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banazir ,
@banazir@lemmy.ml avatar

I don’t. When I’m clearly not enjoying a book and don’t feel like finishing it, I stop and move on. Unless I have a pressing reason, I see no point in pushing myself to do something I hate. Reading is for me is fun and interesting, it is not something I do to torture myself. Sometimes it’s hard to “give up” on a book, but in the end life is too short.

Do what you enjoy the way that works for you, there are no rules.

Stern ,
@Stern@lemmy.world avatar

Life is too short to keep up hobbies that don’t bring you joy. If that book ain’t doing it for you, shelve it for now and try a different one.

frightful_hobgoblin ,

Why would you read a book you don’t want to?

li10 ,

Personally, because I’ve spent long enough reading it and I want to just finish it if I’m like two thirds of the way through.

In reality, I spend a week thinking “I need to finish that” and then forget about it completely.

tiramichu ,

If I’m in that situation where I really hate the book but also really want to finish, then it’s usually because there’s that nagging mental thread of something left undone.

But I don’t want to read it. I just want to be done with it.

What I need is closure, which means knowing how the key points wrap up and what happens at the end.

And so knowing that, I commit a crime against literature - I skim.

Normally I’d never skim, but it’s far preferable to never finishing at all, and it ties off that unpleasant dangling thread, letting me be free and move on to something I might actually enjoy.

jordanlund ,
@jordanlund@lemmy.world avatar

It depends. There have been books that I have HAD to read and I survived by making notes in the margins about how everything they are saying is wrong. :)

For stuff I didn’t HAVE to read? Fuck that, life is too short. I might consider going back some day, but in most cases, never have.

I got 100 pages into Dune and walked away, that was probably 40 years ago now.

hitmyspot ,

I alternate between books that are important to read but more work, and books I just enjoy. Soemtimes the important works are just as enjoyable. Sometimes they are not, but rather than joy, they bring knowledge, or understanding or broaden the mind in some way. Sometimes it’s the classics and the story and themes are great, but the language is dated and just takes more mental effort.

I only read one at a time. I used to keep two on the go, but I found I always went for the easy, joy bringing book. I still enjoyed it, but I felt I’d get more by not always reading easy and fun. However, if a book is such a slog that I dread it or it makes me read less, then I drop it.

Chainweasel ,

If it isn’t for a test or essay for school, why would you push through a book you didn’t like?
If the phrase “time you enjoyed waisting wasn’t time wasted” is true, then spending time doing things you don’t want do is wasting time. Life is too short to waste time on a book you’re not enjoying

Dagwood222 ,

Huge fan of Do Not Finish. There are too many good books out there to waste time with mediocre ones. I’ve noped out of books by my favorite authors. Finishing a book you started because you started it is the perfect example of the sunk cost fallacy.

Engywuck ,

You don’t. Just pick something else. Reading should be pleasant, not a torture.

BoBTFish ,
@BoBTFish@kbin.social avatar

Not exclusively, I have occasionally finished things that were challenging more than enjoyable. But I'm thinking about the content, not that they were just poorly written. Eg books on fgm, holocaust, etc.

FuckyWucky ,

Skip the chapter.

ModernRisk ,
@ModernRisk@lemmy.dbzer0.com avatar

I don’t. There way to many books that I want to read and oh so little time.

If it doesn’t grab you and you are truly not enjoying it, just DNF the book and move on.

If that doesn’t work for you, you could try to make a “goal”. Like “read 60-70 pages before DNF”.

GeekFTW ,
@GeekFTW@kbin.social avatar

I don't. DNF that bitch and move on!

BustinJiber ,

Pushing through a book that is not working is detrimental to every party involved - the author, the book itself, and primarily to yourself and your time. You should never do that.

state_electrician ,

Not every book will be enjoyed by every reader. I DNF once I realize the book is just not my cup of tea. I just checked and of the 15 books I started this year, I dropped 4 at some point. Sometimes I hate-read a book. That happens when I find the book annoying, but it still has something to keep me going on. I am enjoying it to some degree, while also being angry at it.

In any case, if reading the book feels like a drag, close it and open another book. Maybe you abandon the book forever, maybe you pick it up a year from now and plow through it. Both are fine.

Gammaray333 ,

If it’s fiction, you are basically murdering all your head space imaginings of the charactors, carelessly cutting them down mid stride before their time. Only a pure psychopath could do this.

s0ckpuppet ,

I have a hard time making time for reading, so I want that time to count. I don't let myself get caught up in a sunk cost fallacy and will just move onto another book.

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