If you haven't heard of the Reader's Bill of Rights, by French author Daniel Pennac, you should read it now. I've seen different variations, but this is the wording I like the best.
When I asked my beta-readers to read my latest WIP, I reminded them of the Reader's Bill of Rights.
If they didn't like it, they had the right to stop reading. To not read. To not finish. To reread.
And, because I was soliciting their opinions, most importantly they had the right to not defend their tastes to me. I made it clear it was enough for a beta-reader to say, "This is isn't my thing," and s/he could leave it at that.
I would add one thing to Pennac's list, an 11th Right. Or, perhaps, an Amendment?
"The right to read the way I want."
My students routinely skipped Prologues and Epilogues. They flipped to the chapters with the most interesting pictures. They thumbed through books, skimming for dialogue. Or just for words they knew they could read.
I personally go to the last, or second to last, chapter of a book and read the resolution first. If I don't like the way a book ends, I don't invest time in the 300 pages or so.
Sometimes I even read backward. I start at the end, and work my way chapter-by-chapter to the beginning. I liken it to watching a suspenseful movie ending, first. And yes, I do that, too - because I can't sit still during a movie if I don't know how it will end. (I read spoilers, but I keep them to myself, too!) Very frustrating for my husband-movie-fanatic.
