Hi friends! I hope you had a great summer despite all that is happening right now in the world. If someone knows how to build a time machine, that would be great…thank you in advance.
Happier thoughts! I’m back on the blog today to talk about…books of course! And with a fascinating discussion about DNF!
What does DNF mean?
First things first, what the hell does DNF means? DNF means “Did Not Finish” and out there in the world, I feel like there is a LOT of people who aren’t scared to DNF books and I applaud them because why keep reading a book you are not enjoying??! Seriously, what is the point? Life is short, go with your gut and pick up a book you’ll fall head over heels with, am I right?
Well…in my case, I’ve never and I mean NEVER didn’t finish a book (OK… maybe it happened when I was a younger innocent child). And I’m going to tell you why.
Why I never DNF books
? I pick up books I KNOW I’m going to like.
I don’t remember a time when I was not reading. I was more into fantasy when I was a teenager and now I’m a more into contemporary and dystopia. My taste has evolved and I really got to know myself. At this time, I know EXACTLY what I like in my books. I enjoy romance and drama, I need three-dimensional characters and a good world-buidling. If it’s a story about sisters or social media or traveling…I will definitely love it.
I also know which authors I adore and I get GREAT recommendations from my sister and all the book blogging community. To sum it up, if I pick up a book it’s because I know I’m going to enjoy it. And no matter how hyped a novel is, if it’s not my cup of tea, I’m NOT going to read it.
? If I start a book, I’ll finish it. I’m all about commitment!
So, cards on the table…I hate unfinished business! When I start something, I like to see it through. It applies to work projects, personal ones and yeah to books! I’m like halfway through a story and well…it’s meh. DNF it? It’s not even going to cross my mind. I feel like I already put too much time into it, it would be a waste to end it now. Better to keep pushing and be able to add one more book to my reading list of the year.
Truth to be told, there is nothing more satisfying to read the last page of a novel and to close the book. The feeling of coming to the end of a story and getting closure, there is nothing quite like it (even if it wasn’t a great story).
? Maybe it’ll get better, who knows?
It’s never THAT bad. I mean I never told myself “Oh god, that book is stupid. I don’t want to read another page, I can’t read another page”. Sometimes, I don’t like the main character or there is twist that makes no sense at all or I’m a bit confused by the world building but it never gets insurmountable. There is always something that I do enjoy.
Also, the curiosity always gets the best of me. I want to know what happens next and maybe, hopefully, it will get better. Maybe the main character will get more lovable or at least understandable, maybe all will be explained like the sun coming up after months of bad weather, maybe something fabulous I didn’t see coming will happen and take the story to a whole new level. You never know and if you stop it now, you’ll definitely never find out.
? And no, I won’t skip passages in order to get to the end faster.
OK, maybe I’ll never DNF a book but what about skipping some boring passages to get to the ending and finally find out how everything turns out? Well…not on my watch. I’m not going to skip passages because then I’ll get confused and I hate getting confused. I’ll always get back to the previous pages because of course everything was explained there but since I didn’t read it I’m complety lost in the story and I can’t even understand the end. Waste of time x10000.
And no again, I’ll not only read the passages with my favorite character to know what’s going to happen to her or him. I’ll feel too bloody guilty about the other ones…
What would make me DNF a book?
So after coming to the end of this article, I asked myself: what would make me DNF a book??! Well…I guess I would do it if:
- the writing is really bad,
- the story isn’t at all like it was advertised on the back cover,
- there are some bad triggers that I wasn’t expecting…
Hopefully it will never happen. Fingers crossed!
☂️ Related blog post: Why I don’t read multiple books at a time
Do you DNF books often or does it happen on really rare occasions? What are the things that make you DNF a book?
Does it make you feel bad when you do it? Do you give the book another try at a later time or is it goodbye forever?
Let’s chat in comments ?
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Love it! Your point about knowing what you’ll like makes a lot of sense. I’ve been pushing myself to try things I don’t typically like/read, so I’ve had an uptick in DNFs… meaning one. ? I usually can read a book fast enough that the time lost to a mediocre book is minimal, but there are some that just overwhelm my brain with complexity and I need a break, or are so misogynistic/otherwise problematically terrible that I have to stop.
