ddpherm t1_jdv7u0m wrote on March 27, 2023 at 1:20 PM

Definitely the most important is to read what you enjoy. If you are reading a book you don’t like, get rid of it. Life is too short to read bad books, don’t force yourself to finish one of you don’t like it.

Also, find a series you enjoy because then you always have another book lined up to look forward to.

Those are what keeps me reading lots

1210bull t1_jdvgp5p wrote on March 27, 2023 at 2:27 PM

It took me a REALLY long time to work up the courage to DNF books. I still don't do it often, but it feels nice to just say "I don't like this. It's not worth my time."

SeaAnything8 t1_je8nm1v wrote on March 30, 2023 at 5:30 AM

When I buy a book and don’t like it, the DNF shame gets combined with buyers remorse. But now I DNF books all the time because I borrow them from the library. Life’s too short to read bad books. Put it back and borrow a new one.

julieannie t1_jdy1ucu wrote on March 28, 2023 at 12:49 AM

Right there with you. I’ve finished 10 books so far this month, I’m in the process of 3 1/2 books (one did not work as audio so I’m attempting to swap to ereader) but I also DNF 5 books this month.

That sounds a bit mad when I write it out but one was a medical history that used really outdated terms despite being mostly recent and made me doubt I could trust the conclusions, one was a series that no longer was working for me, one was a topic I realized I had more expertise in than the author (one of my niche obsessions in history), and two were probably lovely but I realized I wasn’t the right audience. By quitting them, it freed me up to read the other books and oh I felt such joy at every one I finished. Coming off of that feeling just encourages me to keep reading rather than dwelling on the DNFs as a failure.

Chigzy t1_jdwcbis wrote on March 27, 2023 at 5:53 PM

> find a series you enjoy because then you always have another book lined up to look forward to.

Ehh, I’m not sure I agree on this. There’s series that are kinda boring to begin then improve later on.

The Witcher is like this for me. Especially as I’m reading The Tower of Swallows right now, the earlier few books weren’t that enjoyable for me.

And while I haven’t read Wheel of Time yet, I see comments regarding some books that people don’t enjoy but keep reading anyway.

Quick Edit: A “bad” book is a book someone is unfamiliar with in my opinion, it could be better than at face value.

ddpherm t1_jdwln7a wrote on March 27, 2023 at 6:52 PM

Obviously everyone’s definition of a bad book will differ, I was just generalizing.

And for your comment on the series statement, again, this is obviously a generalization. Not every series perfect.