“My eyes hunger to read more books than time allows me to devour.”
― Jazz Feylynn
Hello!
Here I am again with another post and it’s a happy surprise once again that I can continue posting and further my attempt in reviving this blog. Yay for me!
This time I have decided to participate in the bookish discussion meme: Let’s Talk Bookish! It is a weekly meme hosted by Rukky @ Eternity Books & Dani @ Literary Lion, where they discuss certain topics, share opinions, and spread the love by visiting posts of those who participates. Check out the October topics here if you have an inkling to participate.

What Makes You DNF a Book?
To be honest, there has never been an instance when I have to DNF a book. It’s more along the lines of being sidetracked or a case of being distracted. But if it’s a really good book and it managed to grab my attention, then I’ll keep on reading until I finish it. I usually give it two or three chapters in before deciding to push through – whether it’s a one-sitting-read or not.
If DNF-ing is when you actively decide to put down a particular book and never pick it up again then I have no such cases. But if it’s forgetting I started a book and then left it unread for quite some time, then we can consider that DNF (“did not finish”). But then again, once I remembered I’ll probably get back to it and start from the beginning all over again. (Side note: goodreads “currently reading” shelf and I do not get along. At all. So I just don’t bother with it anymore, but I still do keep track of my reading dates.)
How Do I Not DNF??
First, well… let’s blame my curiosity. If I started it, I just had to get to the end. I had to know what happened. This terminally curious trait does not only apply to books I read but also to series I watch.
Second, I start books that I have a slight idea about or from genres that I usually read. Like fiction, romance, fantasy, paranormal, new adult, contemporary and more. It also helps that I am slightly immersed in the world of book bloggers. I may not always write reviews of books I read, but I follow a LOT of bloggers who do write their own. Also, memes that I have also participated in helps in scouring potential books and series that I might like when bookish bloggers talk about favorite characters, favorite books and even favorite quotes.

In my case, instead of a DNF shelf, it should probably be a DNL (“did not like”) because there is no way I won’t get to the end one way or another. But I won’t start a book or a series if I’m not interested in it in the first place. I guess you could say I’m playing it safe. But as the quote I shared above said, there’s just too many books but time doesn’t allow us to read all of them, so might as well get smart and choose books that suit our taste. But it could be a hit or miss even books that seemed so promising can disappoint so I understand why there’s a concept of DNF. Once in a while, I may try a different book or genre from my usual and it would usually be a recommendation by a friend or someone close. They say that it’s a form of respect to them when you manage to finish what they want you to read, so there’s that too.
Series are a lot trickier though. Some get better with each book installment but others just do not. But no series comes to mind that I decided to drop so far. It’s more of a case of – ‘I’ll get back to this later’ or ‘let me just take a breather’, if you know what I mean.

