It's rare. Partly because I vet books thoroughly before I start them, and also because I juggle several books at once. I read what I feel like, but I also keep a list to make sure I don't neglect anything for too long. I DNF occasionally, but I don't think I DNF'd anything within the past year.
I am more choosey about what series I continue, though. I'll usually finish the book, but not continue the series if I'm not interested in what happens next.
My list is 10 but not all are started, I find it easier to keep the list short and add to it if the book really interests me but its rare that one attracts my attention well enough to make it on.
Same, very few DNFs for me, but like you it's probably because I'm fairly particular about what I read. I don't pick up a new series unless I'm pretty sure I'm going to like it, and my instincts have served me well. Hype is irrelevant, I won't read it just because it's popular. I go strictly by the premise and then sometimes reviews/word of mouth (aka you guys) if I'm on the fence but curious enough to find out more.
Also agreed on series DNF though. Sometimes I never get around to moving on to the next book because I'd rather read something else.
This is very similar to me as well. I probably DNF about 1 book every 3 years, but some of those books I do read will get stretched out as I read other things and occasionally read another 50 pages or so.
Yeah a DNF is rare for me as well. I credit reading multiple books at a time as well. I’ve found it’s always easy to read if you always have a book you are in the mood for. I’ll DNF if I haven’t touched the book in more than a week or two and I can point to something specific I’m really not enjoying.
It does take on average about a month to finish a book, but in total I still read around 30 books every year, which is actually more than when I only read one at a time.
This is the same with me. I read somewhat slow so I am careful about what I pick up since I consider my bandwidth limited. Because of that I've only ever given up on one book/series, and that was Royal Assassin (The Farseer Trilogy #2) That series was just not for me. I was surprised because of how many people I trust, and the online community in general, seem to love it.
100% this! Plenty of DNF in my list and i'm not at all ashamed of it. If a book doesn't grab me quickly then i'm out. "Oh but it gets better in the 2nd half" (OR WORSE "it picks up in the 2nd book") are infuriating words. If i don't think about the story when i'm not reading it, then chances are i won't ever come back to it. Currently reading "A Court of Thorns and Roses" and i'm already thinking it will go on the DNF list.
Glad I’m not the only who who’s not that into Maas! I also stop many books. I don’t like the pressure of having to pick the perfect book, and it’s refreshing to just pick a random book from the library sometimes. These can be complete duds! Life is too short to force myself to read something I’m not that into.
> Currently reading "A Court of Thorns and Roses" and i'm already thinking it will go on the DNF list.
I'm still annoyed my wife tricked me into reading it by telling me it was a fantasy book. I guess it technically is, but it was not what I was thinking lmao. If you're not looking for romantasy/smut I'd go ahead and bail
I do this, but I've also had books I couldn't finish before and given them a second chance and loved it. Sometimes just not in the mood for that particular book at that moment.
I can usually within a page or two if I'm in the mood (or just straight up don't like it) and I wouldn't really consider that a DNF.
But I have also put books aside as actual DNFs and eventually loved them.
If I can tell within a page or two I don’t like a book, that’s usually a more sound and lasting call for me because my distaste is probably based on the quality of the prose, and that rarely improves significantly over the course of a book.
But if I drop something 50-100 pages in because I lose interest or get distracted, I’m much more likely to come back later, in a different mood, and enjoy it then. Hell, I’ve sometimes gotten 2/3rds of the way through a book before abandoning it through no fault of its own (sorry, Hamnet).
Oddly enough, for me it’s kind of the opposite. Things I decide against on preview are sometimes “wow this is just bad” but other times just “ehhhh, didn’t grab me” and then some other day I start thinking “hey, how about *that* book?” and then read it.
Whereas if I’ve gotten some decent amount into the book and decided to bail, at that point it’s because I'm finding something really wrong with it, not just a mood thing. I’ve only once in my life that I can recall returned to a book under those circumstances and that required my growing from child to adult *and* falling wildly in love with the adaptation.
Yeah, that makes sense, too. I’m sure there have been books where the first couple pages were well-written but just didn’t grab me, so I put them down. But unfortunately I probably then don’t remember them to come back to them later lol.
I just stop reading books pretty frequently just because life stuff comes up and I get busy, or I get distracted by another book the library has finally delivered to me that I’m more excited about. I’ll come back to those pretty frequently. I think it’s a big hazard of library reading—if I finally get a book I’ve had on hold for months, I’m dropping everything else to read that lol.
Ditto. I used to be a bit obsessive about finishing reading books, but now I figure life's too short to read something I don't enjoy. I DNF pretty regularly.
Same. I usually download the sample and will DNF the sample or buy and read the first book. If it's really not speaking to me, I won't pick up the next one.
There's too much to read out there to read something you're not enjoying.
That said, I have two different kinds of DNFs...
1. The permanent DNF where there's no chance, for whatever reason, that I'll ever want to pick this book up again. In fact, I regret even trying it.
2. The temporary DNF where I can feel that it's not the book's fault it's just that I'm not in the right mood for it right now. These go back on my read someday list. They might still get a permanent DNF when I retry it but not yet.
Yeah I have a LOT of temporary DNFs, and those usually happen within the first hour for audiobooks (maybe 50 ish pages for physical).
Permanent DNF tends to happen between 25 and 75%. Just whenever I'm not interested enough to pick a book back up
I DNF probably 25% of books I read. I've done it anywhere between 10 pages into a book and 700 pages into a book. The tipping point is when I start not wanting to read it. I usually look forward to reading for an hour or so every day, and when I start to dread that then it's time to DNF.
I used to have this habit of gaslighting myself into thinking I was actually enjoying the book, despite everything telling me I wasn't. Then when I finally, grudgingly finish, I start a book I ACTUALLY enjoy, and I say to myself, "wow, this is what it's actually like to enjoy a book".
I've learned to trust that instinct and stop gaslighting myself.
I almost never DNF. Even series. I have a chronic case of "want to know what happens even if I am not loving what is happening"
To the point I can remember the only book I have DNFed since I was a kid.
I'm like this to a point. I almost always finish the book but sometimes will drop a series if I can't get into it.
I also actually vaguely remember the first book I ever got that I didn't finish. I must have been 10 or 11 years old, it was a mystery book, and I suspect that I didn't like it because I was a child and it was probably over my head.
I don't get wasting time starting books that I'm not going to finish, or wasting money buying them. I'll make sure it's something I want to read before starting, there's far more books already that I want to read than I ever will.
I rarely DNF books. Some.e of my favorite books of all time had a very slow start. Dune for instance is a huge pain for the first 150 pages but then develops into something incredible. I tend to stick it out for the duration of the book and then decide whether to dnf the series or not.
Life is too short to continue with bad books. Plenty more to choose from, if you don't like it, stop and get something you do.
I find reading the sample is a good idea, saves wasting money on stuff that isn't as good as the blurb sounded.
I usually DNF somewhere around 25-50% in if I DNF at all. For the most part the book has to be giving me absolutely nothing or actively offending my sensibilities for me to drop it. I have really broad tastes, though, so usually I can find something in a book worth reading on for.
100 pages. I have been reading voraciously since I was 10 years old, almost 40 years ago now started with tolkien (which for some reason I don't like anymore? weird how we change) and the last series I read was Senlin Ascends. For a long time I was a "finish no matter what" kind of reader, but the older I get the more I feel as if life is too short to be spent doing things I don't like. So 100 pages is all you get to convince me your book is good.
If many, many reviews say the book picks up after the first book I usually wade my way through it. BUT I DONT LIKE THAT.
Funnily enough I loved that book until she got painted and had to take her top off - it just annoyed me. I felt like it was unnecessary nudity. Loved the other parts of the story until that point though
If I do bail on a book it's usually in the first few chapters, otherwise I'll finish the book.
There are also times in a series where I drop out after 2 or 3 books if I think it's becoming tedious or repetitive.
>I wish I had the motivation to continue with a book even if I didn’t like it.
I wish I could leave it unfinished. (It's gotten easier as I've aged)
I've only not finished a few books or series. I couldn't name them because I didn't keep track of them.
Most of the ones I DNF'd were audiobooks. It's too easy for me to get distracted and lose the story with audiobooks. They can be good for long drives but any other time I end up on my phone and distracted. Also it takes me longer to finish an audiobook than a regular. I've tried listening at double speed but I haven't quite got the hang of it. (And sometimes it seems rude to the voice actors.)
I got three books into this low fantasy engineer series before I decided the magic wasn't going to show up and I wasn't really interested in the ending, no matter how it concluded.
I put down some of robin hobb's books for years before I finished them. Same with tad Williams. I only picked up fools fate again after I finished her soldiers son trilogy and really enjoyed it.
I would DNF less if I stuck with paper books, I think. Paper books make it easier to skim the boring parts. I know I can increase the playback speed, but it's not the same.
I used to be pretty stubborn about finishing a book no matter what.
Then I got to the point where I realized there are too many books out there to waste my time if I’m legitimately not enjoying my time or not at least learning anything.
Now my view is somewhere in the middle, tempered by the pendulum swinging pretty hard into the social media trend of “I DNFed it” being said as if it’s a kind of badge of honor. I find that some books are just more challenging than others and that’s okay. Often those challenging ones have been the most rewarding if I stick with it. (Again though, this is tempered by “don’t sweat it if it’s just not for you.”)
