The Summer I Stopped Finishing Books I Didn’t Enjoy

I have spent so many hours reading books I didn't like, just because I felt a moral obligation to finish what I'd started. It got me thinking about how easy it is to drop a show, skip an album or abandon a film without a second thought. But when it comes to leaving a book unfinished, there's an odd sense of guilt that follows.

But here's the thing: you are allowed to stop reading.

Forcing yourself through a book you don't enjoy can lead to frustration and, eventually, burnout. There is a difference between challenging yourself and pushing through something you no longer want to read. A complex book might require your patience, but that is not the same as a boring one.

Maybe the writing style isn't working for you. Perhaps the plot has failed to become what you expected after the first 100 pages. There might be one too many characters and narratives to keep track of, or maybe the story simply isn't holding your attention. Whatever the reason, not enjoying a book is reason enough to reconsider whether you want to keep reading it.

So how do you know when you've genuinely given a book enough of a chance?

For me, the first step is to stop treating the decision to DNF as a dramatic one. You don't need to hate a book to put it down. You can simply recognise that it isn't the right book for you right now. I'm a big fan of fantasy novels, so I'll always give one a fair shot to build its world, but if I'm well into it and still don't care about the characters, that tells me something.

Give yourself a reasonable chance to settle into the story, but also pay attention to how you feel while reading it. Are you genuinely curious about what happens next, or are you constantly checking how many pages you have left? If it's the latter, it's time to close the book.

And if you do decide to stop, don't immediately reach for another book you feel you have to read. Try one that actually makes you want to sit through the whole thing. After all, the point of reading is not to prove how much we can finish or how many books we can read.

My Personal Guide to DNFing a Book

I don't believe in closing a book after the first 20 pages just because I haven't been hooked immediately. Some stories need time to build, and every author has a different writing style that takes a while to settle into. I usually give a book enough time to establish its world-building, characters and plot before deciding whether it's actually for me.

Let's Take the DNF Test

1.     Am I actually enjoying the book? Does it make me curious? I don't need to be completely hooked, but I should at least have some desire to find out what happens next. If I'm reading purely to get through the pages, that's usually my warning sign.

2.     Would I choose this book if I hadn't already started it? Sometimes the only thing keeping me going is the time and money I've already invested. If the answer is no, sunk cost isn't a good enough reason to keep going.

3.     Is the writing hard to follow? There's a difference between a complex book and one whose writing constantly trips me up. If I'm rereading sentences, struggling to follow or losing concentration, I simply accept that the writing style isn't for me.

4.     Am I only reading this because I loved the cover? This one might be a little controversial, but a gorgeous cover can pull us into a book that isn't right for us. A beautiful cover doesn't guarantee a good book, and loving the cover is no reason to keep reading a story you don't.

5.     Do I really want to know how the story ends, or do I just have a mental rule against putting books down? This is probably the biggest question. If I genuinely want to know what happens, I'll keep reading even if the book is slow. If not, I'll put it down.

There is no reward for making it to the last page of a book you hated. Countless books are out there waiting to be read, so why spend your free time convincing yourself to enjoy one that isn't working? Put it down and move on. Let's find books that make it worthwhile.