Do you have a limit of when you choose to stop reading a book? What makes you put a book down?
I always used to make myself finish every book I picked up. I figured that if I picked it up, I must have been drawn to it for some reason and that even though I'm not totally enjoying the book, it might get better if I tough it out. I hated not finishing books - it felt so incomplete.
BUT, now I am getting better as putting them down if they are not working for me. Sometimes if I think I am just not on the mood for a book, I will just put it in a pile to try again later. If I know that it just isn't speaking to me then I'll call it a day.
Do you write reviews for DNFs (did not finish)?
If it's a review book, I will write a review and usually I will list what was good, but why the book wasn't working for me. Sometimes a book I don't like, might appeal to someone else. Everyone has different tastes.
If it's just a book I picked up for myself and I don't like it, I may or may not write a review. Sometimes I just like reading for reading and I don't always review those books anyway, so a DNF on a non-review book doesn't always happen.
What do you do with books that you DNF?
If they are review copies, I generally hold a giveaway for the book in hopes that someone else that wanted to read it can have the chance. Or I give them to my bookish friends.
Here are some great posts about DNF:
If you know of any other great posts about DNFs, leave a comment in the links. I'd love to read others thoughts on the topic.
I don't know how you did it for as long as you did. If a book isn't to my liking or I'm not in the mood I just can't finish. There were a couple recent reads that I got beyond my usual 1-6 pages before deciding to set them aside and I pushed and pushed but got to 30% on one and 50% on another and had to quit.
ReplyDeleteI started trying quickie mentions about books I haven't finished reading but I can't write a review if I'd only read 5 pages. And the two I put down beyond that point are ones where my feedback wouldn't be constructive.
I do like reading reviews that are constructive even for DNF books. Especially if someone DNF'ed because they didn't think the editing was up to par (I won't read it), or if they stopped reading because they didn't like love triangles (I might still read it.), etc.
That's a great idea to give the book away to a friend in the hopes that someone else might enjoy it and review it.
Great discussion post.
Thanks for stopping by! You just reminded me of another thing I've done - I have given my copy away and had that person write a review for my blog as a guest reviewer. :)
DeleteAnd I do enjoy DNF reviews that are constructive too. Sometimes what you might like, someone else might.
I used to push myself to finish a book that I wasn't enjoying. Now I have no problems DNF a book. It doesn't matter if I'm only 5% in or if I'm 60% in; if it ain't working for me, I don't finish.
ReplyDeleteI write DNF once in a while but not for every single book I DNF. That, however, may change since I am no longer posting reviews on Goodreads. I like to keep track of my reading so I'm trying to figure out how to write all the DNFs I have.
And since most of the books I read are ebooks, I don't do anything with them if I DNF them. If it's an eARC, I delete it. If it's a book I bought, I remove it off my Kindle.
I'm starting to get better about DNFing, why keep reading a book I'm not enjoying when there are so many others out there to read? :)
ReplyDeleteNo more Goodreads? Do you still use it to keep track of the books you've read, but not post reviews?
I deleted all of my review. Now I link to my review on my blog. I mainly use Goodreads to track my reading and catalog my books.
DeleteLeaving a link is a good idea. I've heard a lot of chatter about Goodreads lately. I guess I should look into it and make some decisions soon. ;)
Delete