So how many of you start a book and then read it to the bitter end no matter what?
I DO
I read a book the other day (the title isn’t important) that I wished so hard I could quit. I even seriously considered putting it down and walking away. And then I finished it. It felt awful. I felt physically exhausted. I looked my self in the mirror and said,
What would compel me to do something I hate? Was it because I hoped the ending would some how redeem it? That wasn’t it because the book was so darn predictable I knew exactly what was going to happen. Was it because I had already read 2 1/2 books in this series and spent countless hours that I would never get back? And that’s when I had an epiphany.
That’s EXACTLY why I can’t quite books. Because I’ve invested so much time in them. But here’s the real epiphany. This is so common that they have a name for it in economics. It’s called “sunk costs.” (I apologize for being an econ nerd but I promise this is good stuff.)
I’m reading a book right now called Spousenomics that basically applies the principles of economics to relationships. This quote about sunk costs came to me as I was bemoaning my lost time reading a book that I should have broke up with.
Think about all the sunk costs that have sucked you dry over the years. The bad movies you suffered through because you paid $10 for the tickets. The $20 sea urchin sashimi you ate even though it tasted like rancid algae. The daylong shopping trip that ended with you buying a crocodile-skin belt you neither wanted nor needed (nor liked) but felt compelled to buy to justify the day you spent trying to spend money.
-Szuchman, Paula; Anderson, Jenny. Spousonomics: Using Economics to Master Love, Marriage, and Dirty Dishes
OR THE BAD BOOKS YOU’VE FINISHED BECAUSE YOU ALREADY SPENT 5 HOURS READING IT.
I don’t know why I didn’t see this before!! Guess how you counteract sunk costs – you ignore them. It doesn’t matter if there are 10 pages left or how much time you spent reading it. You decide right here right now if you still want to invest your time in something you hate. The time we spent reading it is gone. We must mourn it and move on. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us.
The thing that makes this so hard is that there have been a handful of times where I pushed myself to read a book I just didn’t like…..and then loved the ending. But when I sat and thought about it I realized that almost all those books were what I consider classics. Even if I wasn’t entertained by them, I still consider them worthwhile because of the influence they’ve had on literature.
But you. NEW BOOKS. You have to work harder.
So I made up my own new rule for breaking up with books. I will allow myself to quit anytime. Even if I’m almost done. I will give new books the benefit of the doubt for exactly 100 pages and if there is more bad than good then I will stick it on a new shelf on Goodreads called “maybe-later.” It’s different than my “did-not-finish” shelf because those I’m not ever coming back to. Ever. In all honesty I’ll probably never come back to those either, but I think the new shelf will make me feel better. Classics I will continue to stick with to the end, but I’ll be more choosy about them and pick the ones that have been a big influence or are books I really really want to read.
I can’t save the past, but I can save the future. I pledge to stop reading books I don’t like to save my reading future.
So I want to hear from you. Are you able to let sunk costs be sunk or do you go down with the ship?
My name is Jessica. I love to read Young Adult and classic literature. I’ve been a book blogger for six years and I haven’t gotten tired of it yet. I’m a very curious reader. Writing about all the questions and thoughts I had while reading a book is the best hobby ever.
I used to struggle with this as well. I would feel incredibly guilty for quitting a book. Then I decided to at least give every book a try until 100 pages. I figured that would give me a good idea if I wanted to quit or not. Now, I don’t feel guilty. If I don’t like it, and I’m not interested, I quit! There are too many books on my shelf waiting to be read for me to waste my time one books I don’t like!
I generally finish books once I start them. I may really skim and speed read through it, but I finish. But honestly there are very few books I hate that much, I usually pick books I’m almost certain to like.
I used to quit books all the time. In the last year or so, I have been more choosy about books that I read, so I have been finishing them.