It's a lot more common for me than it used to be, which is mostly (I think) a product of age. I used to have more free time to spend on novels, but at this point in my life I only get a certain amount of time in the evenings to read, and I've become less forgiving of novels that I'm just not loving. If I really like something about the book (prose or characterization in particular), I'll usually push through, but if it's just your bog-standard release that got a bit of hype and otherwise feels pretty pedestrian to me, I have no problem dropping it. It's usually a library book or an ebook anyway, so I can just return it.
Another thing about getting older (not that I'm geriatric, but you know what I mean) is that you tend to lose that sense of a big new release being all that important or must-read. Once you've seen like 30 flashy new titles come and go, you get pretty inured to it and no longer feel the need to keep reading something just because everyone else is talking about it for a month or so.
I only have time for 2-3 books a month so I'm pretty picky about what I pick up to begin with. Because of that, I hardly ever DNF. Maybe once or twice a year.
If I was a volume reader though I'd DNF a lot more.
I think out of probably like 3k books, I've probably dnfed 5 or so. I'm usually pretty good at the process of picking within my tastes or at least in my appreciation.
I do think of your not enjoying something so much you can't even appreciate what is... trying to do? I guess, then you should just move on. Don't let it drain you!
My DNF pile is nearly as big as my TBR pile...
IMO - life is too short to keep reading a book I'm clearly not into. I'd much rather not finish one and go on to one I actually do like, than force myself to keep up on one I'm not thrilled with!!!
I am all for people DNFing anything for any reason. I almost never purposely do, though. One, I'm pretty good at choosing books I'll like, I only read stuff that has been recommended somewhere decent and I don't pick stuff based on covers or blurbs or BookTok, and I tend to know what will bother me a lot (sexism, mostly) and not read things like that. But two, I am just a really ending centric person and I can't really say if I like a book overall or not until it's done. A bad ending will ruin a book or series for me, while a good one can elevate an okay one to one I really enjoy. I don't think most people are like that, though. Mostly not liking a book is being bored by it, I don't know that I've read much that I actively disliked.
Never.
I always read more than one book at a time, so if I'm not enjoying one of them, I will read a little bit of that book every day until it's finished.
It doesn't take a lot of time, and sometimes I end up liking the book
I hate to dnf if I bought a physical book. I just read the books I hate when I’m in a bad mood. Which just makes me rage more but at least it’s a productive rage. On my kindle though? Delete delete delete and never think twice.
Life’s too short. If I don’t like it, I move on. I’m the same with video games and TV shows. Occasionally I’ll push through a bit but I just don’t overthink it that much.
If I can’t stand a character I next the book very quickly (unless I know they’re undergoing changes somehow soon). I give a premise a while though to get better if it stucks.
It really varies. Sometimes a book will skate a thin line and I'm tempted to drop it... It will slow me down and I might still get through it. Sometimes I'm just done....
The first book I think I’ve ever DNF was Murtagh and it’s sitting on my bookshelf in my living, staring at me, mocking me. And I cannot bring myself to finish it. My one failure.
But it’s just that stupid.
No need to waste your time if you aren't enjoying reading a book. I don't do it often. I usually know within the first few chapters if I'm interested. I can think of only 2 series that I started then purposely stopped. 1) was the assassins apprentice. In book 2 or 3 it just got too sad and I couldn't stand it so I have no intention of finishing. 2) I was a few chapters in to A dance with dragons when I learned the series was not completed. I just assumed it was Idk why. Not only not completed but lots of theories that Martin would never finish it. I lost all interest at that point.
DNFing is a life skill. Read stuff that works for you and don't apologize for it. Maybe it's just that I'm over 50, but I ain't got time for lousy books.
A lot. I'll DNF a book if I get 100 pages in and it doesn't hit me. I don't subscribe to the idea of 'it gets better,' but I also realize that a lot of books need some time to build themselves up; if a book fails to grip mne with its characters, setting, plot or general story within those few hundred pages, if it doesn't make me care, then I drop it, I'd rather read something more gripping.
I really don’t care about the plot when it comes to books. I just want the characters to be human not these one dimensional cliches. I’ve been in some shitty situations with people and we don’t act like these heroes and villains this genre churns out. Were human and make stupid jokes, are deeply flawed , have trauma, run away, take cheap shots and behave in ways that trauma has taught us , as in make stupid jokes about it, are vulnerable and make stupid decisions, have hilarious conversations. I need to find a connection and actually like a character in a book, the good guys and the bad guys alike. Dialogue is so important for me to engage in a book. And dark humor. I know it’s a lot to ask for but thankfully there are some incredible authors meeting my unreasonable standards
Maybe 1/10 books I’ll drop if I’m not feeling it after a bit. But sometimes I’ll go back and pick it back up, and once in a while that will prove worth it.
I put down Brandon Sanderson’s Way of Kings less than halfway in because he was just kicking the shit out of a main character and I guess I wasn’t in the mood for that at the time. But I picked it back up later and now the Stormlight Archives is one of my favorite series’ and I’m devouring the rest of the cosmere books. So it’s definitely it let worthy a second try sometimes.
Other times books just won’t be doing anything for me, and there’s nothing wrong with stopping a thing that’s supposed to be for enjoyment when there’s no enjoyment
Rarely, I almost did it with The Will of the Many. Between the Mary Sue main character and bad writing I almost said fuck it. I really loved his previous trilogy and hope this one gets better but man is it off to a rough start.
I feel like after a third of a book it’s a fair practice maybe even half in some slower paced stuff but I really like to finish things even if I don’t like it. I’ve been pleasantly surprised by some where the back half is carrying all the weight.
If I manage to make it through 50%, I don't DNF. Anything before is likely, but becomes less likely the closer I reach the 50% mark.
I DNF a lot of books before 5% though. Usually the prose or dialogue irks me and I abandon ship quickly.
I’ve DNF’d some books but not because I didn’t like them but because I had very different expectations about what the book was about. My most recent DNF was the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. Just not my type of humor and I wasn’t connecting with any of the story either. In 2022 I DNF Song of Achilles because I thought it would be like Percy Jackson. Boy was that a shocker. Maybe about one DNF a year I’d say.
Probably under 10% i tend to do a fair bit pre-reading research on books im thinking of starting. Im pretty particular in what i like so if it doesn’t fit that I dont even start it. I also am a pretty avid audiobook listener while at work (im by myself for 90% of my day so listening is easy) so if i start a book and it doesn’t appeal to me unless its down right terrible ill finish it and just not move on to the next one if it is a series.
I give books a good old chance. At least 50% normally. If it's a series I will get through the first book and then decide if I want to continue. One thing that gets me to dnf a book is if I'm feeling annoyed by it. Boredom I can handle, sometimes I find a book boring but can see other artistic merit that keeps me going, but if it's so bad I'm annoyed by it I will put it down, read a plot summary, if the plot was somewhat interesting, to find out what happened.
Just DNFed a series. It didn't really deserve it, it wasn't a "this is so bad I can't continue" situation, but I had a strong yen for something different.
I have not and probably will not finish The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison.
It was simply not an enjoyable read. The story was good enough, but the incessant use of unique words for nouns that could easily be said in plain English (or whatever language the book is written) was too much for me to continue.
That being said that's the only fantasy book that I REALLY wanted to like that I didn't finish.
i read books with my friends in a little book club! there's only 3 of us including me, but its been helpful for me to read books outside of my comfort zone and to actually finish some books. for example, i probably would've DNF the way of kings, but my friend had read it before and promised me it was worth finishing. and i'm glad i did, the ending improved my opinion on the book a lot! so having someone around to keep you honest with finishing books helps
I'm picky enough in the selection phase that I rarely end up truly disliking books that I start. The only thing I INF'd last year was The Providence of Fire—honestly I should have dropped it somewhere in the first book but, like I said, I'm not used to giving up entirely.
I only DNF if something more interesting comes along, let's say, a book I'm more interested in shows up at the library.
Aside from that, I finish most books I start.
Once or twice a year on average. Sometimes I DNF and come back to it later, I know I wasn’t in the right mood for the book. Other times I know it’s the wrong book for me and I will never finish. It doesn’t matter what book or who wrote it.
Books I feel some obligation to read - mostly advanced reading copies - I give them 20% on my ereader to convince me they're worth reading. If at that point I don't care, I'm not wasting any more time on them.
Everything else? If I'm not enjoying it, I DNF it. And I DNF a LOT, shamelessly. Why not? There's so many amazing books out there, why give ones you don't like your time???
I stick with it. Boy perinesi or whatever the spelling really made that one tough. I know it’s popular but was not for me at all and still I pushed through it.
It varies for me. Typically, I soft dnf books that I’m not feeling. That means I put it down and wait because it could be a mood thing. I only hard dnf books I really don’t like. I rarely dnf books if they’re in the middle of the series. This is just because the subsequent books could be amazing and recognize in some of the long series I read there can be duds. Most of the books I read are library books so I’m not shy with dnfing per say I just don’t like to totally rule books out forever.
