Someone you know writes a book, and it stinks. What do you say to him or her?

Someone in my family wrote and self-published a novel. This novel was many years in the making, and the author is very proud of it. Several family members were given signed copies, and I started reading mine yesterday.

It is pretty awful. I am forcing myself to slog through it at this point because I feel like I have to read it in order to talk to this relative about it next time we see each other. Would you continue to read the book and pretend to like it to spare your family member’s feelings? Is there a way to avoid reading the rest of the book without later coming across as a jerk?