I started reading for fun a few years ago and started with the top 100 classics as voted by the readers of penguin books.
While I’ve loved some of them, and enjoyed others even if they weren’t my cup of tea, there have been some that I’ve had to grind them down page by page until they are finish.
I want to finish all 100 as it’s the challenge I set myself, so what do you do get through a book that you aren’t enjoying/connecting with?
Sorry if this had already been asked, I only joined yesterday!
by chemistrycaveman
26 Comments
I abandon the book in a public space and start reading a different one.
If you’re reading for enjoyment, it shouldn’t be a chore.
Look I’m not really into telling people how to live but if you are forcing yourself to read shit you don’t enjoy for the sake of an arbitrary target is that really a good use of leisure time?
Also another casual comment about how I hate the use of ‘DNF’. A battle I will never win but never give up!
I don’t always finish books. I feel like life is too short to deliberately do something that makes you miserable.
However! Sometimes if I’m just not connecting with a book I’ll put it aside for a while, maybe even a few years, and move on and try again another time. Several times I’ve set a book aside and read a few others only to have something remind me of that book I didn’t finish and when that happens if I pick it up again I usually find I enjoy it more the second time.
I recommend giving yourself some distance from the one that you’re stuck on and go back to it later, when you’re in a different mood.
I.. don’t? I have forced myself through a book I didn’t enjoy before and literally gained nothing except wasted time.
Are classics really the best place to start if you’ve only just started reading for fun? To each their own, and if you’re having fun, then that’s all that matters, but I thought classics were best when you are already well practiced in reading.
But anyway, the short answer is to don’t force it. If you’re not feeling it, you’re not feeling it. Maybe in between the classics, pick up something contemporary that is just easy and fun.
Get the audiobook version from your library! I find so many more books are easier to digest this way. Listen while you do chores or take a walk.
I set myself a book challenge last year. 52 books for the year. To me it made reading a chore. Setting goals is great, but it doesn’t work great with books. The whole journey vs destination kinda thang.
I hate dnf’ing. I understand why people do abandon books, but it’s just not me. If I start a book, I’ll do my damnedest to finish it. But then I’ve very rarely found a book I couldn’t enjoy at least some aspect of.
If I’m struggling, I try to pick out a character or thread or aspect of the writing that I’m enjoying and focus on that. Maybe I’m not here for the weird religious voodoo visions of Paul, but I can be invested in Jessica’s journey. Or maybe I’ll focus on the general world building and wider concepts. Or I’ll appreciate the prose even if the story itself isn’t compelling. There’ll almost always be something I can enjoy.
If you’re happy to read more than one book at a time then you could out the tough book down and read something else for a bit, but that’s not for me personally. I do however, somewhat paradoxically, read more if I’m struggling. It’s a case of the more I read, the quicker I’ll be done with the book and the sooner I can move on to the next one. I’ll also quit happily speed read large sections – not quite skimming, but not necessarily taking in as much as I would typically. The goal is to take in enough information to keep up with the basic plot, rather than savour every word.
You could also try switching to audiobooks if that’s your thing, and have it be a passive listening experience whilst doing chores/exercising/whatever else, rather than a more concentrated reading effort. That might take out some of the difficulty and still get you through it.
Ultimately there is no failure in a dnf, all it means is the book wasn’t right for you at that time. But if (like me) you can’t bear to dnf, then the only way out is through.
I don’t force myself to finish books that I’m not enjoying. I used to do that and it resulted in a reading slump every single time.
I’m happy to DNF books these days lol
That said, with the classics especially, I often enjoy them on audiobook
And audiobooks of the classics are easier to find because of copyright
Even Spotify has audiobooks these days
Try audio for a few chapters – sometimes hearing the words aloud lets you find new joy in the rhythm of the prose
I try not to DNF but if I’m hitting an absolute wall I’ll hop online and do a deep dive on some actual book reviews. If people are saying “just stick with it it gets really good in the back half” I’ll keep riding. Many times though I find that other people found the book never picks up or comes together. It helps me feel okay putting it down for good.
i can’t DNF, idk what it is but just can’t do it. it’s probably my OCD. i tend to try and read the rest as quick as i can and even skim some parts if they’re predictable or a lot of dialogue because i just have to finish it.
I cant DNF. I want but I cant, I think I only DNFed one or two books. I stopped but it’s not I didnt finish it but havent finished..yet. Lmaoo
Maybe because books are expensive and I keep hope that theres at least something interesting on the last pages Idk. I just feel bad if I DNF book. Or maybe because I’m a ppl pleaser🤣💀
I find this post a bit confusing.
You are reading for fun, but you aren’t enjoying some of these books? But based on your comments this is important to you and get something from some of these books after slogging through nearly 90% of the book?
I think it might be helpful to ask yourself if you’re really doing this for fun or if theres another reason. Maybe you are doing it for fun, but maybe you have other motivations as well. I say this because I personally used to be someone who read classics just to say I’d read them. It’s a good feeling to say “I read Moby Dick” or Anna Karenina or Crime and Punishment or Ulysses or what have you (I totally listed all the classics I haven’t read yet lol).
