Welcome to the end of January! I know some months move faster than others but this one has just flown. What makes the feeling worse is that I had plans for this month. I was going to whittle down my review and TBR piles. I was also going to work doing more social activities and such for myself and the blog.
The only things I did accomplish were my taxes. Which wasn't on the list. But anyway...
This month has seen me finish several books but it has also seen something I haven't experienced. Ever. A rash of DNF's. There have books I've DNF's before, titles that weren't in genres I had read before or books that were so out there that it was a joke. However, this month saw me DNF three books in a row. Three! I couldn't believe it.
I even consulted my Goodreads stats to see how many books I hadn't finished last year. The total: four. For the whole year. And in the beginning of the new year, I have almost reached that goal in the first month! What is going on? These are books in genres I enjoy very much, paranormal and historical romance and romantic suspense. But I can't finish them, and goodness knows I've tried.
Then I got to thinking about why I was forcing myself to finish them. I was reading a post over at The Bawdy Book Blog about when to DNF a book and the feelings of guilt that result. I have to agree with her reasoning that reading is for "fun and nothing else". Then she mentions it is "as much a service [to publishers] by marking it as Did Not Finish and explaining why I was unable to complete the story". I have noticed those books I had to force myself to finish were not rated as high as ones I didn't have to make myself finish.
To be finish or not to finish, that is the question.
I do feel bad about not finishing those books, despite having the publisher ask me to review them. I know, however, that if I do read them, it will make me post a negative review. And there's no rule that says you can't revisit a DNF's book. I'm a mood reader; I read certain books depending on how I'm feeling in that moment. Although I'm still aware that I have to have a good reason to DNF a book, not just because I don't have time for it. It is not something to be abused.
My thoughts have stopped now, so I'm going to end the post here. Thanks for letting me get that off my chest. I feel much better! :)
I had this same issue a few months back and the guilt was a bit overwhelming. I thought long and hard about it and finally decided that anytime I DNF a book I will offer up an ebook of it as a giveaway. That way hopefully it finds a new reader who will enjoy it and perhaps even review or recommend it. I don't feel guilty about the dreaded DNF anymore. :) Hope you find a way past it, it sucks but we really can't love every book we try.
ReplyDeleteI'm working on getting past it. I was even trying to think of why we feel so much guilt associated w/a DNF book. In every day life, we have no problems not finishing tasks--at work, at home, etc.--but we have such problems with finishing a book.
DeleteGiving away an digital copy to is a good idea. I might have to borrow that one! ;)
I used to never DNF a book. I felt like I had to stick with it, but this past year I tried to remember that I shouldn't force myself to read something I'm not enjoying, it's been difficult, but I did DNF some last year. I actually recently won a book and I struggled through the first 90 pages or so and then just had to stop. It wasn't for me. So that was my first DNF for 2013.
ReplyDeleteIt used to be that DNFing a book was rare for me, and it was usually in genres I wasn't comfortable reading but wanted to try anyway. Yet, this month, I've DNF three romances. Admittedly they're from authors I've never read but still. It was hard to because some were from Avon and as an Avon Addict you're asked to read a range of romances.
DeleteI still haven't figured out how I'm going to tell the coordinators...