There are too many good books out there to be stuck with a bad one. I’ve read 214 books so far this year and I DNF 5, and I usually read a lot of new releases so my DNF’s are sometimes popular books. My latest DNF was Fan girl. I read 200 pages and did not care about the character or what was happening in her life. She came off as pathetic to me so I stopped reading. But for every book you don’t like there’s several you will so just continue reading.
I love this post because it’s something I’m working on, too. I always say I’ll only give a book 50 pages, but then I worry it will pick up if I give it a few more chapters. And then I don’t want to quit because there’s only 100 or so pages left. It’s so silly! :)
I saw on another blog that she’s going to post the books she’s thinking of quitting and asking people if they pick up/she’ll miss out on something. But I like your shelf idea, too. I’ll have to try it.
Awesome post. I rarely quit books too, and instead, I just stop reading them with full intent to come back to them. See? Not quitting! :)
I have never DNF’d a book. Not because I have anything against it, but because I just haven’t. I HAVE put books down for months at a time, and then picked them up later to finish them. I did it a lot with Madeleine L’Engle’s Winkle in Time series. I find taking a break helps. Sometimes I am just not in the mood for a particular book genre, or I’m preoccupied with non-bookish things. When I pick the book up later, I’ll skim the parts I’ve already read to refresh my brain (or just start over completely depending on how far I was) and usually I end up enjoying it more than I did before. I’m sure there will be times that I end up not finishing some books. I’m glad I haven’t come across a book so horrible that it has come to that, though. But I’m also a person that generally enjoys everything I read.
So I guess to answer your question about going down with the ship or not…I’m one that will give a book two chances before throwing in the towel. SO kind of both?
I can’t stand it when I have to abandon a book but it happens!! I used to really try to stick it out. I’d get to page 200 or 230 and still be totally bored and finally say “I CAN’T FINISH!!” I like the 100 page rule. If I’m not hooked by then, it isn’t gonna happen!! I’m a teacher and I tell my kids that it’s perfectly normal to abandon a book. We discuss the reasons why readers “break up” with books and I always let them know when I do. It’s gotten easier to quit a book early but I’m usually bummed for a day or two until I fall in love with another book!
I’m a person who can’t quit a book. I’ll spend months reading it if I have to but I don’t quit them. That being said there are times when I really really want to throw the book out the window and those are the times when I wish I could quit.
I never really thought about it the way you explained it but it makes perfect sense. I’m still struggling with the thought of DNF but I’m hoping that eventually I’ll be able to put a book down and walk away.
Also you get a ton of cool points for quoting Gandalf.
I remember reading your post about searching for that DNF book. I was thinking of that post when I wrote this. It’s always nice to know why we do the things we do, right? :) I really struggle with DNF, too. Hopefully I can do better here on out.
Ooh thanks for the cool points! :) You can never quote Gandalf too much in my opinion.
Ohhh man…I get caught in this trap ALL. THE. TIME. I literally have 1 single book that is a DNF & it’s still sitting right beside me on my nightstand because I know I can’t shelve it on my bookcase until I finish it. I am a sad, sad, sad human being with absolutely NO will power to just drop any book. Ever. So much wasted time, I really wish I could break up with many books but I. Just. Can’t. *sigh*
Thanks for sharing :)
I’m a reformed must-always-finish-er, and I must say I’m much happier as a DNF-er. If I really can’t get the book out of my head, I can always change my mind and come back to it later. The book will always be there. But more often than not, I don’t give them a second thought.
I think sometimes there are legitimate reasons to stick with a book until the bitter end (maybe it’s a classic you really want to read, or maybe it’s for a book club and you want to be able to discuss the whole thing) but those books are the exception, not the rule. At least for me.
I used to have the opposite problem, but then I almost gave up on Harry Potter. I only kept reading because I literally had nothing else to read, and I ended up adoring it. So then I made myself finish every book. Which didn’t really work either. I now give a book 100 pages until I allow myself to give up. If I think a book has potential but don’t think I’m in the right mood I put it on my ‘unfinished’ shelf on goodreads with the intention of coming back to it