I very rarely abandon a book. Once I start, I am usually in it for the long haul, even if it’s a slog to get through. I have a bunch of books that I refuse to admit I have abandoned, always saying, “I’m gonna come back to it eventually…” and three years later I still haven’t picked it up again. They become like a challenge, and I can’t admit defeat. Something in me just wants to get through it to say that I have read it, even if I am not enjoying it.
Among all the craziness of work, auditioning, training, and trying to maintain some semblance of a social life, its crazy to waste my me-time reading something that I don’t love. Obviously I know you can’t love every book, but there have been plenty of books that are just okay that I finish because they don’t take much out of me. However; there are those books that I never have the desire or energy to read. The ones I have to force myself to get through, when all I want is to start something new. These are the books that I should throw into the Did-Not-Finish pile, and yet find so hard to let go. I give too many books the benefit of the doubt, and hold the hope that they will get better. Sometimes they do, and sometimes they don’t. Mostly they don’t. A lot of the time they are books that I feel obligated to like because they are classics or a current phenomenon. I keep reading because I feel like I should love it, even if I have completely lost interest. I keep reading because I WANT to love it.
Recently, I have been trying to tell myself that it’s okay to let it go. I am slowly coming to terms with the fact that I probably won’t go back to The Beautiful and Damned (oof, it was even hard for me to type that…) and it is OKAY. There are plenty of other books that I will be obsessed with, and I don’t need to slog through the ones I don’t like just to say that I’ve read them.
Do you abandon books? What makes you add a book to your DNF pile? How do you know it’s time to give up on a story? I’d love to hear your thoughts! 🙂
Reading In The Wings 
I definitely abandon books. If it’s painful for me to make myself read more than just a few pages at a time, it’s a sign that I probably need to give it up. I usually try to finish at least 33% before I quit, to give it a fair chance.
That said, I only very rarely quit books. I also feel very conflicted with ARCs, especially Netgalley books. Just last week I finally finished a Netgalley book that I desperately wanted to quit because I did not like it at all, but I felt guilty about giving up on a book for review (especially since it was a debut) and so I made myself see it through, even though I could have been reading much better things instead
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33% seems like a fair shot. It’s rare for me too to find a book that I struggle getting through, but when I do I still feel guilty about abandoning it for some reason. I totally understand about ARCs. It feels like there is more obligation to finish it than when you are just reading something on your own.
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It’s really hard for me to DNF a book, too. Generally, a book has to legitimately make me MAD for me to DNF it; otherwise, I force myself to trudge through, and sometimes I end up regretting it, other times I don’t (like And I Darken, which I almost DNF’d at first, but ended up loving by the end). I also try REALLY hard to not to DNF ARCs and so far haven’t had one that I just HAD to give up on, though I’m sure the day will eventually come. Sigh.
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I love when they surprise you and end up being good! Most of the time for me, they end up just being ok. There are a couple though that I HATED but forced myself through anyways.
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