To not finish a book I'm not enjoying?

[PlasticPotPlant]

I was always taught that if I started a book I had to finish it (Aurora and the little blue car and Miss B when I was 7, I'm looking at you)

Now, after a friend pointed out I have statistically already used over half my allotted weeks on planet earth, I'm wondering if I should abandon books I'm not enjoying, but cracking on through is very engrained in me, and the books I find least enjoyable are often non-fiction ones that do increase my general knowledge, and often I do enjoy them, eventually.

So wise ones, AIBU to start abandoning books or should I carry on persisting to the end?

Nope, life is too short and the 'to read' pile too high.

I think you missed the whole metaphor trick, there.

Besides, giving the contents a fair go does not mean finishing.

Reading should be your pleasure, persisting when you're not enjoying it just turns it into a chore (and we all have enough of those)

I hereby give you permission to let the book die.

There are definitely books that need time to get going. The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo I bought on a whim just after it came out and I had no idea of the premise (sometimes books and films are more interesting that way). After 100 or so pages discussing Swedish journalism politics, I very nearly gave up, wondering what on earth I’d bought. Obviously shortly after that it totally switched gears. My point is it’s fine to ditch a book you’re not enjoying but give it sufficient time to know you’re not missing out (unless you obviously hate the author’s style-I trudged through 1/3 of a book DH lent me with an ok plot before I couldn’t cope with the writing style any more).

Start a different book. No point plodding through something you're not enjoying. The Time Traveller's Wife I'm looking at you

God no! I bought two books just before Christmas and couldn't even get past the first few pages of each. They went to a charity shop.

Life's too short to do things you don't like.

@PurpleSilver advice from the first page I am going to repeat every day.

Casting off some of the debilitating dogma that has hung around your neck since childhood is one of the great joys of middle age.

Only book I haven't finished is cloud atlas

Life’s too short, stick it in a charity bag and move on 😬

This if I'm not interested I wouldn't be interested in the end either. I am guilty of sometimes googling the ending (time travellers wife!)

GET RID.

I'm brutal with books. If a good hasn't grabbed me within 30-50 pages, it's gone. Life is too short for books that don't gel.

I'm a primary school teacher as well, and always tell the children, "if you don't like your book, swap it." I want kids to LOVE reading, not to see it as an annoying chore.

There is a rule for this :) "Nancy Pearl has given readers wonderful options with her Rule: If a reader is under 50 years old, then consume 50 pages before dropping a book. If a reader is over 50 years old, take the number 100, subtract your age, and this is the number of pages to read before switching to the next book."

Do you want to hear a secret? You can do what you want :-) . If you don't finish the book a teacher isn't going to smack your fingers with a ruler!

Sometimes it's just not the right time in your life for a particular book. I got a copy of Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell when it first came out and couldn't get into it, so I shelved it. I tried reading it again about six months later and couldn't get into it. It took me another two years to get round to having another go at it, and then I really loved it.

Still can't stand Neil Gaiman though!

Life is too short to plough on with a book you aren’t enjoying. I never bother.

I've always been a ruthless DNFer, I literally can't read a book that I hate. Sometimes just a few pages is enough to know we aren't going to be friends.

Yes. Abandon at will. Life is far too short to waste on tedious books.