relatively rare occasion that I abandon a book it is for the following reasons:

• Weak plot, often deriative with no distinctive voice; a formulaic approach; no compelling hook
  
• Poor character development, with stock characters, caricatures and stereotypes (I don't mind this in certain kinds of novels, such as comic noir, but not in anything rooted in any kind of realism).
• Characters I don't believe in or care about to some degree (even if I don't like them, I need to be able to be interested in them)
• Too much tell and not enough show; over-description or labouring points
• Bad dialogue with characters that speak in formal English, with no slang, interuptions, tail-offs, and all use the same voice, etc
  
• Lack of credibility and realism in what purports to be realistic fiction (again I don't mind if the story is not seeking realism as with fantasy; though in fantasy there has to be consistency and the plot has to fit within the rules of that world)
• A writing style that is all style and no substance - nice prose is good, great story is better
• Too much sermonising and/or pretentiousness
  
• Continuity errors, basic historical or factual errors, weak editing
• Knowing that if I stop I won't care that I don't know how it ends (and I like to know how things end)