Book guilt

[BabCNesbitt]

I loved Ben Lerner's first book, Leaving The Atocha Station, so I requested his new one, 10:04, from the library, waited MONTHS to get it, and now I finally have it... I can't be arsed reading it. I'm only in the mood for fairly lightweight stuff right now. And I'm beating myself up a bit for abandoning it.

Anyone have any tips for getting over book guilt and cheerfully tossing books aside?

[BabCNesbitt]

Bumping. Realise my guilt may have been made worse by meeting up yesterday with uni friends who are now all academics and I'm feeling a bit dim in comparison

[DuchessofMalfi]

Take it back tomorrow and forget about it? :o

Or, what about reading a couple of chapters a day, and then reading something lighter at bedtime? I often have two or three books on the go at the same time, depending on how I feel at the time.

I do borrow books from the library and take them back, unread, if I change my mind. It hasn't cost me anything and I don't feel guilty about doing so.

But I feel differently if I've bought a book and haven't liked it, or then decided I didn't want to read it. Certain amount of guilt where I see unread (owned) books sitting on my bookshelves

[Clawdy]

I did this two weeks ago. Waited literally years (about ten,I think) for the new Mary Lawson novel. I so loved Crow Lake and The Other Side of the Bridge. Couldn't wait to read Road Ends, but a few chapters in, I found it so relentlessly depressing, I abandoned it and flicked to the last chapter. Sometimes life's just too short....