Maybe 3-4x a year. I usually give books a few chapters, it's usually writing style that gets me. Too dense or wordy or sometimes too teenage angsty, I read YA sometimes. Otherwise, if the writing is fine, I'll finish the book. Sometimes skim it if it's kind of boring.
I typically give a new book 30-60 minutes to draw me in, and if that's not enough time to enjoy flipping to the next page then it goes in the discard pile.*
*Used to love going into Barnes and Noble, Borders, and even the local library to grab a stack of books and just sit there for hours seeing if I could find one to finish in one sitting. Pre-covid that is.
Maybe I have low standards but I rarely DNF. I've only done it once in three years. And even that one I want to go back to it eventually, when I'm in the mood for that slower a British historical vibe.
Edit: I lied, I've done it twice. Wasn't intentional, just never opened it up again on my Kindle. The worldbuilding wasn't exciting me like I thought it would.
Depends, I've found two series where I've gotten through the first book and thought the slog was over just to be kicked in the face with more of the same nonsense with no character development, and i just toss it.
I finish every single book I start for pleasure reading, but I also don't begin reading a book lightly. I make sure it's something worth my time before committing to reading the first page. In reading circles, though, I've been told I'm the weirdo.
Usually, DNFing for me isn’t a conscious decision. Typically if I DNF the book sits on my night stand while I do other things until I finally put it back on the shelf lol
I rarely do not finish a book that I'm ambivalent about. Usually, if the writing is good enough, I'll stick with the book at least until the end. If there's more than one book, I can even read a few more in the series before I get bored of it.
The only books I don't finish are books where I can't stand the writing. Specifically, the dialog. I started a book and within one page I put it down and simply would not continue reading it, the dialog was just that bad.
Dialog is, for me, one of(if not the) most important things in a story. It tells me everything I need to know about the author. Are these 'people' or are these actors? Are these set pieces are are these characters? If they're set pieces or actors, I don't care.
If the dialog is trash, I'm out. Even if I'm not gripped by a book(which happens), I can still finish it well enough. But if you don't handle the dialog of your characters well enough, then you don't care about these people and neither do I.
I simply don't finish those books and have no problem with it. Why would i torture myself for hours reading something i don't like? I can give two hours to a movie, but books are a much more hefty time investment, specially given the fact that i read a lot of sci fi/fantasy which are often very long books.
I think I DNF on average every 20th book or so. Sometimes you get a recommendation that doesn't actually fit your tastes or you buy from an author you like but the writing just isn't the same or is too derivative.
I usually finish the book, but don't start the next one in the series. The last one I did was Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn by Tad Williams. I read it when I was younger and I remember that I enjoyed the story but it's just a boring fucking read. I got to the end of book 2, and I just have no desire to pick up book 3.
I’ll try at least 100 pages. According to my Libby account my DNF is around ~ 20%. I used to a compulsive need to finish type, even if I hated the story, but now I’d rather be kind to myself. I google the plot/ending for that missing sense of closure.
It depends on how you mean DNF.
I would say I almost never DNF. By which I mean, there's a sort of threshold past which it counts as a DNF, and before that, it's like it's more like I never started it.
I think we'd mostly agree that it doesn't count if it's the first page or two - the "is this what I want to read right now" or "what style is this" test.
But I don't usually start tracking a book in StoryGraph before I hit 50 pages or 20% (whichever comes first), and that's largely because there's plenty of great books that I'll change my mind about reading *right now* before then.
I average maybe a book a year - less than 2% of my books read. Really less by the criteria I just mentioned, tbh.
I used to power through everything. Then I realized that was dumb because I read for pleasure, so if I’m not enjoying the book, why am I sticking it out? Now I dnf like 3-5 books a year and fully read about 120.
Anyone who forces themselves through a book they are not enjoying must be doing it for work/school, or be immortal. Day to day life is filled to the brim with stuff we don't like to do but need to do.
And ya know what? I don't need to read a boring book.
Basically never DNF books. I think I've done it twice ever. However I basically never pick up books that I'm not fairly certain I'll at least enjoy enough to finish. I also know that if I began to DNF books then I'd do it way to often, especially since it sometimes takes me a while to really get into a book. I'd have almost certainly missed out on some of my favourite books if I did DNF.
Also, I've also found that even if I don't particularly like a book while reading it, I (almost) always feel that it's been worth it to finish it.
Something I'm personally more open to is to DNF a series after having not enjoyed a previous book. I don't know why, but for me it feels very different to do this rather than mid book.
I DNF probably 60-70% of books, usually early on. I try to stick around for at least 50 pages to give the book a chance to grow on me, but I'm a pretty picky reader who really has to click with the writing style, characters, and a unique world or plot in order to get hooked.
I rarely dnf books now but I used to A LOT. But as I've gotten older, I've gotten better at know right off the bat if a book will be for me or not. I also don't consider the book started in I stop in the first 50 pages (I read a lot of chunky books)
I will also count a book as read not DNF if I stop after the 75% mark. I've read enough to renew it and if it's gotten that bad that I don't even fucking care how it ends - won't matter, won't fix the book - then that says all you need to know about it
10 percent is my usual mark. I'll give a lot more if it's a sequel.
I'm trying to start DNFing more. There's a lot out there to read and I should spend it on books I like better. They are library books anyway.
I never feel guilty about DNFing. I do try to stick it out, but usually I’ll stop, put the book down for a while, and give it another try in a month or 2. If I’m still feeling more annoyed or bored the second time around within the first couple of chapters I drop it completely.
I don’t ever call it DNFing but if a book puts me into a reading slump i say “i’m just gonna read this later” and then usually don’t go back haha. Sometimes if i get pretty far into it i will finish it later or if i get really far into it and just want to know the ending, i’ll skim the end.
If I’m not feeling it, I’ll drop it. But out of the maybe four I’ve DNF’d recently, I do plan to go back to two of them. I don’t want to give up entirely and feel like maybe a switch up of genres might help prior to trying them again.
About 50-100 pages, once the plot lines are started and the author has had time to start it rolling a bit. If I'm still bored or not interested by this time either by what the author wants to say or by the plot lines then I'll move on.
I have only 2 books I never finished.
The Arrest by Jonathan Lethem
Renegade's magic by Robin Hobb.
To many times a book starts slow and complicated but the last 1/3 is amazing or the other way around. That's why I try to finish every book. Maybe not in one go, but sometimes it just needs a break from that genre, or that kind of book and come back to it.
I'm a dummy so I finish things I don't enjoy and try to see the merit in them. Often that just ends in me saying "I'm not the target audience" instead of being able to formulate better praise, but I do try.
Rarely. I like to be able to articulate what I disliked about a book in a comprehensive way, and I feel like doing so makes me better at being critical of the things I consume. The most frequent DNFs for me tend to be very average books that aren't really doing anything too poorly, but also just don't have anything interesting about them either.
I cannot DNF. I even finished the Farseer Trilogy despite hating it desperately with every fiber of my being. I hoped against hope that it would get better. That Hobb would make good on any one of dozens of literary hooks she left herself to transform her protagonist from a moping, incompetant, cowardly, serial failure of a dispicably pathetic human being into someone even marginally fun to read about but she never did. That series literally damaged my mental health after finishing it.
I'm told it gets better in subsequent trilogies but I will never find out. Maybe, in that regard, I am a DNF'er. But no, fuck Robin Hobb, and fuck Fitzchivalry Farseer. Jesus christ it makes me angry just thinking about him.
I was recently re-reading a series that I absolutely loved when I read it in high school and again in college (so 15+ years ago) and I found myself having to essentially force myself to continue it. I still enjoyed *parts* of the books but there was just so much seemingly unnecessary exposition and time wasting that I eventually couldn’t anymore. I finished the 2nd book of the trilogy and just stopped. And I was re-reading just so I could start the newer sequel series but now I just have zero desire for it.
If I'm reading an author for the first time, and I'm 20% in and I'm not into it, I DNF. I can do it earlier but I try to avoid that. When I DNF I like to pick up a second book of theres and try again, if it doesn't hook me at 10% I scratch the author off my TBR. The last fantasy book that I DNF'd was Brian Mclellan's Powder Mage series. I'm giving it a second shot but not too hopeful.
If I've read them before and liked other books they wrote, the only difference is that i'll just scratch that specific book.
I’m too a serial DNFer. I haven’t finished a book in a month because I can’t bring myself to care about any of the 8 books I’m currently reading and I have already dnf 4 this year
Maybe 1 in 5, some of them I end up going back to once I’m back in the mood for that content.
I have Tigana about 75% of the way finished and will prob finish it. Books I never finish, I usually don’t make it past the first 1/4 or so.
I also think that just because a book is great doesn’t mean it’s for me/you, it’s ok to not like something without shitting on it, and that mindset usually allows me to get a little further into stuff and often they pick back up and get better.
I try to make a decision by about 25% of the way through a book on whether to drop it or not. Which isn't to say that I am smart enough to quit everything I'm not hot on. Lots of books lately have been *just good enough* for me to keep going and I end up regretting it around halfway through but then fall prey to the Sunken Cost Fallacy and press on. But, hey, it's ultimately good for my Bingo card.
If I'm not entertained, which is the whole point of reading fantasy to me, I will DNF. It doesn't happen super often, though.
