DNF-ing Isn’t That Deep

         Have you ever tried reading a well-beloved book and ultimately never finishing it? Did you feel like a bad reader because you didn’t finish said book? Well, you shouldn’t. Reader’s guilt has increasingly become an overwhelming pillar in the reading community. Not reading The Hunger Games or Pride and Prejudice or Throne of Glass doesn’t make you a bad reader, they just simply weren’t meant for you–or better yet–you just didn’t read them at the right time.

         We get so caught up in how we are perceived publicly that it often affects how we perceive ourselves privately. As readers, our main goal should simply be to read, but what happens when we’re not enjoying what we’re reading? We DNF. Putting a book in your “Did Not Finish” pile can often mean that the book was merely not to your taste. One of the greatest things about books is that they are subjective. They are not entitled to be liked by all, even if the book itself is well beloved by many.

         We all have our own acquired tastes that don’t always overlap with the vast majority. Despite its ongoing popularity, I am not a big fantasy reader at all. I’ve never read Fourth Wing or Throne of Glass, and I personally don’t plan to. I read about three chapters of A Court of Thorns and Roses and could not, for the life of me, get into it. Regardless of the book’s or genre’s popularity, I don’t need to beat myself up for not finishing something I didn’t enjoy. If you are not having an enjoyable and engaging reading experience, then it’s perfectly fine if you don’t finish the book. You can always shift gears into a different genre that is more suited to you.

         Taking it a step further, I don’t think that not immediately diving into classics makes you a bad reader either. To preface, I do believe they should be preserved and still be taught and consumed by people, but I don’t think that we should be forced to read stories that we might not be cognitively ready to read. Oftentimes, we are set to read some classics too young while in a space where we are not experienced enough to truly comprehend the material. This tends to be where most children and teens are discouraged away from reading. If we allow ourselves to find and read books like the classics at our own pace, we’re more likely to be receptive to them.

         Life is too short to dwell on a book that doesn’t speak to you. Sometimes you don’t pick up that book for a few months, or years, or even ever again. What does matter is that you are still reading. There’s no need to force feed yourself the book that everyone says will change your life. You can be that one percent opinion and it not be the end of the world, because more than likely someone else has had the same thought. Your tastebuds aren’t the same as everyone else’s. Give it seven years, and maybe–just maybe–your taste will change, and that book you thought you hated is now the best you’ve ever read.