I like reading very much. But a lot of times I buy books and the content isn't what I was wishing for or I found out I dislike the writing style of the author. When do you know that you shouldn't finish a book? Is it when the book doesn't interest you anymore? Is it when reading starts to feel like a chore? A lot of times I feel like when I start reading a book I should finish it because maybe I'll get something out of it at the end. I would really appreciate any perspectives on how people think about this!
by ShowDense7600
8 Comments
That’s a good question. Usually when I get to the point where I realize it’s just not worth it. Could be an issue with characterization, writing, the plot or something else, plus along with whichever of these it is, if I’m no longer enjoying the read and have not been for some time and wouldn’t regret not finishing, I’ll consider it a dnf.
There’s no one way to know for sure. I’ve stopped reading for a lot of different reasons.
I used to tell myself to give a book roughly 25% of its total length to win me over, and if at that point I’m still not into it, I can quit. (I’ve never operated with the mindset that I should finish everything I start, no matter what.)
But nowadays, I don’t even require that. There are too many books and too little time to waste even a day on a book I’m not into.
More often than not though what this tends to look like is me “taking a break” from a book and then just never going back to it.
I don’t have a problem with not finishing a book so if it’s not interesting enough and/or I’m not having fun reading it I’ll just quit and move to the next
I stop reading when I don’t feel engrossed. This happens for a number of reasons. The most common reason, however, is that the author has stopped surprising me. They have setup a situation with an outcome I can guess or they’re repeating the same philisophical points over and over, without developing them enough. I need things to keep growing and moving and changing and developing.
Of the book slogs, I usually scan the pages. If I’m not liking it, I drop it and move on. I usually only read books on Kindle Unlimited, so it’s no biggie if I don’t finish a book. I read about 100 books a year.
I’m stubborn and usually finish books even if I’m not enjoying them.
When it’s poorly written. If it’s useful nonfiction, I just flip through it to get the main points and finish it asap. When it’s fiction, I don’t typically finish, but usually you can see a book is bad from the first few dozen pages, so I wouldn’t even call that not finishing a book but rather not even starting it haha. If I’ve read more than 40-50 pages of a fiction book and I’m interested, I usually finish it because while reading can feel like a chore sometimes, it’s usually very rewarding to finish a good book, even if it wasn’t an easy read.
When it feels like work.
This is why I like digital. You can download a digital sample.
Which reminds me, I need to hook back up to my local online library again.