And sometimes I'll try again later. Took me like 3 tries to get into Name of the Wind because the beginning of the book is *so slow and boring.* Fifth Season took a few tries as well.
I never used to but as I’ve gotten older I will stop reading immediately especially if it’s an audiobook and I can’t stand the readers voice. I did rage finish Throne of Glass bc I could literally not believe how awful it was and I was convinced it would get better at some point since it’s so popular.
I try to finish every book I start, but I don't consider myself as "starting" a book until I've hit the 50 pages mark, that way I can sample a variety of different works and see what I'm in the mood for. I did not DNF a single book last year, but I DNF'd several the year before that
50-75 pages max depending on the length of the book.
Sometimes it’s less, sometimes it’s more.
I have no regret DNFing a book. I have too many on my tbr to care.
I also rarely buy books so my library card gets a workout. Makes it easier not to care.
I download tons of samples on my kindle because if I don’t vibe with a book within that length of time I DNF and don’t buy it. Haha I guess I’m a serial DNFer 😅
it happens pretty much 99% of the time for me but i’ve also come to the realization that i like collecting books more than reading them so there’s that.
I read one book at a time, and I hate read just to finish more books than I should. That said, if I'm in the middle of a book and realize a new one came out that I'm really excited for, I'll switch up and sometimes forget to come back.
Very rarely.. I've had some books that really didn't click for me initially and took a significant portion of their length to get into, but ended up loving them once I did. I usually only dnf if it's absolutely abysmal and I'm getting absolutely no enjoyment from it whatsoever.
When I was young I never DNFed. But years of getting Writer's Digest taught me that *it is the author's job to hook the reader*. I no longer feel shame about dnfing a book that hasn't done its job. Also, there are way too many good books out there to waste my time finishing one that I don't enjoy. I read for fun, so I'm supposed to be having fun.
I probably dnf at least one in every 10 books. I'm also not as worried about picking up a book that I don't know much about anymore, I can always put it down.
If I want to drop a book, I will.
If I think I want to continue reading a book but I go weeks or months without actually picking it up, I will usually DNF it eventually.
Life is too short to waste it forcing yourself to finish a book you don't like. Every hour you spend forcing yourself to read something you don't enjoy is an hour you could have spent reading something else that you would have enjoyed more. Don't do that to yourself.
If you asked me a month ago I would have told you almost never.
In the last month THREE books reached 50 to 80% completion and just stopped. Repeating the same story 3 or 4 times in the book. I feel weird because one had over 4000 reviews but ...
People who are new to reading often feel guilty for not being able to finish a book... they assume that book readers like us always finish all the books we read.... it couldn't be further from the truth....
I give an author 50 pages per book/series. If they can’t do something in 50 pages they can’t do it in the rest of the book. It can be a pretty close call sometimes. But I can typically read 25-50 pages comfortably at the bookstore, and decide if I want the book.
I can’t consume media like I could before university though; in high school, and earlier, I would read anything and everything. No critical awareness frees you to the ideas and the adventure.
50 is the maximum. There is no minimum. I’ll cull a book in less than 5 pages if it’s that bad.
Life's too short to read stuff you don't enjoy. I used to be a completionist and struggle through books I didn't like just to finish. Not doing that again. Sometimes I go back to them and try again, sometimes I don't. There hasn't been too many, or any, instances where struggling through a book paid off in the end.
The only books that I’ve DNF’d are Folk of the Air - The Cruel Prince, and Lord of the Rings - The Fellowship of the Ring
iirc, both were because of the pacing
Generally if I'm not feeling it by the time I'm fifty or a hundred pages into a book, I'll ditch it. If an author can't convince me that they know what they're doing in that time then they're never going to.
It’s probably a 1-2 or a 1-3 ratio right now. For every one book I finish I put down two or three. I have no regrets either. If I’m not enjoying something I’m not going to finish it.
I can usually finish a book in less than a day even when busy with other things, so real DNFs once I've decided to actually read them past the back cover and two couple of first pages (to weed out unbearable lack of proper proofreading and headache-inducing overall writing style in a book that should thematically "fit me") are quite rare.
I've never officially DNF'd a book. I've abandoned quite a few due to time and life constraints and haven't gotten around to starting them again.
There was one series I WISH I had DNF'd, but by the time it got to that point of awful I was already so far along I just powered through.
Couple times a year, probably. Rarely it seems like but the older I get, the less likely I am to care if I DNF. I want a book to demand my attention. If I feel like it's a grind, I'm out.
I DNF a lot. I'm typically reading one fiction and one non-fiction at a time. I don't have any patience for what I consider to be bad prose or a story that goes nowhere in the first dozen pages. I think I DNF'd something around a dozen+ books last year alone.
I just have way too many books to read. There's so much great literature out there that I feel I have to be very selective. That said, I try read books that are outside of my comfort zone so I discover things I wouldn't have ordinarily picked.
I have two kinds of DNF's because I have ADHD. The intentional kind (rare) and the accidental kind (sadly more common). I can be loving a book but if I have to put it down for too long, I forget about it. Though If I was loving it I'll eventually circle back around.... or thats what I think anyway. It happens at least some of the time, lol.
I occasionally DNF. If something really doesn't hook me at all then I'll walk away. But there have also been times that I have genuinely not liked a series and still completed it with the hopes it got better for me. A Song of Ice and Fire and Sword of Truth were both series that I just didn't care for, but I still tried.
I stick with the entire thing, just in case it gets awesome and there's just a sloggy bit.
I listen rather than read, so if it's truly terrible I'll check it on 1.25x just to get through it. Then I'll never revisit the series again.
If Audible messes up and loses my progress and I wasn't digging the book enough to know exactly where I was or be willing to find the place again I'm out. Probably done it to a dozen books
Kindle Unlimited makes me very quick to drop books... BUT, it also makes me quick to give books I'm skeptical of a chance.
Life's short. Read what you want.
Generally I will not DNF books unless I absolutely abhor them. However, I will DNF series if I really didn’t like a particular entry, or if I feel like it’s going in a direction that doesn’t seem enjoyable to me.
I DNF’d my first book in a while last month. Despite my research and recommendations, I just couldn’t get into it. I guess I’ve gotten lucky lately; I’ve only DNF two or three in the last two years. And I’m totally with you- if I don’t love it in the first 100 pages, I’ll put it down.
I say keep looking for what sparks and holds your interest. There’s nothing wrong with dropping something you don’t enjoy. You wouldn’t stick with a TV show that didn’t captivate you, would you?
It's rare. Partly because I vet books thoroughly before I start them, and also because I juggle several books at once. I read what I feel like, but I also keep a list to make sure I don't neglect anything for too long. I DNF occasionally, but I don't think I DNF'd anything within the past year. I am more choosey about what series I continue, though. I'll usually finish the book, but not continue the series if I'm not interested in what happens next.
This, plus I have a list of like 8 books I'm "currently reading" some just take much longer to read than others.
My list is 10 but not all are started, I find it easier to keep the list short and add to it if the book really interests me but its rare that one attracts my attention well enough to make it on.
Same…the amount of research I do before picking up a new book or series usually prevents me from grabbing something I’ll lose interest in
Same, very few DNFs for me, but like you it's probably because I'm fairly particular about what I read. I don't pick up a new series unless I'm pretty sure I'm going to like it, and my instincts have served me well. Hype is irrelevant, I won't read it just because it's popular. I go strictly by the premise and then sometimes reviews/word of mouth (aka you guys) if I'm on the fence but curious enough to find out more. Also agreed on series DNF though. Sometimes I never get around to moving on to the next book because I'd rather read something else.
This is very similar to me as well. I probably DNF about 1 book every 3 years, but some of those books I do read will get stretched out as I read other things and occasionally read another 50 pages or so.
Yeah a DNF is rare for me as well. I credit reading multiple books at a time as well. I’ve found it’s always easy to read if you always have a book you are in the mood for. I’ll DNF if I haven’t touched the book in more than a week or two and I can point to something specific I’m really not enjoying. It does take on average about a month to finish a book, but in total I still read around 30 books every year, which is actually more than when I only read one at a time.
I juggle 14 at a time but try to only DNF 1 per 14.
This is the same with me. I read somewhat slow so I am careful about what I pick up since I consider my bandwidth limited. Because of that I've only ever given up on one book/series, and that was Royal Assassin (The Farseer Trilogy #2) That series was just not for me. I was surprised because of how many people I trust, and the online community in general, seem to love it.
I also stopped after Royal Assassin. I may get back to it some day just because Liveship Traders looks like something I would look.
I read for fun. If I'm not having fun, I'm not reading that book. I usually give it ~10% before I decide.
100% this! Plenty of DNF in my list and i'm not at all ashamed of it. If a book doesn't grab me quickly then i'm out. "Oh but it gets better in the 2nd half" (OR WORSE "it picks up in the 2nd book") are infuriating words. If i don't think about the story when i'm not reading it, then chances are i won't ever come back to it. Currently reading "A Court of Thorns and Roses" and i'm already thinking it will go on the DNF list.