But if you really, truly want advice, here is what I suggest though it might not sound perfectly appetizing:
1) Pick one of the classics from the list that sounds really interesting to you based on a blurb or a review
2) read that classic book as slowly and thoroughly as you can. Don’t read it to get through it. Read it like it’s real: treat characters like people you’re trying to get to know; don’t speed through the seemingly arbitrary descriptions of landscapes but try to picture them in your mind’s eye and ask yourself why a celebrated author (who clearly knows what they’re doing according to the cannon) would include this particular description since it must be relevant somehow; try to breathe life into each and every scene. Take notes if you want.
This is of course my personal reading philosophy, but classics are works of quality that take time to appreciate and understand. Burning through them for the sake of completing a list, maybe not even remembering most of them or getting the depth of them, doesn’t seem to have a point for me, but everyone is different so I don’t want it to feel like I’m judging you—just want to give feedback since you yourself say you’re not enjoying them all. I actually find classics really fun, but depending on the length, it can take me months or even a year to finish a big book. But when I’m done I feel like I’ve made a wise friend who has taught me a lot about the world and the people in it. Even then though, I also wouldn’t put time into a book that’s not jiving with me.
If this sounds interesting but not totally convincing, I suggest checking out Benjamin McAvoy’s YouTube channel. He has a way of explaining how reading and literature can change your life and how to get the most out of these works, treating them like living beings you can have a conversation with.
the reason I barely dnf is neurodivergency/ocd. wouldn’t say there’s anything cool about finishing a terrible book. the reason i don’t is cuz dropping a book hurts more than reading it. that being said, if i drop a book it’s cuz i judge the writer either based on bad writing decisions or blatant racism/sexism.
and since i don’t want to get exposed to that, i do my research before hand and listen to recommendations from people i can trust.
so yeah, nothing wrong with dnf. if it ain’t an assignment, drop it
I don’t keep books I don’t finish.
So Stanger in a Strange Land and Overstory got axed!
I almost never DNF (and usually if I do, I pick it back up a year later and finish it) but I certainly don’t think it’s bad to do so–I just have a hard time giving up on a book myself but it does mean I’ve wasted some time. Part of why I don’t DNF is because I don’t usually pick up books totally blind, not that I know everything about the plot but I look up reviews/type/moods on Storygraph and Goodreads to see if it will match my tastes, and because I’m always worried that the second half/ending will redeem it (which has happened, but rarely). But I also don’t read just one book at a time, so if I’m not into it, I’ll put it down for a couple of days or weeks while I read something more fast or enjoyable to stop me from ending up in a reading slump because I’m not super into a book.
I try not to dnf books, but I don’t see any point in reading a book that I am struggling to enjoy and get through eg a good girls guide to murder , the writing style made it a difficult read.
I don’t mean for this to sound like, condescending or anything, but I just read the book. It’s not hard and it doesn’t take me that long. I guess grad school taught me to treat reading as work and it’s not that hard to activate that part of my brain for a mid sci fi book.
Also, I do occasionally put books on hold. It’s not the same as DNFing. I intend to finish the book later, I just can’t/don’t want to do it now. Easiest example is Peter Hamilton, especially his earlier books which are way too long.
Audiobooks
I personally don’t bother with books I’m not enjoying, but I find scheduling times to read and keeping to it helps if I’m struggling with a book I need to read. I have this thing where I cannot start a task if I don’t feel I have enough time to do it, so I put off things like reading when I get busy even though I know I can read for just five or ten mins if I wanted. Seeing the blocked out time for it helps a lot and means I can keep going with my reading goals even when it’s a bit of a struggle.
I don’t think there’s really any kind of silver bullet for ensuring you finish every book you start and tbh if you genuinely don’t like a book there’s nothing wrong with not finishing it. That said… taking a look at that list… if you’re new to reading then trying to read everything on that list is a surefire way to burn yourself out. Ulysses, War and Peace, and Moby Dick just to name a few of the behemoths on that list… are not easy books to read and should probably be tackled individually and with some amount of prep work.
If you really want to finish a book but are having a hard time, try reading something you do enjoy alongside it. Switch back and forth. I do that with nonfiction books. Sometimes those can be a lot of information and it gets overwhelming. I cleanse my pallet with some light fiction.
I tend to end the day with reading. Even if you read a couple of pages each day, you’ll get throug the book eventually.
If you have a choice of translators, that can make a huge difference.
I had to laugh that it’s classics you are struggling to finish. I decided to challenge myself to read several classics last year. I slogged through a few that if I hadn’t set that goal I would have DNF for sure.
Anna Karenina was the hardest. I also listen to audiobooks and I was able to get it for free on Audible, so I started listening to it instead of reading it in print. I also limited how much time I would listen per session because I found myself tuning out after about 10 minutes. Since it was 35 hours long, it took a long time to finish. I read other books that weren’t classics so I could take my time without feeling stuck.
The biggest thing I learned last year was my reading pleasure is more important than a reading goal. I only read 8 classics and I didn’t really like any of them, most were irritating and only 1 would have been finished if I wasn’t working toward a personal goal. I had originally thought I would work my way through one of those 100 books you must read before you die lists, but last year changed my mind. I will continue to put a few classics on my TBR list from time to time, but I have given myself permission to DNF them without any regret.
Good Luck on your goal, but if these books aren’t enjoyable take some time to decide if the goal is still what you want to work on. I’m a retired Life Coach and one of the things I worked on with my clients is regularly reviewing goals to see if they are still moving you toward the life you want to live and to adjust often as needed.