Haha ? Yeah I totally get that!!
Thank you so so much for stopping by ??
I do dnf books, but it’s honestly pretty rare because like you said, I pick books that I know I’m going to like! If I dnf a book, I’m probably not going to try and read it again.
Yaay to us knowing what kind of books we enjoy ?? Yeah I get that, I don’t think I would get back to the book if I DNFed it.
Thanks for stopping by ?
OMG, I resonated so much with this post!!! I don’t DNF books either, which is ironic since I’m a really slow reader. I agree with all of the things that you just said, but another reason I personally don’t DFN is that I can never tell the reason why I’m getting bored. Like is it because of the book or is it because of my own mind or mood?? To answer that question, I might as well read the book and find out. ?
Yeeees!! I totally get that feeling! Is the book boring or is it just me? ?
Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts! ??
I DNF a few books every year. I’m actually thinking about DNFing my current book because it’s nonfiction and very dry. It’s like reading a college textbook. I usually DNF books for bad writing or if I get bored. I have so many unread books that I don’t want to waste time on books I’m not enjoying.
Ugh, that does sound boring haha ?
Amen to that!!
Thank you so much for stopping by ??
I am EXACTLY like you – I absolutely hate leaving things unfinished, so if I start a book, you bet I will be reading it all the way through ? Even if I don’t like it – which does sometimes happen ?
What I will do, though, is dnf series. If I didn’t particularly like the first book, there’s a pretty good chance that I’ll never feel inclined to pick up the next one, even if I did originally intend to. There are just so many other books I’d rather get to!
Haha, glad to see I’m not alone!! ?
Oh yeees, I would do that too! There are so many series I haven’t finished ?
Thank you so much for stopping by and sharing your thoughts on the subject ??
I DNF a lot, especially if I’m not enjoying the book at all. When I pick a book I read the back and reviews and think I will like it but sometimes it doesn’t end up like that so I have to stop reading it because I just can’t ?
Life is definitely too short to keep reading books we’re not enjoying!!
Thanks for stopping by ??
YES TO ALL OF THIS!!! I know I’m in the minority, what with preferring to not dnf. I especially liked your point that you pick books you know you’ll like. A two-star book is pretty rare for me, and one-star almost never. And, honestly?, I usually don’t even realize I’m reading a one-star book until I’m almost done, and I figure I may as well finish it.
The only books I’ve really DNFed were books that were long and boring, all of them classics. If they were taking too long to read and I wasn’t enjoying them (I’m looking at YOU Gulliver’s Travels!), I ditched it.
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Same here!! I don’t think I’ve ever put a one star rating in my whole life, haha!
Yeeees, same here! Long and boring classics are really not my cup of tea ?
Thank you so much for stopping by and sharing your thoughts! ??
I’m so with you! It is extremely hard for me to DNF a book. I’ve only done it a handful of times, and usually it was because the writing was awful or the content was not for me (i.e. the characters were all guys who just wanted to talk about sex, there’s animal abuse, etc.). Plus, sometimes the beginning is a rocky start and it does get better later on!
Yaay, glad to see I’m not the only one! ?
Yeah, some books are just…ugh ?
Always having hope, haha ?
Thank you so so much for stopping by ??
I wouldn’t say I DNF a lot, but I’m very willing to do it if I’m finding a book a chore to read. My thinking is that if I’m resenting and not enjoying a book, I’m not going to be a good reader of it AT THIS TIME — I can always come back and try again later if I’m moved to do it, but if I force myself to keep reading something that’s a slog for me, it’s unlikely I’ll be able to take the book for what it is rather than what I want it to be. Plus I don’t have enough time to read all the books I WANT to read in this life, so it feels silly to waste some of my precious reading hours on something I’m not enjoying.
(My podcast partner is like you though! Never DNFs a book ever!)
