I hate not finishing books. I really, really do. Since I made it a resolution last year to finish all the books I start, I have been very good about reading all the books. And I've been very happy about it. I think I rated one manga as "DNF" last year and I read everything else all the way through.
Lately though, I seem to be having a hard time finishing the books I start. For example, I was reading Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal by Christopher Moore and I was enjoying it, really. I just couldn't get through it. I couldn't get myself to read it for more than a couple of pages at a time and while, yes, sometimes it was due to lack of time, sometimes it wasn't. I just didn't feel like reading it and I felt so bad, especially because a friend let me borrow it assuring me I would really enjoy it. But I just couldn't keep going. I know it's a good book; it's hilarious. I just wasn't feeling it and maybe one day I will pick back up, but not now. Now I have one book on my DNF list of 2013 already and I feel terrible.
Should I feel so bad? I know I shouldn't because I gave it a fair shot (I tried reading it for four months!) and there are so many other books out there that I want to read! I just can't help but feeling like I should keep trying to read it, and I don't want to be okay with not finishing books because if I let myself be okay with it, I'll just give up on too many books that I don't read quickly enough. But now I am reading 6 books and I can't seem to get through any of them!
How do you feel about not finishing books? Are you someone who never leaves a book you've started unfinished? Or do you just move on quickly when you're not feeling it?
14 comments
I actually don't mind not finishing books. I have so many to read that wasting my time on something that I don't like seems pointless. But it doesn't mean I don't give it my best effort to finish it. Usually 1 stars are DNF books and then my 2 stars are books that I had to skim scenes to get through. It happens. I don't feel bad about it, lol :)
ReplyDeleteGreat post! Thanks for sharing :D
I have never not finished a book. I just have to finish reading them all. If I'm not enjoying a book, I take breaks from it and do other things, then read a bit more.
ReplyDeleteI feel horrible if I don't finish a book. Even if I start reading it and it's not what I expected it to be, I usually keep pushing through to the last page. But there are those few times where I just can't and I give up. In fact, I just DNFed my latest read, Tiger's Curse. And I wasn't happy about it. I've wanted to read it for ages and I'm sad I couldn't finish it.
ReplyDeleteI used to never DNF a book - like you it was a bit of principle to me - if I started it I MUST finish it. I'm not in that camp anymore. If you let a book put you in a funk it could take you weeks or months to get out of it. If you aren't feeling the book - set it aside and you might feel like reading it at a later time and if you don't well then don't beat yourself up over it. There are way too many good books out there. Sometimes it isn't that I'm not in the mood for a book, sometimes that book is just terrible. Though admittedly I still tend to finish the book even if it is terrible - because then I feel fine with speaking against it.
ReplyDeleteI've DNF'd one book so far this year, and it was a really tough decision. But I figured that I was spending more time picking the book up, only to put it down a few pages later, then I was actually reading it!
ReplyDeleteI used to hate to DNF books but when you think about it, there are so many books out there for you to read...why waste your time on a book that you're just not that into? These days, if I don't want to finish a book, I don't. I'm just lucky that I haven't read too many books that I didn't want to finish.
ReplyDeleteI have trouble not finishing a book, but one of my resolutions for the year was to not feel guilty for not finishing books that weren't doing it for me. I actually recently marked a book as DNF 20 pages from the end. Part of me thought that was silly--only 20 pages to go! Why not just finish? But I just couldn't do it. I had struggled through the book, and didn't want to struggle for even those last 20 pages.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing, too! I try not to give too many 1 or 2 stars, but when I do, it's not for DNF books. I don't rate DNF books because I don't feel I can since I couldn't even finish reading them!
ReplyDeleteWow! Now that's impressive. I haven't finished a lot of books. It's just been these last two years that I didn't actually want to not finish them. I think that's awesome though. Thanks for stopping by!
ReplyDeleteThat sucks, when you have to DNF a book you were really excited for! I am not sure if I have ever done that before actually!
ReplyDeleteExactly. I can't give a book a rating unless I have finished, otherwise it seems unfair. Thanks for sharing your thoughts!
ReplyDeleteThat's how I felt about the book I mentioned in this post. I couldn't get through it and I felt like it was holding me back from other books I could enjoy more. That's why I had to give up on it. Thanks for stopping by!
ReplyDeleteThat is lucky! And I've been pretty lucky that way too. I am just such a slow reader that sometimes I feel that I am not enjoying a book, when in fact, I don't like that it takes me so long to read it, but it's my fault and not the books'!
ReplyDeleteThat's not silly at all! I probably would have suffered through those last 20 pages, but you saved yourself the time. I am going to try not to feel so bad about not finishing books but I know I'll still feel a bit guilty.
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