I’m not sure about the rest of the reading world but up to until about two years ago I finished every single book I started. I felt guilty about leaving a book unfinished, like it would upset someone somewhere (whether that be the author or a fellow reading friend). My inability to D.N.F a book meant that some books took an extremely long time to read. I’d sluggishly plod away at a book for months on end if I had to, just to make sure that book was finished. A lot of the time, I only had one book on the go which made my reading life very very uncomfortable. I had nothing else to turn to apart from this one book that I really didn’t like (it may have been the language used (as with 12 Years A Slave) and sometimes it was just that the story hadn’t grabbed me). While this was ongoing, my Amazon kindle was amassing an insane amount of books in the TBR pile. I was still purchasing new books that I really wanted to read but getting absolutely nowhere. I was at an all time low, reading maybe two or three books in a year. It was definitely not the way I was used to reading and I was missing out on so many other lovely stories that I could be immersed in.

As I mentioned previously, I really could not get into 12 Years A Slave, and it was purely because of the language used in the book. It didn’t flow right off the tongue for me and it was probably the hardest slog ever. This book actually became a turning point for me and I D.N.F’d my FIRST EVER book. I was heartbroken but so relieved at the same time. I was angry that I couldn’t just suck it up and get on with finishing it, but I felt like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders. I was hoping I would be able to get my mojo back.

Around the same time, I discovered GRAPHIC NOVELS (I’ll write another post about that soon), they really helped me get back into the swing of reading. I could read a book in a night and I started to plow through books. In 2017, which was around the time I finished (or D.N.F’d, 12 Years), I managed to read 237 books with 2018 coming in at 196 books. So finally I decided over the course of those two years, using Goodreads, to log all my D.N.F books just in case I ever felt like giving them another go but more importantly, I made the decision to just let the book go. I wasn’t upsetting anyone by not reading it. The author had already had my money so they weren’t going to lose out (I’m not the sort to ask for a refund because I don’t like it, its not the authors fault and they still have to make a living).

Starting 2019, I am still more than willing to D.N.F a book but I do have a few guidelines that I try to stick to:

• To try and read at least 25% of a book before I decide to discard it (I’ve figured if I dislike a book enough to consider a D.N.F then a quarter of the book is more than enough for make that decision – if it doesn’t grab me at the beginning, its highly unlikely that it’ll grab me further on)
• To always have multiple books on the go at once (since I’ve gotten older I seem to be older to manage more than one book at a time)
• To continue to log the book on Goodreads *just in case*
• To not stress when I don’t like it
• If I am asked to review a book (by an author or Netgalley for example) I will always read it to the end in order to provide a fair review

That doesn’t mean to say that I think negatively about anyone that reads every single book to completion, in fact I may just be a little tiny bit jealous of you lucky people that can read anything.

What about you guys? Do you D.N.F books?