Did Not Finish the book
Let’s say you’re going shopping for an item – you go and you buy that item – you try that item on, maybe you don’t, and you decide you just don’t really like that item anymore. Then you decide to donate the item or you just give it to a friend because you didn’t really like it.
That’s very normal.
So why is it when we get a book from the store? It is expected for the reader to not only read every page but to also leave a review.
I don’t know about you, but I don’t finish every bite of every meal I eat.
Sometimes and I know that sounds crazy, I don’t finish movies when I’m bored and I don’t feel like I’m enjoying the movie very much.
So yeah, you should be able to put a book down if you don’t like it anymore and not feel guilty about it. It is totally possible that the book gets better and if you have the desire to pick that book back up, the book will not expire. You can actually go and pick that book back up even if you donated it you can purchase the book in the future again believe it or not if you desire to read it. If not, this is the craziest part. You can donate it and someone can go and get that book and enjoy it more than you do.
I understand completely when you spend hard earned money on a book and you get to 30% in and you just wanna get through it and be done especially if you aren’t reading like two books a day and you are a regular reader
I am reading about two books a day if I push through every single book I do not enjoy. I would not only hate reading. I would burn myself out which I’ve already accidentally done and I would also have zero faith in the publishing, industry and storytelling.
I can usually tell by 20% if I like a book or not
The samples almost never enough for me because most authors try to make those first few pages enticing
I have noticed consistently that around 12 to 20% is when I tend to DNF a book a sample is not gonna give you this much
If I’m getting a book from the library or Kindle unlimited, I am not going to feel guilty for not finishing that book
I’m also not going to continue reading a book I don’t like just to hone in on the things I hate just so I can leave a two star review about why I hated the book that is a waste of negative energy to me
I’m also not going to push through a book. I don’t like so that I can leave a two star rating.
This is why most of my ratings are 3.5 and up if I don’t like a book and I can tell, I’m not gonna keep slugging through it
And often times just because I don’t like a book my review might impact someone and decide they want to read it because they liked the aspect of I didn’t because book reading is all about perception
This is why I do not understand people who have their good reads average rating as 2.5 or three stars and they feel the need to finish every single book they pick up
While I understand, not wanting to hurt the author’s feelings and wanting to make sure you finish a book that someone put their hard earned thoughts and ideas into in time into I also don’t think a chef would want someone who doesn’t enjoy their food to force eat it just to leave a negative review
And I also fundamentally believe a three star rating can go any way
Personally, I really only leave two and one star ratings if I fundamentally disagreed with the book and there was something wrong with it
My average rating is about four or five stars
Why would I sit down and continue to read a book I’m not invested in?
I do understand with advanced reader copies, wanting to stick through and read the book completely. But I also think it’s important for you to prioritize your own health and your own time and understand that they want feedback more than a glowing five star review that’s a white lie that’s fake. The last thing you wanna do is leave a fake five star review because you push through it.
so my philosophy is to DNF when you don’t love the book to never hate read and to make reading fun and enjoyable and not overthink it
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