Are you a dedicated finisher, or do you drop a book the second it stops interesting you?

On bookish social media, we call it DNF-ing, which derives from the acronym DNF, or “did-not-finish.” It’s often considered a last resort, so when someone says they DNF’d a book, we can expect that they really weren’t enjoying it.

Everyone has their own rules for DNF-ing. Some refuse to DNF before they’ve reached a certain marker – say, 25% of the way in – and others drop a book until they return to the mood they were in when they picked it up. Some are indiscriminate with their DNFs, quitting left and right if the book displeases them.

There are also those who staunchly refuse to give up on a book, forcing themselves to reach the end by any means necessary.

I think there’s a happy medium. Reading should be fun, and to me, forcing myself to finish a book I’m not enjoying is patently not fun. But I also don’t want to give up a book before I’ve had a chance to really understand the direction it’s going. In fact, I often don’t want to DNF. But DNF-ing is like throwing up. I really don’t want to, but I feel so much better after.

There are two main signs that it’s time to drop a book. Let’s dive in.

Sign #1: It’s not the book you want to choose when you sit down to read

I’m a big mood reader myself, meaning that what I choose to read is largely dependent on the mood I’m in. So that being said, sometimes this is just a sign that my mood has shifted, and I might pause a book until I’m in the mood again. It’s also why I’m often reading several books at once.

But sometimes, I stop wanting to pick up a book not because my mood has shifted, but because I feel I’m having to slog through it. The thought of returning to the book feels more like a chore than a hobby. The book isn’t sucking me in, I’m criticizing it more than I’m enjoying it, and I’m not even compelled to hate-read.

It can be for any number of reasons. Predictability, poor writing choices, clichéd plots, confusion. In any case, it’s my first warning sign that it’s time to give up.

Sign #2: It’s pushing you into a reading slump

Alright, so you don’t really want to read it, but you’re trudging through anyway because you have an inkling that it’ll be worth it in the end. But now the problem has gotten worse. It’s not just that you don’t want to pick this book up when you sit down to read, now you don’t want to pick up any book.

Many people discuss their reading slump cures online, but the common denominator is time. Reading slumps usually have to be waited out. It’s a type of burnout – and often the only solution to burnout isn’t a vacation, but entirely rethinking the way we engage with the thing.

Stop forcing it. Engage with other hobbies too; spend time building a well-rounded life. Your bookstagram account is not more important than your wellbeing, and neither is your pride. It’s okay to quit a book.

You don’t need a reason to give up on a book

Maybe the book was triggering, maybe the plot was contrived, or maybe it was just straight-up boring. Whatever the reason, you don’t need to explain yourself to anyone. Pushing yourself to finish something because it’s popular, or because it’s a classic, or because you’ve never quit anything in your life are not good enough reasons to make yourself miserable.

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it many more times: reading is a hobby. Let it be fun.