How to Read 50% More this Year
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 1 ส.ค. 2024
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Since there is confusion in the comments, let me clarify, l only review books that I finish.
I don’t believe in DNF reviews and would never pretend to finish a book that I didn't.
I always finished my review copies. So even if they are bad, I make myself push through to the end.
If I dnf a library book, you'll never hear about that book from me.
I feel zero guilt when I dnf a book. I have never once pushed thru a book and ended up enjoying it. Life is too short to read books I'm not enjoying. I carry a book with me everywhere I go so I can read in downtime. I have become a better and faster reader since making books a priority over tv.
Love that
I so agree with DNFing a book. There are so many wonderful books to read that if a particular book is not for you, move on! It doesn't mean they're bad books, they're just not for you.
Yeah if I run out of books to read, I might be more generous with mediocre books... but that hasn't happened yet
Not wanting to feed your family because you’re so into a book is so real, but very funny
Yeah... 😅
I used to DNF books all the time when I was a teenager. Then I went to university to study literature, and after spending 5 years forcing myself to finish all those books, it became much more difficult to DNF now. It needs to be basically a 1 star book.
University had such a bad effect on my reading too
dnf'ing made my reading life so much better! i have a lot less guilt around reading and also found that i'm able to enjoy the same book a lot more at a different time in my life. great tips!! 📚
Yes!
I used to force myself to finish books. I will DNF anything now. Save my time for the books that I enjoy. I do plan to do a DNF December this year. Revisit all the books I tapped out of, and give them another chance before permanently dropping them.
Oh I love the idea of DNF December
Yaaas, sister. Preach! I think that's why I also like to do "try a chapter". Cause I can filter out those books that I probably won't enjoy, because I add all the books my favorite booktubers rave about. It makes my tbr list ever expanding.
Yes a lot of my early dnfs are really just "try a chapters". There are too many books to read everything so I try to filter out stuff
This is the justification I needed. Thank you!
I’ve always felt guilty about deciding to DNF a book.
I’ve definitely felt like a book was absolutely; a book I’m interested in, but wasn’t into it at the time.
So glad this was helpful
This is quickly become one of my favorite channels. Even though you review mysteries and thrillers i find your channel very comforting. Maybe because I read those genres when I'm stressed. 👍😊
Why thank you
I agree with you! I hate slogging through a book I am not enjoying and I find I just don't have the patience anymore. People know that I read a lot but when they ask me what I've been enjoying lately I always draw a blank because it'll usually be like 10 books I got 60 pages in and gave up in boredom and one book I read 6 months ago that was actually enjoyable.
Thank you for making this video! I definitely need to DNF and/or pause more books because lately I've only been reading 2-4 star books and often find my mind wandering while reading. My only issue is that it takes a little while to get into books and if I switch too many times, I struggle to even start a new one.
That's tough
Time is our greatest gift. dnfing a story you are not enjoying being a part of is more than necessary
Well said!
This is great advice! Thanks, Rachel!
Thanks
Just discovered your channel! It’s fantastic! I’m so looking forward to watching your videos and taking in all the information your share. Thank you for sharing and again, I’m so happy I came across what you share. Sending smiles and wishing you much success. I’m sure I’ll be picking your brain and asking a lot of questions.
Thank you & welcome!
Good points!
Completely agree with you! If you’re enjoying a book, you will MAKE time to read. Yes! It won’t be a struggle. I still struggle with FOMO though, lol, feeling like there will be something I don’t get to experience. So I really appreciate your suggestion to “pause”, so it’s not the end for me. I can leave the option open to go back to it at a better time. Great video!
Yes the use of pausing can be so valuable
Totally agree! Hyperion is one I had to start three times before I enjoyed it.
Yes and if you pushed through the first time when it wasn't working, you may not have liked it as muc
Good observation / tips. I'm probably guilty of this sometimes because I'm a completion ist by nature but I've gotten better.
Sometimes though we have too many hobbies we actually like that distract us from only reading.
So true
My friend Jenny used to read really fast. But if there was a passage with a lot of details, she would skim over them. Like if an author recited the J Crew catalog when they described someone, or an author got a book confused with a movie and described a location at length. She would also "speeddate" a lot of books until she found one she liked. You get a lot of free books though as a booktuber, so that might help with the DNF option. Or there's always the library for trying books for free.