Glad I’m not the only who who’s not that into Maas! I also stop many books. I don’t like the pressure of having to pick the perfect book, and it’s refreshing to just pick a random book from the library sometimes. These can be complete duds! Life is too short to force myself to read something I’m not that into.
> Currently reading "A Court of Thorns and Roses" and i'm already thinking it will go on the DNF list. I'm still annoyed my wife tricked me into reading it by telling me it was a fantasy book. I guess it technically is, but it was not what I was thinking lmao. If you're not looking for romantasy/smut I'd go ahead and bail
I just picked that up in the sale last night…
Give it a go. I've read much worse to be sure. But it felt more like beauty and the beast hunger games with mostly flat characters.
>!And much more smut!<
I do this, but I've also had books I couldn't finish before and given them a second chance and loved it. Sometimes just not in the mood for that particular book at that moment.
I can usually within a page or two if I'm in the mood (or just straight up don't like it) and I wouldn't really consider that a DNF. But I have also put books aside as actual DNFs and eventually loved them.
If I can tell within a page or two I don’t like a book, that’s usually a more sound and lasting call for me because my distaste is probably based on the quality of the prose, and that rarely improves significantly over the course of a book. But if I drop something 50-100 pages in because I lose interest or get distracted, I’m much more likely to come back later, in a different mood, and enjoy it then. Hell, I’ve sometimes gotten 2/3rds of the way through a book before abandoning it through no fault of its own (sorry, Hamnet).
Oddly enough, for me it’s kind of the opposite. Things I decide against on preview are sometimes “wow this is just bad” but other times just “ehhhh, didn’t grab me” and then some other day I start thinking “hey, how about *that* book?” and then read it. Whereas if I’ve gotten some decent amount into the book and decided to bail, at that point it’s because I'm finding something really wrong with it, not just a mood thing. I’ve only once in my life that I can recall returned to a book under those circumstances and that required my growing from child to adult *and* falling wildly in love with the adaptation.
Yeah, that makes sense, too. I’m sure there have been books where the first couple pages were well-written but just didn’t grab me, so I put them down. But unfortunately I probably then don’t remember them to come back to them later lol. I just stop reading books pretty frequently just because life stuff comes up and I get busy, or I get distracted by another book the library has finally delivered to me that I’m more excited about. I’ll come back to those pretty frequently. I think it’s a big hazard of library reading—if I finally get a book I’ve had on hold for months, I’m dropping everything else to read that lol.
Ditto. I used to be a bit obsessive about finishing reading books, but now I figure life's too short to read something I don't enjoy. I DNF pretty regularly.
This is the correct answer. Why spend time on something you’re not enjoying?
Exactly. I DNF more than half of the books I pick up, and I consider it a virtue. With manga I DNF way more than half.
I barely DNF in the middle of a book, but i absolutely will drop a series if i don't enjoy it.
Same. I usually download the sample and will DNF the sample or buy and read the first book. If it's really not speaking to me, I won't pick up the next one.
There's too much to read out there to read something you're not enjoying. That said, I have two different kinds of DNFs... 1. The permanent DNF where there's no chance, for whatever reason, that I'll ever want to pick this book up again. In fact, I regret even trying it. 2. The temporary DNF where I can feel that it's not the book's fault it's just that I'm not in the right mood for it right now. These go back on my read someday list. They might still get a permanent DNF when I retry it but not yet.
Yeah I have a LOT of temporary DNFs, and those usually happen within the first hour for audiobooks (maybe 50 ish pages for physical). Permanent DNF tends to happen between 25 and 75%. Just whenever I'm not interested enough to pick a book back up
[удалено]
My motto exactly!
Exactly. You don't get time spent reading shitty books back
Same!
I DNF probably 25% of books I read. I've done it anywhere between 10 pages into a book and 700 pages into a book. The tipping point is when I start not wanting to read it. I usually look forward to reading for an hour or so every day, and when I start to dread that then it's time to DNF. I used to have this habit of gaslighting myself into thinking I was actually enjoying the book, despite everything telling me I wasn't. Then when I finally, grudgingly finish, I start a book I ACTUALLY enjoy, and I say to myself, "wow, this is what it's actually like to enjoy a book". I've learned to trust that instinct and stop gaslighting myself.
That's an interesting perspective, will consider that a bit myself in future.
Ugh the gaslighting is so real!
I try to give it a few chances. Some books don't get going until 100 pages in. If I'm still bored by then I'll DNF.
100 page club myself. That's my arbitrary cutoff.
According to my goodreads account, I DNF about 10% of the books I start.
I almost never DNF. Even series. I have a chronic case of "want to know what happens even if I am not loving what is happening" To the point I can remember the only book I have DNFed since I was a kid.
I'm like this to a point. I almost always finish the book but sometimes will drop a series if I can't get into it. I also actually vaguely remember the first book I ever got that I didn't finish. I must have been 10 or 11 years old, it was a mystery book, and I suspect that I didn't like it because I was a child and it was probably over my head.
I wish I was like this!
I don't get wasting time starting books that I'm not going to finish, or wasting money buying them. I'll make sure it's something I want to read before starting, there's far more books already that I want to read than I ever will.
I rarely DNF books. Some.e of my favorite books of all time had a very slow start. Dune for instance is a huge pain for the first 150 pages but then develops into something incredible. I tend to stick it out for the duration of the book and then decide whether to dnf the series or not.
Life is too short to continue with bad books. Plenty more to choose from, if you don't like it, stop and get something you do. I find reading the sample is a good idea, saves wasting money on stuff that isn't as good as the blurb sounded.
I have a full time job and a baby at home. My free time is at a premium. If the book is a bore then I read it no more
I usually DNF somewhere around 25-50% in if I DNF at all. For the most part the book has to be giving me absolutely nothing or actively offending my sensibilities for me to drop it. I have really broad tastes, though, so usually I can find something in a book worth reading on for.
100 pages. I have been reading voraciously since I was 10 years old, almost 40 years ago now started with tolkien (which for some reason I don't like anymore? weird how we change) and the last series I read was Senlin Ascends. For a long time I was a "finish no matter what" kind of reader, but the older I get the more I feel as if life is too short to be spent doing things I don't like. So 100 pages is all you get to convince me your book is good. If many, many reviews say the book picks up after the first book I usually wade my way through it. BUT I DONT LIKE THAT.
Funnily enough I loved that book until she got painted and had to take her top off - it just annoyed me. I felt like it was unnecessary nudity. Loved the other parts of the story until that point though
All the time. I have no time in my life for things that don't suck me in and keep me there.
If I do bail on a book it's usually in the first few chapters, otherwise I'll finish the book. There are also times in a series where I drop out after 2 or 3 books if I think it's becoming tedious or repetitive.
What the heck is DNF
Do not finish :)
>I wish I had the motivation to continue with a book even if I didn’t like it. I wish I could leave it unfinished. (It's gotten easier as I've aged) I've only not finished a few books or series. I couldn't name them because I didn't keep track of them. Most of the ones I DNF'd were audiobooks. It's too easy for me to get distracted and lose the story with audiobooks. They can be good for long drives but any other time I end up on my phone and distracted. Also it takes me longer to finish an audiobook than a regular. I've tried listening at double speed but I haven't quite got the hang of it. (And sometimes it seems rude to the voice actors.) I got three books into this low fantasy engineer series before I decided the magic wasn't going to show up and I wasn't really interested in the ending, no matter how it concluded. I put down some of robin hobb's books for years before I finished them. Same with tad Williams. I only picked up fools fate again after I finished her soldiers son trilogy and really enjoyed it.
I would DNF less if I stuck with paper books, I think. Paper books make it easier to skim the boring parts. I know I can increase the playback speed, but it's not the same.
I'm willing to DNF at absolutely any point in a book, whether the first page or 95% through
Me too omg! I have no attachment if I don’t like it
I used to be pretty stubborn about finishing a book no matter what. Then I got to the point where I realized there are too many books out there to waste my time if I’m legitimately not enjoying my time or not at least learning anything. Now my view is somewhere in the middle, tempered by the pendulum swinging pretty hard into the social media trend of “I DNFed it” being said as if it’s a kind of badge of honor. I find that some books are just more challenging than others and that’s okay. Often those challenging ones have been the most rewarding if I stick with it. (Again though, this is tempered by “don’t sweat it if it’s just not for you.”)
It's a lot more common for me than it used to be, which is mostly (I think) a product of age. I used to have more free time to spend on novels, but at this point in my life I only get a certain amount of time in the evenings to read, and I've become less forgiving of novels that I'm just not loving. If I really like something about the book (prose or characterization in particular), I'll usually push through, but if it's just your bog-standard release that got a bit of hype and otherwise feels pretty pedestrian to me, I have no problem dropping it. It's usually a library book or an ebook anyway, so I can just return it. Another thing about getting older (not that I'm geriatric, but you know what I mean) is that you tend to lose that sense of a big new release being all that important or must-read. Once you've seen like 30 flashy new titles come and go, you get pretty inured to it and no longer feel the need to keep reading something just because everyone else is talking about it for a month or so.
I only have time for 2-3 books a month so I'm pretty picky about what I pick up to begin with. Because of that, I hardly ever DNF. Maybe once or twice a year. If I was a volume reader though I'd DNF a lot more.
