A boring novel picked up in break (4)
I believe the answer is:
wean
'break' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'a boring novel picked up' is the wordplay.
'boring' indicates putting letters inside (some letters must 'bore' a hole into other letters).
'novel' becomes 'new' (similar in meaning).
'picked up' is a reversal indicator.
'a' placed within 'new' is 'naew'.
'naew' in reverse letter order is 'WEAN'.
'in' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for wean that I've seen before include "Take the young off mother's milk" , "Accustom baby to take food instead of milk" , "Gradually bring a baby off suckling" , "Gradually deprive the young of its mother's milk" , "Get baby off the bottle" .)