That's interesting
Yep I agree
I am exactly the same way. I DNF with abandon. If I don’t like a book, it’s dropped. And there is no rule. It’s just when I realize I don’t like this book, “see you never” and on to the next book.
I have been DNFing more books recently. Before I retired I listened to a lot of audio books on my long commute. I was listening to Dark Matter by Blake Crouch. I was probably not very far into the book. I was confused and thought about DNFing. I almost did but probably because it was audio I kept going and it turned out to be a book that I really enjoyed. Just listening a little longer had gotten me hooked.
More recently I started reading Fourth Wing on my kindle from Libby. I paused it for awhile. Not normally a fantasy reader and it felt kind of YA. Because of all the hype I decided to give it another try. Started from the beginning and enjoyed it enough to finish. Not sure if I’ll read the next book but I’m glad I finished it. These are probably the only 2 exceptions. Life is too short.
And it's good to give yourself exceptions because even dnf rules should be flexible . It sounds like with Fourth Wing you just had to pause it for the right mood
I am getting better at stopping if I am not enjoying a book. At this stage in my life I have lived over half my life so there is less time to waste on something that isn’t enjoyable if I can pass it up
That's good
Reading is an investment of my time so If i dont like a book, I am switching to another one and willnever lookback. But there are books that are soft dnf for me coz I feel I'm not just really in the mood and I know I will love to get back to it someday.
Yeah sometimes it's just "not now"
I've come to the same conclusion about DNF'ing books without any bit of guilt. And I realized that while it's good to experiment and read books outside of your usual genre(s), it's still best to be honest with yourself when other types of books just don't work for you and move on.
I never hesitate to DNF. It’s never an issue for me. If I’m not enjoying it, I’m done. I move on to the many other books waiting to be read.
That's great
I don’t dnf often, but that’s mostly because I’m choosy about what I pick up. I look into book pretty well before I decide to start reading them unless they are from one of my autobuy authors. On the rare occasion that I’m thinking of dnfing, depending on the reason, I’ll look up information first to see if that solves the problem. Like if I’m finding it confusing, I might go look for a plot summary and see if having more information makes it more enjoyable. The last book I recall dnfing was Demon Copperhead, because it was just too trauma laden.
That's exactly what I do, greetings :)
I agree that being selective can reduce DNFs. I tend to go in blind so I can provide more unbiased reviews... but it means I start a lot of duds
Well, I am retired and sitting on the porch, and I have no interest in reading 3-star books! lol. Absolutely DNF stuff you aren't enjoying! That is great advice. Thanks for this! It's nice to have permission to stop reading something I don't like! Lately, I found myself not finishing a few science fiction books because the author obviously doesn't know or care about actual science - and I kind of felt guilty about it. :-) Thanks for the great video! 📖🚮 😅
I appreciate you weighing in as a retiree. It really shows that there is never a time in life to read bad books
I think this is a good approach. I don’t DNF a lot because finishing books helps me create content, but if I didn’t have a channel finishing that book wouldn’t be providing me much in return for my time so I would be quicker to DNF.
Yes I definitely think that us content creators, technically play by slightly different rules because we read certain things for the purpose of videos. I do wonder how my reader would change if I stopped reading review copies
I used to NEVER DNF a book, but then a customer of mine asked me why I would waste my time finishing a book that I dont enjoy talking about. They made me realize that as a book seller I an supposed to be able to recommend books others, and I cant do that if Im spending precious time on books I dont want to out in others’ hands. I have also recognized that I am a mood reader. Sometimes Im not liking a book simply because im not in the right headspace for it. Those ones stay in my TBR waiting for their moment.
Yeah that's a good point as a book seller.
As a reviewer, there is value in negative reviews, but then I can't recommend them in future videos
Agreed! Life is too short to spend a lot of time reading things you don't like. Also, try to read only one book at a time--that can speed things up and helps you remember the plot & characters better.
Yes I definitely have better momentum reading when I'm not reading too many things at once
💯 agree ❤
Man, I need to get better with stopping books I don’t enjoy, but there’s a guilt I feel that I don’t understand if I don’t finish. Weird.