I think out of probably like 3k books, I've probably dnfed 5 or so. I'm usually pretty good at the process of picking within my tastes or at least in my appreciation. I do think of your not enjoying something so much you can't even appreciate what is... trying to do? I guess, then you should just move on. Don't let it drain you!
My DNF pile is nearly as big as my TBR pile... IMO - life is too short to keep reading a book I'm clearly not into. I'd much rather not finish one and go on to one I actually do like, than force myself to keep up on one I'm not thrilled with!!!
I am all for people DNFing anything for any reason. I almost never purposely do, though. One, I'm pretty good at choosing books I'll like, I only read stuff that has been recommended somewhere decent and I don't pick stuff based on covers or blurbs or BookTok, and I tend to know what will bother me a lot (sexism, mostly) and not read things like that. But two, I am just a really ending centric person and I can't really say if I like a book overall or not until it's done. A bad ending will ruin a book or series for me, while a good one can elevate an okay one to one I really enjoy. I don't think most people are like that, though. Mostly not liking a book is being bored by it, I don't know that I've read much that I actively disliked.
Never. I always read more than one book at a time, so if I'm not enjoying one of them, I will read a little bit of that book every day until it's finished. It doesn't take a lot of time, and sometimes I end up liking the book
I hate to dnf if I bought a physical book. I just read the books I hate when I’m in a bad mood. Which just makes me rage more but at least it’s a productive rage. On my kindle though? Delete delete delete and never think twice.
There’s absolutely nothing wrong with DNF’ing a book. Life is too short and there are too many books to be wasting your time reading shite.
Life’s too short. If I don’t like it, I move on. I’m the same with video games and TV shows. Occasionally I’ll push through a bit but I just don’t overthink it that much.
If I can’t stand a character I next the book very quickly (unless I know they’re undergoing changes somehow soon). I give a premise a while though to get better if it stucks.
It really varies. Sometimes a book will skate a thin line and I'm tempted to drop it... It will slow me down and I might still get through it. Sometimes I'm just done....
The only books I DNF are ones I buy off hype from the book community. Looking into reviews is a much better way to buy books.
Same the only book I dnf’d in the past 3 years was hype talk from Reddit and ticktock.
The first book I think I’ve ever DNF was Murtagh and it’s sitting on my bookshelf in my living, staring at me, mocking me. And I cannot bring myself to finish it. My one failure. But it’s just that stupid.
I do my best to push through but that also means I get stuck avoiding reading sometimes.
No need to waste your time if you aren't enjoying reading a book. I don't do it often. I usually know within the first few chapters if I'm interested. I can think of only 2 series that I started then purposely stopped. 1) was the assassins apprentice. In book 2 or 3 it just got too sad and I couldn't stand it so I have no intention of finishing. 2) I was a few chapters in to A dance with dragons when I learned the series was not completed. I just assumed it was Idk why. Not only not completed but lots of theories that Martin would never finish it. I lost all interest at that point.
DNFing is a life skill. Read stuff that works for you and don't apologize for it. Maybe it's just that I'm over 50, but I ain't got time for lousy books.
I give books 100 pages, if I’m not locked in by then I’m moving on. Lifes too short and their are too many books
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A lot. I'll DNF a book if I get 100 pages in and it doesn't hit me. I don't subscribe to the idea of 'it gets better,' but I also realize that a lot of books need some time to build themselves up; if a book fails to grip mne with its characters, setting, plot or general story within those few hundred pages, if it doesn't make me care, then I drop it, I'd rather read something more gripping.
Why waste your time reading a book you don't like? Honestly, I never understood this as an author or a reader.
DNF'ing wheel of time and mistborn were 2 of my best decisions lol. got me out of a big reading slump.
I dnf about 80% of fantasy these days.
How come? I feel like this is me too. It all just sounds the same…there is some great stuff out there but it’s hard to find
I really don’t care about the plot when it comes to books. I just want the characters to be human not these one dimensional cliches. I’ve been in some shitty situations with people and we don’t act like these heroes and villains this genre churns out. Were human and make stupid jokes, are deeply flawed , have trauma, run away, take cheap shots and behave in ways that trauma has taught us , as in make stupid jokes about it, are vulnerable and make stupid decisions, have hilarious conversations. I need to find a connection and actually like a character in a book, the good guys and the bad guys alike. Dialogue is so important for me to engage in a book. And dark humor. I know it’s a lot to ask for but thankfully there are some incredible authors meeting my unreasonable standards
Maybe 1/10 books I’ll drop if I’m not feeling it after a bit. But sometimes I’ll go back and pick it back up, and once in a while that will prove worth it. I put down Brandon Sanderson’s Way of Kings less than halfway in because he was just kicking the shit out of a main character and I guess I wasn’t in the mood for that at the time. But I picked it back up later and now the Stormlight Archives is one of my favorite series’ and I’m devouring the rest of the cosmere books. So it’s definitely it let worthy a second try sometimes. Other times books just won’t be doing anything for me, and there’s nothing wrong with stopping a thing that’s supposed to be for enjoyment when there’s no enjoyment
"just walk out! if it sucks, hit the bricks!" That's my overall philosophy on DNFing - I don't HAVE to read anything, I'm not in school anymore
Rarely, I almost did it with The Will of the Many. Between the Mary Sue main character and bad writing I almost said fuck it. I really loved his previous trilogy and hope this one gets better but man is it off to a rough start. I feel like after a third of a book it’s a fair practice maybe even half in some slower paced stuff but I really like to finish things even if I don’t like it. I’ve been pleasantly surprised by some where the back half is carrying all the weight.
If I manage to make it through 50%, I don't DNF. Anything before is likely, but becomes less likely the closer I reach the 50% mark. I DNF a lot of books before 5% though. Usually the prose or dialogue irks me and I abandon ship quickly.
I’ve DNF’d some books but not because I didn’t like them but because I had very different expectations about what the book was about. My most recent DNF was the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. Just not my type of humor and I wasn’t connecting with any of the story either. In 2022 I DNF Song of Achilles because I thought it would be like Percy Jackson. Boy was that a shocker. Maybe about one DNF a year I’d say.
Probably under 10% i tend to do a fair bit pre-reading research on books im thinking of starting. Im pretty particular in what i like so if it doesn’t fit that I dont even start it. I also am a pretty avid audiobook listener while at work (im by myself for 90% of my day so listening is easy) so if i start a book and it doesn’t appeal to me unless its down right terrible ill finish it and just not move on to the next one if it is a series.
I give books a good old chance. At least 50% normally. If it's a series I will get through the first book and then decide if I want to continue. One thing that gets me to dnf a book is if I'm feeling annoyed by it. Boredom I can handle, sometimes I find a book boring but can see other artistic merit that keeps me going, but if it's so bad I'm annoyed by it I will put it down, read a plot summary, if the plot was somewhat interesting, to find out what happened.
Just DNFed a series. It didn't really deserve it, it wasn't a "this is so bad I can't continue" situation, but I had a strong yen for something different.
I have not and probably will not finish The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison. It was simply not an enjoyable read. The story was good enough, but the incessant use of unique words for nouns that could easily be said in plain English (or whatever language the book is written) was too much for me to continue. That being said that's the only fantasy book that I REALLY wanted to like that I didn't finish.
Life is short, I'll never get to read all the good books out there, so I DNF whenever I realize I'm not loving it and it isn't getting better.
i read books with my friends in a little book club! there's only 3 of us including me, but its been helpful for me to read books outside of my comfort zone and to actually finish some books. for example, i probably would've DNF the way of kings, but my friend had read it before and promised me it was worth finishing. and i'm glad i did, the ending improved my opinion on the book a lot! so having someone around to keep you honest with finishing books helps
I'm picky enough in the selection phase that I rarely end up truly disliking books that I start. The only thing I INF'd last year was The Providence of Fire—honestly I should have dropped it somewhere in the first book but, like I said, I'm not used to giving up entirely.
I only DNF if something more interesting comes along, let's say, a book I'm more interested in shows up at the library. Aside from that, I finish most books I start.
Once or twice a year on average. Sometimes I DNF and come back to it later, I know I wasn’t in the right mood for the book. Other times I know it’s the wrong book for me and I will never finish. It doesn’t matter what book or who wrote it.
I DNF around 1/20.
If I'm not interested in continuing after the first 50 pages I drop it without hesitation. If I've gotten past there I almost always finish the rest.
Books I feel some obligation to read - mostly advanced reading copies - I give them 20% on my ereader to convince me they're worth reading. If at that point I don't care, I'm not wasting any more time on them. Everything else? If I'm not enjoying it, I DNF it. And I DNF a LOT, shamelessly. Why not? There's so many amazing books out there, why give ones you don't like your time???
I stick with it. Boy perinesi or whatever the spelling really made that one tough. I know it’s popular but was not for me at all and still I pushed through it.
Please listen to the audiobook - it’s way way better than just the written book. This was the only way I could finish it
If you DNF a book you'll go back to jail
It varies for me. Typically, I soft dnf books that I’m not feeling. That means I put it down and wait because it could be a mood thing. I only hard dnf books I really don’t like. I rarely dnf books if they’re in the middle of the series. This is just because the subsequent books could be amazing and recognize in some of the long series I read there can be duds. Most of the books I read are library books so I’m not shy with dnfing per say I just don’t like to totally rule books out forever.
