Well, I can report today that I did get better at DNFing books. Probably a little too good, because since the start of the year and my post-Lumatere hangover, my patience has disappeared and I find myself giving up on books ridiculously easily. In fact, there's been a few books I've had to force myself to finish, just so I had actually read something rather than collecting a bunch of half-reads. Since my last post on DNFing, I've completely given up on:
- The Sweetest Thing by Christina Mandelski, because I felt no connection to the characters
- Ever by Jessa Russo because it was incredibly bland and exactly like a zillion other paranormal romances I've come across. Yawn.
- Time Between Us by Tamara Ireland Stone, because it just seemed like a watered down version of The Time Traveler's Wife.
I've also stopped reading, with the intention to come back to them at some point:
- We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver. It was too intense for my mood at the time, and also quite slow.
- The Casual Vacancy by J.K. Rowling. I got 50 pages in and was sooooo bored. I was on summer holidays and needed something fun, so I gave up for the meantime.
- Life of Pi by Yann Martel. So many people told me this book was amazing but I found the small part I read incredibly tedious. I'm very impatient at the moment so I thought it best to try again later.
Right now I'm reading The Woman in Black by Susan Hill and even though it's a small book and I'm enjoying it enough when I do read it, I find I can only read it in small bursts and I'm not compelled to pick it up very often, so it's slow going for me. It's not a particularly hard book to read, but the other day I found myself considering DNFing it. Then I realised I have a problem. Like I said, I've gotten too good at giving up on books, and it's kind of addictive now I've started. The thing is, there are so many good books out there that I have less and less patience for the bad ones. With that said, I have pushed through two very ordinary books lately, when I was incredibly tempted to DNF:
Some books you just have to persevere with, I guess, because in the end they might really be worth it. I've just got to learn when to stop and when to keep going, and find the happy medium between never giving up and being addicted to the power of the DNF.
Do you ever DNF books, or do you force yourself to read to the end, even if you're not enjoying it? How do you balance giving up too easily with not wasting time on bad books?
I usually give books about 50 pages, but I have been known to stop close to the end of books if I'm just not feeling them. I also try to recognize when I'm not in the mood for a particular type of book so that I can go back to it at another time. For example, I want to read the last Traveling Pants book, but when I started it, it was annoying me and for no other reason than I had to check my expectations. So I put it down until...some day when I pick it back up.
ReplyDeleteMy time is precious, and, yes, too many good books out there. I feel no guilt about stopping books. Usually I push through if I want to see how the author resolves something or if people I trust liked the book. Otherwise, eh.
Good on you. I haven't tried the last Traveling Pants book yet, I read a spoiler and I'm not sure I want to read it now!
DeleteI DNF a lot - although sometimes I just 'put on hold' too - mainly because the book isn't interesting me and I have so many books I want to read that I would rather not force myself to read the boring ones.
ReplyDeleteOK, I'm glad I'm not the only one. You don't want reading to be a chore!
DeleteI've started to give up on books much more easily after doing the maths on the number of books I can read before I die. I'd rather read great books and write nice reviews than read trash and have to complain about it!
ReplyDeleteIt's really depressing when you figure out how many books you (won't) get through! You're right, it makes it much easier to give up on something you don't like.
DeleteOkay - in reading of your book dilemma, I hope you enjoy White Dog Fell from the Sky! I've always been told that you should read as many pages as you are old and if it doesn't do it for you by that page number to let it go. You're probably just in a reading funk. You'll find your way back out again. Everyone always does. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteI hope so too! Maybe that will be the one to break the funk.
DeleteOH I can so relate!!! I used to HATE not finishing books, but a few months ago I started DNF'ing and it almost an addiction now!
ReplyDeleteHa! Glad it's not just me.
DeleteI very rarely DNF books usually opting to skim however much I have left just so I can properly rate and review it. It helps that I have a pretty high tolerance and am a pretty fast reader although I know I should be more willing to DNF. Hope you get some outstanding reads soon!
ReplyDeleteFair enough. If I do DNF I don't rate it or review it - I might just give reasons why I'm DNFing.
DeleteI DNF all the damn time. Sometimes I think I might go overboard with it, but honestly there is too little time and too many books be stuck reading crap. I figure I may not get to all the books I want to read in this lifetime, so I might as well spend my time reading something I enjoy.
ReplyDeleteI occasionally feel bad about it, particularly when it's review books I am abandoning, but mostly it just can't be helped.
I hope you get over your Lumatere hangover soon! I know how that feels.
You are so right! It can feel worse if you've been given the book to review - but probably preferable to a bad review!
DeleteYou should definitely go back to We Need To Talk About Kevin. I wrote it off as a DNF about 100 pages in, and when I went back to it, I did not regret finishing it!
ReplyDeleteOK, I'll definitely have to.
