Is DNFing A Book A Bad Thing To Do?

Hey guys! Today I’ll be talking about my point of view on DNFing books. I apologise in advance if I ramble onto something completely different. I tend to do that in discussion posts ahaha. For those who don’t know, DNF means “did not finish”, therefore when you DNF a book, you are leaving it as unfinished. Self-explanatory, right? Anyways, I think Goodreads should create a DNF option because I would like to see what books I’ve DNFed. I recently created a Goodreads shelf for it so I can keep track of the books I’ve DNFed and I give the books I DNF no stars, rather than one star.

Okay, onto the discussion. I use to see DNFing a book as something that shouldn’t be done. I would feel guilty if I did DNF a book, which caused me to forced myself to finish a book, regardless of whether or not a enjoyed it. If I wasn’t enjoying a book, I’d skim through it and give it one star because I hated the fact that I had to push myself to read it. After a while, every time I read a book I wasn’t enjoying, therefore pushing myself to read it, reading became like a chore and I disliked it. Yes, I went through a quick phase where I didn’t pick up a book for months. I didn’t hate reading but I hated the idea of picking up another book which I’d dislike. I don’t remember which book it was, but I finally picked up a book that got me back into reading again.

Eventually, I realised that if I continued to push myself to read book that I wasn’t enjoying, I’d end up in another slump or dislike reading again. And I didn’t want to go through that again, because I do love reading. Reading brings me joy and connects me with so many people, fictional and the online community. No one likes doing something they hate, and that was what I started to tell myself. If I didn’t want to hate reading, I would have to do something about it. So, I slowly began to DNF books that I wasn’t liking by the 5^th or so chapter. And it really helped me to read more and I’m so glad I decided to do so. DNFing books allowed me to put down a book I wasn’t enjoying, but it was also a way of saying “I might pick you up later and give you another chance”. I’m a firm believer in second chances because everyone makes mistakes.

Therefore, I think that we should NOT feel guilty at all for DNFing a book. I know authors work hard to write and have their novels published, and I respect that. I commend them for doing so, because I don’t think I ever could. But we as readers should be able to put down a book because we’re not enjoying it and not having anyone judge us or feel any guilt for it. Maybe we’re not interested in the genre. Maybe we’re in a slump and cannot finish a book. Maybe we don’t want to waste our time on something we don’t like. Whatever the reason, I think it is important that all readers know that they can DNF a book. Besides, DNFing a book doesn’t mean we’ll never read it again. Maybe we’re just putting it down for now and might pick t up again in the future. Our reading tastes are always changing, and so will our choices in books.

What did you think of this book. Do you like to DNF books? What is your point of view on it?