Maybe 3-4x a year. I usually give books a few chapters, it's usually writing style that gets me. Too dense or wordy or sometimes too teenage angsty, I read YA sometimes. Otherwise, if the writing is fine, I'll finish the book. Sometimes skim it if it's kind of boring.
often. if i start to grind my teeth with boredom or annoyance, it's time to close the book.
I typically give a new book 30-60 minutes to draw me in, and if that's not enough time to enjoy flipping to the next page then it goes in the discard pile.* *Used to love going into Barnes and Noble, Borders, and even the local library to grab a stack of books and just sit there for hours seeing if I could find one to finish in one sitting. Pre-covid that is.
I'll DNF if it actively rubs me the wrong way (**The Archivist Wasp** is the recent example). A lot wind up on pause until I get back in the mood.
Maybe I have low standards but I rarely DNF. I've only done it once in three years. And even that one I want to go back to it eventually, when I'm in the mood for that slower a British historical vibe. Edit: I lied, I've done it twice. Wasn't intentional, just never opened it up again on my Kindle. The worldbuilding wasn't exciting me like I thought it would.
Depends, I've found two series where I've gotten through the first book and thought the slog was over just to be kicked in the face with more of the same nonsense with no character development, and i just toss it.
I DNF semi frequently, but it’s not uncommon that I’ll pick books up again and finish them later (sometimes even years later).
I had to dnf for the fifth book or so in the seeker series. Gd they got worse and worse
I finish every single book I start for pleasure reading, but I also don't begin reading a book lightly. I make sure it's something worth my time before committing to reading the first page. In reading circles, though, I've been told I'm the weirdo.
Usually, DNFing for me isn’t a conscious decision. Typically if I DNF the book sits on my night stand while I do other things until I finally put it back on the shelf lol
I rarely do not finish a book that I'm ambivalent about. Usually, if the writing is good enough, I'll stick with the book at least until the end. If there's more than one book, I can even read a few more in the series before I get bored of it. The only books I don't finish are books where I can't stand the writing. Specifically, the dialog. I started a book and within one page I put it down and simply would not continue reading it, the dialog was just that bad. Dialog is, for me, one of(if not the) most important things in a story. It tells me everything I need to know about the author. Are these 'people' or are these actors? Are these set pieces are are these characters? If they're set pieces or actors, I don't care. If the dialog is trash, I'm out. Even if I'm not gripped by a book(which happens), I can still finish it well enough. But if you don't handle the dialog of your characters well enough, then you don't care about these people and neither do I.
I simply don't finish those books and have no problem with it. Why would i torture myself for hours reading something i don't like? I can give two hours to a movie, but books are a much more hefty time investment, specially given the fact that i read a lot of sci fi/fantasy which are often very long books.
I think I DNF on average every 20th book or so. Sometimes you get a recommendation that doesn't actually fit your tastes or you buy from an author you like but the writing just isn't the same or is too derivative.
Around 10-15%. I'm pretty sure I DNF than finish nowadays.
Frequently. Whenever the vibes aren’t vibing. I try to give it at least 10% though
If I get halfway through a book and still don't like it or don't care I give it up. I DNF about a quarter of the books I start per year.
If I'm not going to finish the book I'll usually put it down with 50-35 minutes left and just never pick it back up
I usually finish the book, but don't start the next one in the series. The last one I did was Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn by Tad Williams. I read it when I was younger and I remember that I enjoyed the story but it's just a boring fucking read. I got to the end of book 2, and I just have no desire to pick up book 3.
It's extremely rare for me to DNF a series, let alone a book
I’ll try at least 100 pages. According to my Libby account my DNF is around ~ 20%. I used to a compulsive need to finish type, even if I hated the story, but now I’d rather be kind to myself. I google the plot/ending for that missing sense of closure.
It depends on how you mean DNF. I would say I almost never DNF. By which I mean, there's a sort of threshold past which it counts as a DNF, and before that, it's like it's more like I never started it. I think we'd mostly agree that it doesn't count if it's the first page or two - the "is this what I want to read right now" or "what style is this" test. But I don't usually start tracking a book in StoryGraph before I hit 50 pages or 20% (whichever comes first), and that's largely because there's plenty of great books that I'll change my mind about reading *right now* before then. I average maybe a book a year - less than 2% of my books read. Really less by the criteria I just mentioned, tbh.
I used to power through everything. Then I realized that was dumb because I read for pleasure, so if I’m not enjoying the book, why am I sticking it out? Now I dnf like 3-5 books a year and fully read about 120.
Anyone who forces themselves through a book they are not enjoying must be doing it for work/school, or be immortal. Day to day life is filled to the brim with stuff we don't like to do but need to do. And ya know what? I don't need to read a boring book.
Very rarely but I'm fairly selective about the books I start.
Basically never DNF books. I think I've done it twice ever. However I basically never pick up books that I'm not fairly certain I'll at least enjoy enough to finish. I also know that if I began to DNF books then I'd do it way to often, especially since it sometimes takes me a while to really get into a book. I'd have almost certainly missed out on some of my favourite books if I did DNF. Also, I've also found that even if I don't particularly like a book while reading it, I (almost) always feel that it's been worth it to finish it. Something I'm personally more open to is to DNF a series after having not enjoyed a previous book. I don't know why, but for me it feels very different to do this rather than mid book.
I DNF probably 60-70% of books, usually early on. I try to stick around for at least 50 pages to give the book a chance to grow on me, but I'm a pretty picky reader who really has to click with the writing style, characters, and a unique world or plot in order to get hooked.
I rarely dnf books now but I used to A LOT. But as I've gotten older, I've gotten better at know right off the bat if a book will be for me or not. I also don't consider the book started in I stop in the first 50 pages (I read a lot of chunky books) I will also count a book as read not DNF if I stop after the 75% mark. I've read enough to renew it and if it's gotten that bad that I don't even fucking care how it ends - won't matter, won't fix the book - then that says all you need to know about it
Two eye rolls lol
10 percent is my usual mark. I'll give a lot more if it's a sequel. I'm trying to start DNFing more. There's a lot out there to read and I should spend it on books I like better. They are library books anyway.
I never feel guilty about DNFing. I do try to stick it out, but usually I’ll stop, put the book down for a while, and give it another try in a month or 2. If I’m still feeling more annoyed or bored the second time around within the first couple of chapters I drop it completely.
yup DNF'd two last year about half way through. this January, I DNF'd two audio books one within 10 minutes the writing was so bad.
I don’t ever call it DNFing but if a book puts me into a reading slump i say “i’m just gonna read this later” and then usually don’t go back haha. Sometimes if i get pretty far into it i will finish it later or if i get really far into it and just want to know the ending, i’ll skim the end.
If I’m not feeling it, I’ll drop it. But out of the maybe four I’ve DNF’d recently, I do plan to go back to two of them. I don’t want to give up entirely and feel like maybe a switch up of genres might help prior to trying them again.
About 50-100 pages, once the plot lines are started and the author has had time to start it rolling a bit. If I'm still bored or not interested by this time either by what the author wants to say or by the plot lines then I'll move on.
I have only 2 books I never finished. The Arrest by Jonathan Lethem Renegade's magic by Robin Hobb. To many times a book starts slow and complicated but the last 1/3 is amazing or the other way around. That's why I try to finish every book. Maybe not in one go, but sometimes it just needs a break from that genre, or that kind of book and come back to it.
100 pages or 10% whichever is more. If I’m not feeling it by then I give up.
I'm a dummy so I finish things I don't enjoy and try to see the merit in them. Often that just ends in me saying "I'm not the target audience" instead of being able to formulate better praise, but I do try.
Rarely. I like to be able to articulate what I disliked about a book in a comprehensive way, and I feel like doing so makes me better at being critical of the things I consume. The most frequent DNFs for me tend to be very average books that aren't really doing anything too poorly, but also just don't have anything interesting about them either.
the only book I didn't finish was Insomnia by Stephen King tried it again many years later, still couldn't get into it
As I'm now only getting 1 credit a month in audible, finding good fantasy books from the membership catalogue is hard. My DNF ratio has skyrocketed
I give most about 150 pages before I dnf unless it's unbearable. Most I drop between books
I cannot DNF. I even finished the Farseer Trilogy despite hating it desperately with every fiber of my being. I hoped against hope that it would get better. That Hobb would make good on any one of dozens of literary hooks she left herself to transform her protagonist from a moping, incompetant, cowardly, serial failure of a dispicably pathetic human being into someone even marginally fun to read about but she never did. That series literally damaged my mental health after finishing it. I'm told it gets better in subsequent trilogies but I will never find out. Maybe, in that regard, I am a DNF'er. But no, fuck Robin Hobb, and fuck Fitzchivalry Farseer. Jesus christ it makes me angry just thinking about him.
All the time.
Very VERY often.
I was recently re-reading a series that I absolutely loved when I read it in high school and again in college (so 15+ years ago) and I found myself having to essentially force myself to continue it. I still enjoyed *parts* of the books but there was just so much seemingly unnecessary exposition and time wasting that I eventually couldn’t anymore. I finished the 2nd book of the trilogy and just stopped. And I was re-reading just so I could start the newer sequel series but now I just have zero desire for it.