Yeees! Life is really too short to read books we don’t enjoy!! If it’s a chore, it’s better to say bye-bye! And yeees, there are SO many GREAT books out there, why waste our time??!
Yaaay, I’m not alone, haha ?
Thank you so so much for stopping by and sharing your thoughts, happy reading ??
Amazing Discussion! ❤️ it’s super interesting to know your thoughts on DNFing books.?
Knowing which books you’ll like is a super power, I swear ? I LOVE that??✨
Thank you so so much! ?
Haha, totally!! ?
Happy reading ??
I usually buy a book after reading a ton of reviews/hearing a lot of hype, which I think lowers the chance that I’ll dislike it!! But yeah I agree, I think the biggest reason I’d put something down is if the writing is just…not good. It’s just so hard to put a book down halfway through!! Loved reading your thoughts on this! ♥
Yeees, that’s the best plan! ?
Right??! When I do, I feel like I’m failing or something ?
Thank you so so much ??
I don’t DNF books often, but I feel like sometimes I should do it more! Mainly because sometimes I pick up a book because of the hype, and I end up not enjoying it.. I often then continue because ‘What if it gets better’ (as you said). And sometimes I regret not stopping haha, but sometimes it actually does get better. Which makes the decisions of DNF’ing so hard!
Great post!
(www.evelynreads.com)
Yeah I totally get that!! Such a hard decision!
Thank you so much! ??
Oh my God, I just finished writing a blog post about DNF-ing and how I do it + why I recommend it. ?We have totally different opinions on this one! That’s why I enjoyed reading this so much. Can’t wait for you to see it. // I will DNF the book when I see that it just doesn’t work out for me and I really don’t like coming up with “what if?” questions although I have to say that I am a curious person, too. :)) Skipping passages, well, it’s neither reading on normally nor DNF-ing, kind of like a gray zone. That’s where I am with you though! I wouldn’t skip passages, too.
Haha, twins!! ??
Can’t wait for your post to go live!! ?
Yeah, totally a grey zone!
Thank you so much for stopping by ??
This is a really great discussion! I appreciate all the points you made 🙂 I sometimes DNF a book either because it’s too slow, I don’t connect with the characters, or, like you said: “the story isn’t at all like it was advertised on the back cover”. I resonated a lot with your remark that “Life is short, go with your gut and pick up a book you’ll fall head over heels with, am I right?” ? With books, it really is satisfying to get that closure, but sometimes when I have a lot of books clamoring on one plate, if one of them isn’t interesting enough, I’ll just move on…lol when I was younger I’d read ahead a lot, not because I wanted to hurry up the book, but because the part where I was at was boring and the pages ahead were exciting ? That was why I had to actually listen to some books as audiobooks to prevent more read-aheads…and I’m getting off topic. Again, wonderful post and eloquently discussed!!
Thank you so so much ??
Oh yees, it’s annoying when it’s too slow or I can’t connect with the characters!
Haha, I’m glad ?
I totally get that! So many books, so little time ?
Haha, that’s actually a great strategy ??
Thank youuu, I’m so happy you enjoyed it ☺️ Thank you for sharing your thoughts, happy reading!! ??
Weeeeelllll…I thought I could say the same thing after fifty years of devouring books and twenty-five years of teaching, but it just happened to me for the first time EVER! I will not say what the book was, only that it was for a private male student (13 years old) and a reluctant reader. He wanted a fictional book on lacrosse. I dug far and wide, and found one that intersected the sport with diverse cultures. I bought two copies. Bless his heart, my student read the whole thing (gave it 2 out of 5 stars) but I could not get through it! Nothing but telling instead of showing. I felt like someone was making me watch a snail make his way along a five-mile sidewalk! That said, even though I did not finish it (and I really did try!) I will not review it because, as I’ve mentioned here before, if I don’t finish it, I don’t review it! I’m glad that you follow through on your commitment to books. Authors love you for this reason! ; )
Weeeeelllll…I thought I could say the same thing after fifty years of devouring books and twenty-five years of teaching, but it just happened to me for the first time EVER! I will not say what the book was, only that it was for a private male student (13 years old) and a reluctant reader. He wanted a fictional book on lacrosse. I dug far and wide, and found one that intersected the sport with diverse cultures. I bought two copies. Bless his heart, my student read the whole thing (gave it 2 out of 5 stars) but I could not get through it! Nothing but telling instead of showing. I felt like someone was making me watch a snail make his way along a five-mile sidewalk! That said, even though I did not finish it (and I really did try!) I will not review it because, as I’ve mentioned here before, if I don’t finish it, I don’t review it! I’m glad that you follow through on your commitment to books. Authors love you for this reason! ; )
Oh my god, it did???! After all this time? ?
