read something else for a bit and go back to it, i often read five books at once.

Get the audiobook version from your library! I find so many more books are easier to digest this way. Listen while you do chores or take a walk.

I set myself a book challenge last year. 52 books for the year. To me it made reading a chore. Setting goals is great, but it doesn’t work great with books. The whole journey vs destination kinda thang.

I… don’t? I have forced myself through a book I didn’t enjoy before and literally gained nothing except wasted time.

I hate dnf’ing. I understand why people do abandon books, but it’s just not me. If I start a book, I’ll do my damnedest to finish it. But then I’ve very rarely found a book I couldn’t enjoy at least some aspect of.

If I’m struggling, I try to pick out a character or thread or aspect of the writing that I’m enjoying and focus on that. Maybe I’m not here for the weird religious voodoo visions of Paul, but I can be invested in Jessica’s journey. Or maybe I’ll focus on the general world building and wider concepts. Or I’ll appreciate the prose even if the story itself isn’t compelling. There’ll almost always be something I can enjoy.

If you’re happy to read more than one book at a time then you could out the tough book down and read something else for a bit, but that’s not for me personally. I do however, somewhat paradoxically, read more if I’m struggling. It’s a case of the more I read, the quicker I’ll be done with the book and the sooner I can move on to the next one. I’ll also quit happily speed read large sections - not quite skimming, but not necessarily taking in as much as I would typically. The goal is to take in enough information to keep up with the basic plot, rather than savour every word.

You could also try switching to audiobooks if that’s your thing, and have it be a passive listening experience whilst doing chores/exercising/whatever else, rather than a more concentrated reading effort. That might take out some of the difficulty and still get you through it.

Ultimately there is no failure in a dnf, all it means is the book wasn’t right for you at that time. But if (like me) you can’t bear to dnf, then the only way out is through.

Are classics really the best place to start if you’ve only just started reading for fun? To each their own, and if you’re having fun, then that’s all that matters, but I thought were best when you are already well practiced in reading.

But anyway, the short answer is to don’t force it. If you’re not feeling it, you’re not feeling it. Maybe in between the classics, pick up something contemporary that is just easy and fun.

I don’t force myself to finish books that I’m not enjoying. I used to do that and it resulted in a reading slump every single time.

I’m happy to DNF books these days lol

That said, with the classics especially, I often enjoy them on audiobook

And audiobooks of the classics are easier to find because of copyright

Even Spotify has audiobooks these days

Try audio for a few chapters - sometimes hearing the words aloud lets you find new joy in the rhythm of the prose

i can’t DNF, idk what it is but just can’t do it. it’s probably my OCD. i tend to try and read the rest as quick as i can and even skim some parts if they’re predictable or a lot of dialogue because i just have to finish it.

I don’t keep books I don’t finish.

So Stanger in a Strange Land and Overstory got axed!

I almost never DNF (and usually if I do, I pick it back up a year later and finish it) but I certainly don’t think it’s bad to do so–I just have a hard time giving up on a book myself but it does mean I’ve wasted some time. Part of why I don’t DNF is because I don’t usually pick up books totally blind, not that I know everything about the plot but I look up reviews/type/moods on Storygraph and Goodreads to see if it will match my tastes, and because I’m always worried that the second half/ending will redeem it (which has happened, but rarely). But I also don’t read just one book at a time, so if I’m not into it, I’ll put it down for a couple of days or weeks while I read something more fast or enjoyable to stop me from ending up in a reading slump because I’m not super into a book.

I find this post a bit confusing.

You are reading for fun, but you aren’t enjoying some of these books? But based on your comments this is important to you and get something from some of these books after slogging through nearly 90% of the book?

I think it might be helpful to ask yourself if you’re really doing this for fun or if theres another reason. Maybe you are doing it for fun, but maybe you have other motivations as well. I say this because I personally used to be someone who read classics just to say I’d read them. It’s a good feeling to say “I read Moby Dick” or Anna Karenina or Crime and Punishment or Ulysses or what have you (I totally listed all the classics I haven’t read yet lol).

But if you really, truly want advice, here is what I suggest though it might not sound perfectly appetizing:

1. Pick one of the classics from the list that sounds really interesting to you based on a blurb or a review

2. read that classic book as slowly and thoroughly as you can. Don’t read it to get through it. Read it like it’s real: treat characters like people you’re trying to get to know; don’t speed through the seemingly arbitrary descriptions of landscapes but try to picture them in your mind’s eye and ask yourself why a celebrated author (who clearly knows what they’re doing according to the cannon) would include this particular description since it must be relevant somehow; try to breathe life into each and every scene. Take notes if you want.

This is of course my personal reading philosophy, but classics are works of quality that take time to appreciate and understand. Burning through them for the sake of completing a list, maybe not even remembering most of them or getting the depth of them, doesn’t seem to have a point for me, but everyone is different so I don’t want it to feel like I’m judging you—just want to give feedback since you yourself say you’re not enjoying them all. I actually find classics really fun, but depending on the length, it can take me months or even a year to finish a big book. But when I’m done I feel like I’ve made a wise friend who has taught me a lot about the world and the people in it. Even then though, I also wouldn’t put time into a book that’s not jiving with me.

If this sounds interesting but not totally convincing, I suggest checking out Benjamin McAvoy’s YouTube channel. He has a way of explaining how reading and literature can change your life and how to get the most out of these works, treating them like living beings you can have a conversation with.

the reason I barely dnf is neurodivergency/ocd. wouldn’t say there’s anything cool about finishing a terrible book. the reason i don’t is cuz dropping a book hurts more than reading it. that being said, if i drop a book it’s cuz i judge the writer either based on bad writing decisions or blatant racism/sexism.

and since i don’t want to get exposed to that, i do my research before hand and listen to recommendations from people i can trust.

so yeah, nothing wrong with dnf. if it ain’t an assignment, drop it

I try not to dnf books, but I don’t see any point in reading a book that I am struggling to enjoy and get through eg a good girls guide to murder , the writing style made it a difficult read.

I personally don’t bother with books I’m not enjoying, but I find scheduling times to read and keeping to it helps if I’m struggling with a book I need to read. I have this thing where I cannot start a task if I don’t feel I have enough time to do it, so I put off things like reading when I get busy even though I know I can read for just five or ten mins if I wanted. Seeing the blocked out time for it helps a lot and means I can keep going with my reading goals even when it’s a bit of a struggle.