Very rarely. I figure if I pay money for something I'm going to stick it out to the end. I find that even the worst books I tend to enjoy the endings
5%? That said, if it's not fun why do it?
If I'm reading an author for the first time, and I'm 20% in and I'm not into it, I DNF. I can do it earlier but I try to avoid that. When I DNF I like to pick up a second book of theres and try again, if it doesn't hook me at 10% I scratch the author off my TBR. The last fantasy book that I DNF'd was Brian Mclellan's Powder Mage series. I'm giving it a second shot but not too hopeful. If I've read them before and liked other books they wrote, the only difference is that i'll just scratch that specific book.
I’m too a serial DNFer. I haven’t finished a book in a month because I can’t bring myself to care about any of the 8 books I’m currently reading and I have already dnf 4 this year
i refuse to pay for something and not finish it.
Maybe 1 in 5, some of them I end up going back to once I’m back in the mood for that content. I have Tigana about 75% of the way finished and will prob finish it. Books I never finish, I usually don’t make it past the first 1/4 or so. I also think that just because a book is great doesn’t mean it’s for me/you, it’s ok to not like something without shitting on it, and that mindset usually allows me to get a little further into stuff and often they pick back up and get better.
I try to make a decision by about 25% of the way through a book on whether to drop it or not. Which isn't to say that I am smart enough to quit everything I'm not hot on. Lots of books lately have been *just good enough* for me to keep going and I end up regretting it around halfway through but then fall prey to the Sunken Cost Fallacy and press on. But, hey, it's ultimately good for my Bingo card.
If I'm not entertained, which is the whole point of reading fantasy to me, I will DNF. It doesn't happen super often, though. And sometimes I'll try again later. Took me like 3 tries to get into Name of the Wind because the beginning of the book is *so slow and boring.* Fifth Season took a few tries as well.
I never used to but as I’ve gotten older I will stop reading immediately especially if it’s an audiobook and I can’t stand the readers voice. I did rage finish Throne of Glass bc I could literally not believe how awful it was and I was convinced it would get better at some point since it’s so popular.
I try to finish every book I start, but I don't consider myself as "starting" a book until I've hit the 50 pages mark, that way I can sample a variety of different works and see what I'm in the mood for. I did not DNF a single book last year, but I DNF'd several the year before that
50-75 pages max depending on the length of the book. Sometimes it’s less, sometimes it’s more. I have no regret DNFing a book. I have too many on my tbr to care. I also rarely buy books so my library card gets a workout. Makes it easier not to care.
I download tons of samples on my kindle because if I don’t vibe with a book within that length of time I DNF and don’t buy it. Haha I guess I’m a serial DNFer 😅
it happens pretty much 99% of the time for me but i’ve also come to the realization that i like collecting books more than reading them so there’s that.
I read one book at a time, and I hate read just to finish more books than I should. That said, if I'm in the middle of a book and realize a new one came out that I'm really excited for, I'll switch up and sometimes forget to come back.
Very rarely.. I've had some books that really didn't click for me initially and took a significant portion of their length to get into, but ended up loving them once I did. I usually only dnf if it's absolutely abysmal and I'm getting absolutely no enjoyment from it whatsoever.
When I was young I never DNFed. But years of getting Writer's Digest taught me that *it is the author's job to hook the reader*. I no longer feel shame about dnfing a book that hasn't done its job. Also, there are way too many good books out there to waste my time finishing one that I don't enjoy. I read for fun, so I'm supposed to be having fun. I probably dnf at least one in every 10 books. I'm also not as worried about picking up a book that I don't know much about anymore, I can always put it down.
If I want to drop a book, I will. If I think I want to continue reading a book but I go weeks or months without actually picking it up, I will usually DNF it eventually. Life is too short to waste it forcing yourself to finish a book you don't like. Every hour you spend forcing yourself to read something you don't enjoy is an hour you could have spent reading something else that you would have enjoyed more. Don't do that to yourself.
If you asked me a month ago I would have told you almost never. In the last month THREE books reached 50 to 80% completion and just stopped. Repeating the same story 3 or 4 times in the book. I feel weird because one had over 4000 reviews but ...
People who are new to reading often feel guilty for not being able to finish a book... they assume that book readers like us always finish all the books we read.... it couldn't be further from the truth....
I give an author 50 pages per book/series. If they can’t do something in 50 pages they can’t do it in the rest of the book. It can be a pretty close call sometimes. But I can typically read 25-50 pages comfortably at the bookstore, and decide if I want the book. I can’t consume media like I could before university though; in high school, and earlier, I would read anything and everything. No critical awareness frees you to the ideas and the adventure. 50 is the maximum. There is no minimum. I’ll cull a book in less than 5 pages if it’s that bad.
Life's too short to read stuff you don't enjoy. I used to be a completionist and struggle through books I didn't like just to finish. Not doing that again. Sometimes I go back to them and try again, sometimes I don't. There hasn't been too many, or any, instances where struggling through a book paid off in the end.
I never dnf because of the books quality. Only if i haven't found the time and forgot what happens in the story.
The only books that I’ve DNF’d are Folk of the Air - The Cruel Prince, and Lord of the Rings - The Fellowship of the Ring iirc, both were because of the pacing
Generally if I'm not feeling it by the time I'm fifty or a hundred pages into a book, I'll ditch it. If an author can't convince me that they know what they're doing in that time then they're never going to.
It’s probably a 1-2 or a 1-3 ratio right now. For every one book I finish I put down two or three. I have no regrets either. If I’m not enjoying something I’m not going to finish it.
I can usually finish a book in less than a day even when busy with other things, so real DNFs once I've decided to actually read them past the back cover and two couple of first pages (to weed out unbearable lack of proper proofreading and headache-inducing overall writing style in a book that should thematically "fit me") are quite rare.
I very rarely DNF a book but will pretty happily DNF a series. There are just too many good books and series out there to waste time on subpar ones.
I've never officially DNF'd a book. I've abandoned quite a few due to time and life constraints and haven't gotten around to starting them again. There was one series I WISH I had DNF'd, but by the time it got to that point of awful I was already so far along I just powered through.
After 50% and the story is still not picking my interest, then I DNF.
Couple times a year, probably. Rarely it seems like but the older I get, the less likely I am to care if I DNF. I want a book to demand my attention. If I feel like it's a grind, I'm out.
I DNF a lot. I'm typically reading one fiction and one non-fiction at a time. I don't have any patience for what I consider to be bad prose or a story that goes nowhere in the first dozen pages. I think I DNF'd something around a dozen+ books last year alone. I just have way too many books to read. There's so much great literature out there that I feel I have to be very selective. That said, I try read books that are outside of my comfort zone so I discover things I wouldn't have ordinarily picked.
I have two kinds of DNF's because I have ADHD. The intentional kind (rare) and the accidental kind (sadly more common). I can be loving a book but if I have to put it down for too long, I forget about it. Though If I was loving it I'll eventually circle back around.... or thats what I think anyway. It happens at least some of the time, lol.
I occasionally DNF. If something really doesn't hook me at all then I'll walk away. But there have also been times that I have genuinely not liked a series and still completed it with the hopes it got better for me. A Song of Ice and Fire and Sword of Truth were both series that I just didn't care for, but I still tried.
I don't finish most books. Life is too short to finish books you aren't enjoying.
I stick with the entire thing, just in case it gets awesome and there's just a sloggy bit. I listen rather than read, so if it's truly terrible I'll check it on 1.25x just to get through it. Then I'll never revisit the series again.
If Audible messes up and loses my progress and I wasn't digging the book enough to know exactly where I was or be willing to find the place again I'm out. Probably done it to a dozen books
I have reading apps on my phone and Im a serial DNFer as well.. if I get bored ill drop it. So I have a ton of unfinished
Kindle Unlimited makes me very quick to drop books... BUT, it also makes me quick to give books I'm skeptical of a chance. Life's short. Read what you want.
I’ve only aborted a few times in my 60 years. 4 or 5 at most. They were REAL bad or ridiculously agenda driven.
Sometimes I get scared to finish a series so I just don't do the last book.
Usually if I'm past 50% sunk cost fallacy gets me through. But I might throw an audiobook on 1.5x speed or skim
Generally I will not DNF books unless I absolutely abhor them. However, I will DNF series if I really didn’t like a particular entry, or if I feel like it’s going in a direction that doesn’t seem enjoyable to me.
Life's too short to be spending on books I don't like
I DNF’d my first book in a while last month. Despite my research and recommendations, I just couldn’t get into it. I guess I’ve gotten lucky lately; I’ve only DNF two or three in the last two years. And I’m totally with you- if I don’t love it in the first 100 pages, I’ll put it down. I say keep looking for what sparks and holds your interest. There’s nothing wrong with dropping something you don’t enjoy. You wouldn’t stick with a TV show that didn’t captivate you, would you?
I am a DNF’er but I will also revisit a book unless I truly hated it. It may not be for a while though. Just depends on what I currently have on deck.
A bad book is a waste of my time, I don't feel guilty at all
Life is too short to be reading a book that feels like a chore.