DeleteHello Belle! I discovered your blog some ago but I think this is the first time I write a comment... so, I guess it's time to say you have a nice place around here. Lovely!
ReplyDeleteI stopped reading Life of Pi too. I heard the same things you mention but... I don't know, maybe the plot is toooo slow and it didn't get me that much. I plan to go back to it but I don't know when.
I was so little when my wise father told me 'you have to be smart enough to know when you have to stop reading a book because there's no point in wasting your time with something you don't really like'. I guess he made an impression because I have no regrets when DNF for real.
Thanks for following and commenting! :)
DeleteI'm glad it's not just me with Life of Pi. I think I might just watch the movie and see if that inspires me to keep going.
Your dad gave good advice!
See, I'm just like how you used to be, Belle. If I don't like a book, I make myself suffer through it until the very end and on most occasions, I feel like I've wasted precious time. I guess I harbour ab bit of guilt when I put a book down because I've had the occasion (albeit rare) where a book has redeemed itself in the ending bits, so I hold out hope to the bitter end. I guess it hasn't really happened enough to warrant me NEVER putting a book down, but I dunno. Maybe I need to be more cutthroat?
ReplyDeleteI also think a lot of DNF'ing comes from mood. At least for me, I really need to be in the mood to read AND enjoy a particular genre and when I'm not, I have the urge to DNF it more than I would otherwise. Hopefully you'll be able to strike a good balance between sticking it out and DNF'ing. If not, just give a bit of your DNF tendencies to me, because I could use some! I have faith in you, lady!
The more I get into blogging, the more books I want to read - the less patience I have for bad books!
DeleteI find if I'm struggling with a book AND it got bad reviews, I DNF. It's when it's got good reviews I push through - like with Splintered. Unfortunately that one didn't pay off for me.
I'm totally a mood reader and I think that does influence whether I want to give up or not. Like with The Woman in Black at the moment, I think it might be my mood influencing my enjoyment of it. Or maybe it's just boring haha.
Before I started blogging I NEVER DNF'd. It was like... I CAN'T LET THE BOOK WIN.
ReplyDeleteAnd... it's a good and bad thing. I AM glad I allow myself to, now. But it takes a lot for me to really give up on a book. Most I put down and tell myself I'll come back to. A couple of books I nearly dropped I've come back to and been happy I did -- I wound up LOVING them. But... seriously. DNFing IS A GOOD THING. Life *IS* to short for bad books, and, really, sometimes I just don't feel like it, or feel like reviewing a certain book, and I think... I'm getting better at coming to a place where I allow myself to be OK with that.
Also, I'm finding what Nikki said is becoming more and more true for me, the more I read: "I also think a lot of DNF'ing comes from mood. At least for me, I really need to be in the mood to read AND enjoy a particular genre and when I'm not, I have the urge to DNF it more than I would otherwise."
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That's happened to me with a couple of books, too. The one that comes to mind is The Great Gatsby, I gave up three times before finally reading it and loving it.
DeleteI rarely DNF books cause I am kind of scared I would then find it too easy to give up. Most of the time I persevere I wind up glad I did.
ReplyDeleteShelleyrae @ Book'd Out
Ha that's exactly my problem now. Way too easy to give up.
DeleteI do DNF, but I also push through books that I don't enjoy--it kind of depends on the book. I'll DNF it if I don't think I'm going to get anything out of it (usually I'll flip to the end to see how it goes). I'll push through if I feel like it's a challenging book that might make me think, even if I'm not enjoying it. Sometimes that pays off, sometimes it doesn't. I'm all for not reading bad books, but I can see your dilemma here--it can become too easy to quit!
ReplyDeleteThat's a good policy I think. If a book is boring but important somehow it can be worth pushing through. It's the books you get nothing from that you don't want to waste your time with!
DeleteI recently DNF'ed a book written by--get this--a friend of mine. The kindle version was published, and he asked me to read it to help promote it on Amazon. I gave it a good honest shot. But not only was it really depressing (a little girl got shot in the throat in the third chapter), but it was pretty poorly written. Characters not well developed, schitzophrenic point-of-view shifts, and a protaganist I didn't understand or like. I almost never give up on books, but I had to chuck this one. It felt GREAT! My only problem is...now, what do I tell my friend??
ReplyDeleteThat is an awkward situation, but I think honesty is the best policy.
DeleteI hate going through those periods where everything I'm reading doesn't interest me and I DNF a lot.
ReplyDeleteI'm hoping it is just a funk and I get out of it soon!
DeleteI rarely DNF a book but when I do it's with good reason. There's one that had way too much description, the section I stopped at made me feel nauseous as the violence was just too much and overly described. I don't know what the editor was thinking about in letting the author write so much.
ReplyDeleteAlmost stopped Life of Pi but I'm glad I perservered as the last half is much better.
I will have to get back to it one day...
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