Talk Bookish To Me! Do You DNF Books?

“My eyes hunger to read more books than time allows me to devour.”
― Jazz Feylynn

Hello!

Here we are again with another post and it’s a happy surprise that I can continue posting and further my attempts 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.)

Raven by Fay-san on DeviantArt

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 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 might suit our taste. But it could be a hit or miss, even with 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 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.