It can be tough to shift that mindset
Thanks for this! I always felt guilty by DNFing a book, so I hardly do it. I either suffer from FOMO (what if this turns out to be an amazing book at the end???) or from just feeling bad for the book/author for dropping it. But hearing this is making me rethink my parameters. I'll try to be more mindful about the books that I really want to keep reading
Glad this shared a different perspective
Yes! Life is too short for books that don't bring you joy. Also sometimes I'll finish the first book in a series, be like "that was pretty good! Never gonna read the next book". Whereas I used to feel this obligation to continue. I only got a few decades left, I shouldn't be wasting them on long series that I'm feeling only okay on!
Oh yes! I do that too. Some books are good but just don't compell me to keep reading the later books
I'll generally finish all my books, for a couple reasons. One, I generally read fast enough that I'm not stuck with a bad book for too long regardless. Second, I do MOST of my reading on the go, like walking to or from work. If I abandon a book, that means I'm usually... without a book (at least when it's physical, ebooks would make it a little easier but since I don't have an epaper reader, my ability to do ebooks is very dependent on the lighting, which means it isn't always the option). And I'd rather read a book I'm not that into than just walk or waiting around without reading. (Rarely I'll put something on pause, but in those cases it's more along the lines of "I'll stop at this story in this collection of short stories, so I can read something I'm super excited to get into, and come back and finish the rest later" or "This is an omnibus of 4 books but I wasn't really feeling the first one so maybe I'll come back to the other books).
I've definitely had that experience of having no other book options and so I will keep reading rather than scrolling just phone
Same same same!! I have a list of a few books that I’ve DNFed that I want to try at least once more but, I’m a 2 strikes you’re out kinda reader.
Yes!
I set myself a smaller goal this year, it was to read at least one book a month because I had a huge backlog of books I bought and that have been gathering dust in my house, which was a shame.
I'm taking the public transport every day, 10-15 minutes to work and 10-15 minutes back, so I used that time to read instead.
It's been a good thing for me since I have the issue of either not stopping a book until it is 1am or even worse (my worst was when the last Harry Potter book got released back in highschool, I didn't want to get spoiled by my classmates or our teachers so I read it until 4am) or on the contrary I just drop books for months if not years.
The one thing that's just been complicated is space at home, because of my full time job, I don't have the time to finally organize my collection and put some shelves into my basement to make space. So I decided to only purchase digital books and read them on a e-reader now.
Addendum: I've been practicing the "Dnf" thing but just out of prioritizing other hobbies/things in my day to day live.
I don't force myself to finish a book I don't like per say doing the one book a month. All the books I've set aside since 2017 (yes, it's been a while), I've had to because of a change of lifestyle back then (moving abroad, starting a new job etc.), not because I didn't like em.
Also it's more a way for me to be accountable with myself, and being able to finally make the to be read pile a way smaller one in my living room. I'm trying to do the same with other hobbies but I'm not always consistent.
Dnfing is definitely a great way to work through your backlog. Give yourself permission to let go of the books that aren't working for you
I don't DNF very often because I'm one of those who wants to see what happens! But I did DNF a book recently and noticed how freeing it was! I think I need to remind myself that it's OK to leave a story unfinished. I have hate-read a couple books just to see how bad they were. I think I need a couple of hate-reads to serve as a gauge for other books, but now that I have a few, I will gladly let other bad books go. Thanks for the gentle urging to let go of a book that isn't cutting it.
Yeah if you genuinely interested then it makes sense to keep going. And I have also occasionally 'hate read' something to experience it for myself
I am more forgiving of books normally, I enjoy sticking with a book until it really gets my goat right up, then I follow Dorothy Parker's advice, "This is not a novel to be tossed aside lightly. It should be thrown with great force."
Love that quote!
I’ve always felt the need to finish a book, even if I’m not particularly enjoying it (I’m ’reading’ one of them now). But I’ve been slowly coming round to the idea of DNFing, and the points you make here are so true - why waste all that time reading something that you won’t enjoy/remember, when you could just move on to something else that you’ll enjoy more? 😊
Exactly
I'm terrible for pausing books. Unless I get a day where I can sit in the garden and just read I only usually get to read for 30 mins to an hour a day. I'll often pause one book to read something I'm really excited to start then pause that book and go back to the first. Or I'll pause a long book to read a couple of much shorter books. I can generally remember what happened in a book months after I paused it so it's pretty easy for me to get back into them.
