this post was submitted on 12 Feb 2024
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How do you push through a book you aren't enjoying? (self.books)
submitted 7 months ago by Oneeightnine to c/books@lemmy.ml
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I ask because I tend to jump off a book if It's not grabbing me, which at times limits me with regards to what I'm reading.

Does it matter? Is it something I should try to push past or am I overthinking this and should just enjoy what I enjoy?

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[–] frightful_hobgoblin@lemmy.ml 40 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Why would you read a book you don't want to?

[–] li10@lemmy.ml 14 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Personally, because I’ve spent long enough reading it and I want to just finish it if I’m like two thirds of the way through.

In reality, I spend a week thinking “I need to finish that” and then forget about it completely.

[–] tiramichu@lemm.ee 11 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago)

If I'm in that situation where I really hate the book but also really want to finish, then it's usually because there's that nagging mental thread of something left undone.

But I don't want to read it. I just want to be done with it.

What I need is closure, which means knowing how the key points wrap up and what happens at the end.

And so knowing that, I commit a crime against literature - I skim.

Normally I'd never skim, but it's far preferable to never finishing at all, and it ties off that unpleasant dangling thread, letting me be free and move on to something I might actually enjoy.