Ugh…that sounds bad indeed, I hate it when it too slow! ?
Yeah, I wouldn’t feel confortable reviewing a book I haven’t even finished ?
Aww thank you!! ?
Thank you so much for stopping by and sharing your thoughts! Happy reading ??
DNFing gets easier with practice! ? I don’t stress or deliberate over a DNF as much as I used to! Although I do vet books carefully, I am quick to DNF for certain triggers, an over abundance of profanity, and books that are too slow. If I really need to know what happens to a character I will read the last chapter or two. I have found that when I have forced myself to DNF, I have never ended up changing my initial feeling. So now I trust my instinct and never look back! There are too many good books waiting to be read! Great discussion post!
Haha, I bet ??
I wish I wasn’t always overthinking it because I’d like to try new stuff, to get a bit ouf of my comfort zone, but yeah… I think I need a little bit of practice ?
Thank you, I’m so happy you enjoyed it ??
Great post! I rarely dnf books. But when I do, it’s mostly because the writing is bad.
Thank you!! ?
I totally get that, I would do the same!
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I honestly commend your commitment. I find it pretty easy to DNF books because if I’m not enjoying it within the first 50 or so pages, then I won’t finish it and it’ll be easier to forget about. I recently tried starting a novel that I thought I’d love but something really offensive came up and I just couldn’t keep reading after that. Sometimes I’ll go as far as to look up what happened if I’m still curious, but that’s pretty rare
Aww thanks ☺️
Yeah, I totally get that!! There are just some stuff we can’t get past them.
Thank you so so much for stopping by and sharing your thoughts on the topic ??
I don’t DNF either because I can’t deal with not having the book marked as completed on GR. I might skim passages and if I’m really bored too. I DNF’d a book last week and that was only because it was slightly triggering.
Yeah same here!!
Totally get that, I would do the same!
Thank you so much for stopping by ??
I’ve never DNF-ed a book on purpose. However, as someone who reads more than one book at a time (cause I am that much of a mood reader that I sometimes change moods WHILE reading a book ahaha), I sometimes put certain books on pause. I don’t mean to not finish them ever, but sometimes they do stay on break indefinitely. I am pretty sure I am stuck at 16% of an ebook that I started a year ago ……..
How can you read multiple books at a time??! I would never get that ?
Haha! That’s my fear actually! If I DNF a book, I know I’m never going to pick it up ever again and I hate unfinished business I just can’t ?
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I don’t read like 3 books in one day, but on Monday I might feel more like a romcom day and on Tuesday I want Fantasy. I just pause the one book for the other, it’s not confusing at all haha It’s what I had to do during school to get any of the reading done I actually liked.
Yeah I can understand that! Sometimes you’re just not in the mood for that particular book but you still feel like reading something. That’s so great that you can change it up so easily ?
I guess I did it a bit at school too but it was very very different reads so I couldn’t get confused at all!
Hahaha it’s not like I am reading similar books now?
You’re awesome, I don’t think I could do it now even if they were very different genres!
I applaud you for always seeing things through! ? I used to never DNF but as I’ve started to read more and more books, I noticed that if I push myself through a book I’m not enjoying it puts me off reading at all. ?
I do sometimes feel bad about it – if the book is a really popular one I’ll usually try it again a few weeks or months later. I like to give them another go because what if I was just in the wrong mood? There must be a reason everyone else loves this book. But if it doesn’t work out a second time I give up on it for good.
