Simple Questions: June 30, 2026

[u/AutoModerator]

Welcome readers,

Have you ever wanted to ask something but you didn't feel like it deserved its own post but it isn't covered by one of our other scheduled posts? Allow us to introduce you to our new Simple Questions thread! Twice a week, every Tuesday and Saturday, a new Simple Questions thread will be posted for you to ask anything you'd like. And please look for other questions in this thread that you could also answer! A reminder that this is not the thread to ask for book recommendations. All book recommendations should be asked in /r/suggestmeabook or our Weekly Recommendation Thread.

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[u/kidpotter]

I’m about five chapters into a book that hasn’t grabbed me yet, and it’s got me thinking about how I actually decide to quit versus push through.

I don’t really have solid criteria for this, I just kind of go by gut feeling. So I’m curious how other people think about it:

Do you have a page/chapter cutoff before you’ll DNF?
Is it more about a specific feeling (boredom, confusion, no connection to characters) than a number?
Have you ever pushed through a slow start and been glad you did? What made you stick with it?
Does the reason for quitting matter (writing quality vs. just not the right book for you right now)?

Trying to build a better gut check for my own reading. Curious what’s worked for others.

[u/Regular-Newspaper-45 → u/kidpotter]

Well I am not really quitting any books. That said I do have criteria for when I am considering if I quit (wich usually means putting it aside to pick it up three years later).

So basically I do a mix of general feeling and the specific reasons. For me anything that is likely to change is a reason to continue reading. If it is still too much a drag I skip a couple pages ahead and read some paragraphs to get a feeling if it gets better or not. If there are things that bother me and that are less likely to change like the MC or how certain topics are handled or idk how everything about the description of something specific is wrong I eventually look up reviews. It risks even more spoilers than skipping through the pages but sometimes they reveal major changes about the thing I dislike. The reason for quitting is absolutly subjective. I personally don't quit books just because the writing is bad, I value much more If I enjoy following the MC and If the world and or story seams promising. But that is different for everyone. I generally try to figure out what I dislike about the exact book and sometimes I just need to read the book at a later point in my life.

I don't think I am a good example for pushing through books because I want to finish anything I touch. But If I am 50 pages into a book and it is about as exciting as the magazine's in a waiting room I know it isn't for me right now and it might be worth picking up something different. At last you can always revisit the book later.

If you are like me and read several books at once you could ofcourse also just switch to a different book everytime you even just thing about quitting it. I worked myself through some really annoying and uninteresting books, just took me several years.