Friday, June 19, 2015

DNF'ing Books

This is something that's been on my mind a lot lately. I'll admit, I don't go into every book expecting to like it. I've read books because everyone else is talking about it and, although I'm not expecting to like it, I read it anyway. (Hello, Clockwork Angel - but that's another subject entirely.) Most of the time, I want to like the book.

I want every book I read to be fun and enjoyable and leaving me looking forward to the next in the series/by the author. Sadly, that can't always happen. Beyond that, sometimes a book sets so badly with me that I have to DNF (did not finish) to save my sanity.

Just last month I DNF a book after reading over 150 pages. The book hadn't been speaking to me at all and by that point I was bored and just said enough was enough. (Reading some of the reviews made me think I made the right decision.) As I'm writing this (earlier in June) I just started a book. Awesome hook. A little gritty for my tastes but things were set to be interesting - then I reached page nine and was left feeling sick. In the first thirteen pages, there have been no less than three moments that I would have been much happier without. (Decomposing corpse with no legs in the alleyway; 'we're eating this adorable puppy for dinner'; skeletons attached to the airship clock.)

The truth is, I hate not finishing a book. It's for this reason that I've never been a fan of watching movies that are aired on TV. When I start something, I feel this compulsion to finish it. Even if I'm not actually enjoying it. I need to know how it ends. But sometimes there's just something in the book that makes me step back and go 'I quit'. (Like EATING A PUPPY!)

How about you? Do you finish every book you start? Do you have a hard time DNF a book? If it hasn't gripped you by the first chapter, do you have no problems putting it down? Do you limit yourself? Like if you've made it past the half-way point, you have to finish it? (I used to be like that.)

Comments (4)

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I'm not usually one to DNF a book, though sometimes it just has to be done. I started reading a book last year, for example, and knew just a few pages in that I hated the writing style. I decided it wasn't worth it. I had picked it up on a whim--luckily from the library! It's harder with books you paid for, though, isn't it? Because you've invested in them, in a way.
My recent post The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater
1 reply · active 516 weeks ago
I know what you mean. I think I've gotten a little better at not forcing myself to finish something. Somehow it's easier for me to stop early because then I've not already invested hours into the book. Honestly, even if I borrowed a book, it's pretty difficult for me to stop reading because there's always this thought in the back of my mind: what if it gets better? And I've actually had that happen so there's always this thought that I may be missing out on a new favorite if I stop. But, as you said, sometimes it has to be done. (And that's just unfortunate.)
Yeah...I very rarely DNF a book for the same reasons. So either I'll put down the book for a while if it's bad enough I can't push through it in this reading (1Q84) or I'll give up on it entirely (or read it but not read the rest of the series) and then Wikipedia what happens in it hahaha
My recent post Tell Me Tuesday #6 - In which Elizabeth realizes she hasn't read a single new YA novel in the past couple weeks
1 reply · active 514 weeks ago
There's so many books I've finished that I've disliked and won't ever read the rest of the series. Those are the books that make me go 'let's pretend I never actually read it'. I seriously need to think about Wikipedia for these things! I never think of using it to read overviews of books. Then again, some of the books I read are so unheard of that they probably don't even have a synopsis for - but it could be useful for others.

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