So, that’s my short discussion about this topic. Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments!
P.S. I was thinking that reading habits and quirks like these tells a lot about one’s personality. I guess I should write more of these discussion posts so I could get to know myself better. I’m oblivious that way.
All the time.
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Understandable
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If it is not interesting in the first few pages, I stop reading
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Usually it’s a chapter or two for me to decide whether I like it
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Me too. If the first chapter is not good I generally switch
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I definitely have books that don’t hold my attention so I set them aside for another day, some of these I consider dnf’s and some I don’t. Apparently I can’t make up my mind on things!
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I have those as well! Setting them aside but getting back to them another day.
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First I define my DNF as “I put the book down and I don’t plan on picking it back up” unless a divine intervention occurs. I try my best to give a book 100 pages before deciding this, although sometimes this is not enough because I hear of a book redeeming itself way after 100 pages. Now, begs the question. To post about the DNF or not. Well that depends on whether I have something interesting to say about the DNF. I have a TON of books I haven’t technically finished, but plan on it at some point.
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I like how you said – unless a divine intervention occurs 😅
Yeah I don’t post much book reviews these days what more about DNF books (if I do have one)
Same! So I guess it should be YTF (yet to finish) for those
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Interesting post, great to see another perspective on it.
For me DNF is Did Not Finish and will definitely not try it again. 😛 However I also have books that I stop reading for a moment but that is because I am a real mood reader, I will pick them up later when I am in the mood again.
I used to, 6-7 years or so, always finish every book. But I noticed that reading became a bit of a chore and thus less fun. I want reading to be fun and engaging. I decided to just stop reading a book if I wasn’t a fan of it within 4-5 chapters or if I am reading and the book just seems to go nowhere or gets boring/bland/annoying. And yes, I still have books I don’t enjoy that much but which I can still finish without feeling frustrated or that it feels like a chore, while a DNF book is truly not my cup of tea and I just want it away and gone with.
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I can totally realte to being a mood reader!
Maybe I’ll be at that point soon too and there’s definitely nothing wrong with that. Just move on to another book right away so as not to waste any more time ^^
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I love being a mood reader, most of the times, but sometimes I just wish my mood would be a bit more consistent. 😛
Yep, no need to waste time on bad books. There are too many books in the world that want to be read, so many favourites to be discovered!
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Really glad I participated in this discussion post. Felt like I gained a new perspective even though it’s pretty obvious 😅
Too many books out there that needs to be properly appreciated
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I’ve only DNF two books ever. I think I need to start doing it more often because sometimes I read books I don’t like.
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You know maybe I should too…
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Have to admit I’m like you. It’s almost never that I stop reading a book, as I always think it might get better, or I simply do want to find out how it ends. There are some exceptions though. When a book truly is written in a very bad way, or is so boring that after reading 100 or 200 pages there isn’t anything remotely interesting in it, that’s where I do draw the line. Other than that…it’s more Do Not Like for me too 😀
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Yeah I’m inclined to give a book more chances too! Trying to find even one good point is a habit and then I end up finishing it
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It’s so good to see so many fresh faces this week! I’m just like you and I almost never DNF books. Even if I absolutely loathe them I will complete them just so that I can get to the end. I know that there’s no real prize for being this way and I know that I’m wasting my time in the end with books I don’t enjoy but I want to complete them and give them a fair 1-2 star rating while knowing I gave them every chance to save themselves.
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Glad I could join in this week. I just discovered this weekly meme too ❤
and there's that feeling of accomplishment too!
not giving up on the book until the last page ^^
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I painfully finish books that I don’t like because I purchased it. It always take me up to a year to finish tho. Strangely, I don’t seem to have the same effect When I borrow books from the library.
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owning it means you can definitely take your time 🙂
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That’s so interesting to see that most of the blog posts I’ve read state that they don’t really or never DNF! I admire your patience and persistency! 😅
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Nice! Tho I might just start DNFing when I ran out of patience soon
Thanks! 😆
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I agree. I too have to finish the book to see what happens. However, I can recall possibly 2 times I have not finished a book. It was that BORING. 99% of the time I finish!
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Curiosity is a powerful thing indeed 😁 We just can’t leave it alone
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Hi! I tagged you for the Sow A Seed award https://wp.me/p5fuyp-5g2!
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Thank you ^^
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I give it maybe 50 pages or a few chapters depending on the length of a book. There are a few books that I’m stubborn with and have completed but disliked early on but for the most part I don’t want to waste precious reading time on books I don’t like! 😅
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I can totally relate with that stubbornness! I usually find something good about each book that’s why I end up finishing most of them. But I might just start DNFing to get to the good ones sooner
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Thanks for checking out my blog post recently!
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No prob 🙂
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I can truly relate myself with this post! ~♥~
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Oh so you don’t dnf books? Nice
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Yeah mostly
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I think I’ve only ever DNF’ed one book in my life – I just can’t leave anything unfinished, even if I have to practically skim every page in the hope of it ever getting better! 🤣🙈
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Either that, or I’m just too damn obstinate! 😂
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Yess! I can totally relate. 😆
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I had to look up what DNF stands for first. 😉 I have on occasion not finished a book and it’s normally due to 2 reasons – I just couldn’t get into it. I always try to finish a book I start. No matter what. But as I got older I realized this was a waste of my time. So now, my 2nd and current reason is simply because it’s not holding my interest enough or is just so poorly written continuing it would be torture! I make a firm decision to just drop it!
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I very rarely DNF a book deliberately, mostly because (like you) I read lots of reviews before deciding to read it, so it’s a pretty intense vetting process that usually ensures the book will be at least a 3 star for me. My average rating on Goodreads is 4.21 stars apparently! I also definitely do the whole ‘I’ll get back to it later’ thing with series.
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This post is so relatable! ❤
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Righttt ❤
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I find it so interesting that you read every book you start! Honestly I wish I had that power. For me, I’ll DNF usually if the book bores me or angers me. I’m pretty good at picking up books I know I’ll love, so it rarely happens, but sometimes I get the odd book that makes me want to RAGE QUIT, and so I do😂💕
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I think so far I just got lucky in picking up books I finish. ^^ I usually look for one redeeming quality of a book so it gives me a reason to get to the end.
I have yet to experience that RAGE quit tho 😀
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https://matt-in-the-hat.com/2020/10/29/the-mystery-blogger-award-by-mara/
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