There are a couple of books I DNFed without feeling bad about, but this has only happened when the writing is really bad, and usually in a way that feels offensive. (Like one book with a really sexist male character. He was supposed to be the hero but he kept eyeing up every girl he saw and it felt gross to me. ?)
And I have definitely skimmed books to get to the end. ? I’ll usually look at every page, but I won’t bother reading all the descriptions and every conversation. (This mainly happened with a big Game of Thrones book that I got bored of.)
I’m curious, do you also finish every series you read? ? I’ve read a few where I’ve finished the first book but not been interested enough to carry on to the next book. Anyway, this was a great discussion! ❤️
Aww thank you! ☺️
Oh I totally get that!! You can get so frustrated that you don’t even want to pick up another book ?
Yeees! Sometimes you think it’s just because it’s not the right time for this particular book that’s why I always choose very carefully my next book according to what I really feel like reading ? And some books are SO hyped that… yeah…you just end up really disappointed ?
Ughh yeah…I would definitely DNF those kind of books!
Hahaha, little cheater ? But I can understand it, some books are WAY too long, with descriptions that goes on and on…
Well…actually no!! There are SO many series that I haven’t finished!! Most of the time after reading the first book, I just wasn’t curious enough to keep going! So now when I buy books and I see it’s part of a series, I tend to put it right back on the shelf. I can’t commit for 3 or even more books ?
Thank you, I’m so happy you enjoyed it! Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts ??
finally someone else who doesn’t DNF!
Yaaaay! ??
I’m EXACTLY the same way! DNFing books just makes me feel like I have to come back and finish them in order to really say I’ve checked them off the list, and I won’t count them towards my Goodreads goal unless I hit the very last page. It can be a little frustrating, especially when I just want to move on, but I CAN’T. So glad someone else gets it!
Yaaaay, I’m not alone!! ?
Same here! I just feel so guilty if I give up on it! And so frustrated because I’m just not having a great time ?
Thank you so so much for stopping by ??
Even when I DNF (mostly because of mood), I make it a point to pick it up again. And in the rare instances when my picks are not as good as I thought they would be, I still soldier on. ?
I cannot DNF books. It’s not in my DNA. ?
I totally get that, sometimes you’re just not in the mood for this specific book!
Haha, same here!! So glad to see I’m not the only one ?
I used to never DNF books either, I just hate unfinished business and I also see it as a way to appreciate the authors, you know? But then I realized that forcing myself to finish books tend to put me into a reading slump, so I started to DNF books, albeit on rare occasion. I DNF books only if I dislike the characters or writing, but otherwise, I just set most book aside and continue later if I’m really curious about it. That way I did not DNF, but also not putting myself in a reading slump 🙂
Yeees, totally!!
Oh yeah, I totally get that! If you keep forcing yourself, you can get really frustrated. Sometimes, it’s better to call it quits!
That’s a good strategy because sometimes it’s just not the right time for this particular book! ?
Thank you so much for stopping by ??
Well, I’m old, so I DNF books all the time. Mostly, the reason I DNF books is because I read a lot of historical fiction, and when an author is too lazy to do their research and put in glaring mistake, I give up. If I wanted alternative history, I would read that genre, but I don’t. The other reason I DNF books is when the author confuses me too much by having too many characters who don’t have unique enough voices for me to figure out who they are or their relationships. I also will DNF a book if they describe scenes that I can’t picture in my head, because what they describe seems physically impossible or contradictory. Yeah, I’m picky but I’m too old to waste the few years I have left on books that piss me off! But good for you for not DNFing books! You do you!
I get that, that must be so annoying!
Oh yeees, I hate it when I don’t remember which character is who! It can get so confusing ?
You’re totally right, life is too short to keep reading books we don’t enjoy! There are so many great stories out there just waiting to be discovered ?
Thank you so much for stopping by and sharing your thoughts on the subject ??
I agree with this! It’s very rare that I DNF a book. Usually if something isn’t working out, I push through and it goes on my anti-recommendation list, or at least my “it’s not for me, but someone might like it” list.
