Life Is Too Short To Finish Books You Don’t Like
But always give them a fighting chance
On the sliding scale of ‘you should finish every book you pick up’ and ‘don’t finish books you don’t like’… I’m solidly on the side of ‘don’t finish books you don’t like.’ With some caveats.
Of course, ‘like’ is a subjective term and broad in each person’s definition. But as a passionate reader and a librarian surrounded by tempting new titles every day… my to-read list is exponentially growing. There are so many books I want to read and not infinite lifetimes to read them. So, yeah, I got to like it. It may not be an easy read or a fun read (some books are downers sometimes), but I’ve got to ‘like’ it. I have to find some value and joy in the reading process, and so should you.
Challenging books
There is still a value in reading — in pushing through — challenging books. However, I don’t think “challenging” and “books one doesn’t like” should be treated on the same scale, although that seems to be what people on the other side of this argument tend to equate to. Books you like do not have to equal “books that are easy.”
Don’t waste time reading books you don’t like, but still, give time to working with challenging books. Ones that are thick. Ones that are written in complex styles…
