Bookish Question: How do you decide when to DNF a book?
I ask this because I recently had my first DNF of 2026. It was women’s fiction, which is normally right up my alley, but I picked it up twice and both times just felt stressed out by it.
I am not going to name the book, but I will say that I found the situation the main character was in to be very stressful and I also thought the book was kind of dated. When I checked my progress in the Libby app, I was only at 10%, but I just decided to be done with it. I have plenty of other books on my TBR.
I feel a mild sense of guilt about this, although I will say that is a vast improvement over where I was a decade ago when I wouldn’t have considered not finishing a book. So that makes me curious how other people decide when and why to DNF a book.
In So Many Words 
Life is too short and there are too many better books to feel guilty. It obviously appealed to someone–it was published. Just move on.
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It has definitely gotten easier as I have gotten older, lol!
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I always finish a galley but like you if it’s a library read and I’m uncomfortable or just not into it I have an easier time letting go and not finishing it.
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That makes sense, Jodie.
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I just move on. Same with a puzzle. Lately, I have no issue moving on from things. Life is short, what we put in our brain is important. Same with TV shows, if I start a show and I’m not feeling happy… move on to an audio book while puzzling or listen to music. So many happy things to do in life.
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That’s a great attitude to have! It is getting easier for me as I get older.
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It used to be that I always finished a book I started, even one that bored me to tears. Maybe out of respect for the work the author put into it. But life’s too short! If the plot doesn’t interest me, and mostly if I can’t like or at least connect with the characters, I close it up, donate it to the Little Free Library (maybe it’s just not my kind of story and someone else will love it!!) and move on to the next. Reading should be a pleasure, not a chore 🙂
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I agree!
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I love that answer! Life is definitely short to suffer willingly.
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