Yaay, glad to see I’m not the only one ?
That’s a great idea!
Thank you so much for stopping by and sharing yout thoughts ??
Oh, I DNFed about six books just this summer. I don’t KNOW I’m going to like a book before I pick it up. There are a million authors out there, with lots of tropes that I should check out. I don’t ever want to be stuck in the rut of reading the same authors over and over, or not trying a new genre. But life is too short to continue reading something I’m not into. I just move onto something else. I never talk about the books I DNF, but I do praise the books I love to high heaven. 🙂
I totally get that! Sometimes I feel like I’m always reading the same stuff and I really should try new genres more often!
Haha, that’s awesome ?
Thank you so much for stopping by and sharing your thoughts ??
I used to be totally against DNFing books but now I DNF unapologetically oops. If I’m not enjoying a book or if I’m not in the mood for it I just put it down, but I’m so grateful that I even get to do that! I only read ebooks (which are often discounted on Kindle) but I know if it was a hardback or paperback I’d bought I’d be really reluctant to DNF.
Good for you, life is way too short to keep reading books we don’t enjoy!!
Oh yees, I totally get that…when you’re buying a expensive book you think twice before giving up on it ?
Thank you so much for stopping by and sharing your thoughts! ??
100% with you on this! It’s pretty rare I pick up a book I don’t enjoy because at this point I know myself well enough to see bookish red flags before I commit to buying/borrowing
Yaaay, glad to see I’m not the only one!!
Thank you so much for stopping by ??
I very rarely DNF books, but it does happen sometimes. In fact, I DNF’ed my very first book for 2020 just two weeks ago. And I think I only did 1 last year too. Last years was an ARC because of triggers that were NOT described in the synopsis. And this year’s was another ARC and it was just poorly written and degrading to women. So, it’s rare, but it happens!!
I would totally DNF books for those reasons too!
Thank you so much for stopping by and sharing your thoughts! ??
Same! I almost never not finish a book. I just push through it no matter how hard it is. Sometimes, the ending redeems the entire book. There’s this locally published magic realism that I hated but damn the ending was so good I was so thankful I finished it. Since then, I almost never DNF.
Yeeees!
Glad to see I’m not the only one ?
Thank you so so much for stopping by ??
I rarely DNF books, mostly because – like you – I’m pretty good at guessing what I’ll like, so there’s no need to DNF. Even though some of my books end up being disappointing, most of them are still three or, at the least, two star reads, while I think of DNFs as books I know I’ll actively hate, i.e. 1 star reads. I do skim read, though, if I don’t enjoy something. I was reading a horror novel recently and it got so boring and bizarre towards the halfway point, even though it was pretty solid until then. I ended up skimming through quite a bit of it, but still rating it three stars in the end. So that shows that even a three star read is something I might end up skimming through if I find boring parts in it, haha. Great discussing, Nyx! 🙂
Yaaay, glad to see I’m not the only one ?
Haha, I get that! Some parts are just not good but the book can still be rated pretty high!
Thank you so so much! ??
I have DNFed I think 9 books in my life? Which is not a lot, considering. Mostly, it is because I am stubborn hah. I am like in you in that I cannot stand to not know what happened, and I feel some kind of compulsion to finish the thing. And, like you said, I worry that it could get better and what if I missed out on something great! I’d say of the 9 I DNFed, it was mostly for boredom reasons. I think I am getting better at knowing what I’ll like too, but sometimes you think the thing will be really good and instead is akin to watching paint dry, so gotta call it a day and move on!
Yeees! Glad to see I’m not the only one being so stubborn ?
Ugh yeah, sometimes we just need to move on!
Thank you so much for stopping by and sharing your thoughts! ??
Wow, I envy you! I used to never DNF a book too, but as the years went by, I started doing it. I just have too many books to read to lose my time with one I don’t like… cause yeah, there’s plenty of those books — even if most of the time, it’s just because it’s not the right time for me to read such a book.
Yeah, why keep reading a book we’re not enjoying when there are so many great stories out there just waiting to be read?!
Totally agree with you about the right time!!
Thank you so much for stopping by and sharing your thoughts ??
We are seriously one and the same on this topic, Nyx!! I have my own taste, and I stick to it! If I decide to flirt with another genre, I have really good reasons to do so (it’s been recommended by someone I trust, it has some kind of tie to my favourite genres, etc). I haven’t been disappointed with a read in so long, and I haven’t DNF’ed in ages–like you, it must have been when I was a lot younger!
Yaaaay! ??
I’m exactly the same! I hope we won’t have to DNF books any time soon ?
Thank you so much for stopping by ??
Ah I’m a tad late to this post but I LOVE IT SO MUCH! And relate so hard. I also am a person who picks up books I know I’m going to like and if I it doesn’t sound up my alley then I’ll pass. And oddly enough, I’ve found that books I’ve been iffy about and read anyways, I have actually DISLIKED so kinda proves the point haha.
Also I feel like DNF is thrown around way too often. Like lowkey, I kinda do it all the time. I pick up a book, and if I’m not in the mood or not feeling it right then and there, then I’ll put it down for a later stage ; )
Anyways, loved this discussion so much Nyx <3<3
Aww, thank you!! ?
Haha! Yaaay to us for knowing what we like ?
Yees totally! And since I’m living in France, I can’t borrow the kind of books that I like so I need to buy them… so yeah I better enjoy them haha ?
Thank you so much for stopping by and sharing your thoughts ??
Honestly, I DNF books all the time! The thing is, I don’t count most of the books that I don’t finish as DNFs. To me a DNF is a book that I purposefully put down because I could not get through it, but I was invested in the story up until I put it down. So if I read a book and get 70 pages in and I’m just not feeling connected, and I return the book to my library unread, I don’t consider that a DNF. I sampled the book and it wasn’t for me. It’s like trying a chapter or two before purchasing a book. When it’s an e-book library loan, I’m even less concerned about finishing a book. Usually these books will be romances, and I hate the conflict that tends to happen at the end. So I’ll read 70% of the book and enjoy myself, and then as soon as the conflict starts happening, if I don’t feel the stress is worth it, I’ll just stop reading and wait for my library loan to end!
I think that I’m comfortable with this method, especially for physical books, because the books that I put down are ones that I was unsure about or picked up on a whim from the library. If I own a book 99% of the time I’ll finish it, even if it takes multiple attempts to get into the book. Of course there are exceptions, but generally I feel less pressure to read borrowed books. However, when it comes to e-ARCs, since I feel obligated to write a review, I will officially DNF a book before writing out my thoughts.
What I find interesting though is that I know my reading tastes pretty well! There have been many books that I picked up because it sounded like my thing, and within a chapter or two I could tell I wasn’t going to be interested in the story, so I put the book down. In fact, one could say that it’s because I know my reading tastes so well that I feel so comfortable not finishing books. I know which kinds of stories grab my attention, and lead to me enjoying the rest of the book. So when my attention isn’t grabbed, or something feels off to me, I trust my instincts and stop reading that book, in favor of another book that I might enjoy more.
Wow, I’m kinda impressed! I couldn’t not finished a book especially if I was at 70% of it! Also since I’m living in France, I can’t borrow books I have to buy them all so yeah… they better be good because I’m gonna read all pages ??
Thank you so so much for stopping by and sharing your thoughts on the subject! Happy reading ???
Just like you, I basically never DNF, and for pretty much the same reasons. I can’t handle the feeling of having a book unfinished! Okay, but I HAVE gotten to the point where I can basically skim-read a book I’m really not enjoying. If I get to the point where I just know this isn’t a book I’m going to like, I can’t completely stop, but the skim-read gives me a sense of finality and lets me know what happens. I don’t completely skip sections, but I’m definitely not paying as close of attention as normal!
Yaaay, I’m not the only one 🙈
I totally get that!! I guess I would do the same!
Thank you so much for stopping by and sharing your thoughts 😘😘