That's so tough! It's hard when so many books fighting for our attention
Eminent British novelist and critic Kingsley Amis once said that he never wanted to read another book if the words..."a shot rang out..." didn't appear on the first page!
These are some good tips, thanks! I did this with Wheel of Time, although I'll probably go back to it eventually. I got about halfway through book 4 or 5 and just lost interest because it was getting same-y. I will say though, that I really wasn't digging Dark Matter until the scifi stuff started to ramp up around a third/half of the way through. The first part I felt was a mystery that was painfully obvious to us and it made the protagonist feel like an idiot for not putting it together sooner rather than the brilliant scientist they want us to think he is. I am glad I finished it though because the last half had some good and interesting ideas.
It sounds like it was good to stick it out for Dark Matter. I honestly could count on one hand the number of books that turned around for me when pushing late into the book
My issue seems to be that I read a lot of multi pov books, and sometimes it's one or two povs where I'm hating it, but I don't want to dnf the book because I love the other povs.
My routine is audiobook first. If Im liking it, I stop and get the physical. If I don't like it I try to finish it at like 2.0 speed. There have been a few where it was a 2 star or 1 star and forcing a finish bumped it up a star. Cinder. Ninth House. Neuromancer. T.Kingfisher books.
My other issue is I fully annotate every book I physically read. I have to. If I don't, I don't remember anything, and when I have questions and can't find the answers quickly, I loose interest and stop reading. This makes the reading process for every book longer but worth it in the end for me personally. Thanks for the video cool to see others systems and routines
Ooo I love that you annotate your books. I want to learn how to do that
Ooo I love that you annotate your books. I want to learn how to do that
i did recently have an audiobook exp. that i almost stopped listening , because it was getting too dark though that is different from being bored.
i did hang in that audiobook and liked it. its a short story be PE Rowe called "Surety"
...as they say: you only learn from the bad ones.
My experience is that sometimes really great novels are initially challenging: War and Peace, Moby Dick, Don Quixote. Yet having overcome some initial inertia they have rewarded the effort.
That's fair. I would definitely say a weak book is different than a challenging one that is more likely to be worth the effort
@@TheShadesofOrange Agreed.
Hi this might be a dumb question, do u keep track of books u don’t read? Like do u write them somewhere, so that u can go back and see. I started to dnf recently and thinking of having a dnf list.
That's a good question and yes! Goodreads sleuths will be able to track down my dnf shelf. It helps me remember I tried something before
What did we deduce from that St. Joe's Sept 20 footage? Something stupid?
I tend to pause too, rather than DNFing a book. I can only think of a handful of books that I have stopped reading that I do not ever plan on going back to.
Do you find yourself getting back to your paused books?
@@TheShadesofOrange eventually, some times I've gone back to a book after years from when I put it down
On yes, the writers style does definitely effect reading a book. Thought that was just me. So I END them too. Read Bentley Little nearly non stop
I have had moments where I disliked the first few chapters but then got into the story and ended up really enjoying it, so that is why for the most part I say that I have to at least read 30 or so pages. However, I have been trying really hard to DNF more this year and the the end of last year, and it is freeing. Although sometimes I still get that voice in my head that says I gave up too soon if it was a book I was previously very excited for or everyone else seems to be loving it 😂
I wish books picked up for me but it honestly is such a rare experience for me
I almost DNF’d Pride & Prejudice but glad I pushed through 💕💕
📈
Once I find myself running away from my book and hiding from it, I know it is time to DNF it and I feel no guilt whatsoever. I gave the book a chance, but at the end of the day, it is the author's responsibility to engage the reader and keep the reader engaged.
Love that perspective
I always remind myself I’m not writing a book report. I dnf all the time.
Good reminder
I have a similar DNF policy for books as well as video game. I agree 100% as soon as it becomes a chore, ditch it and move on.
Yes I've recently been getting more into video games and trying to figure out when to dnf on
I'll be the contrary person here. Somebody's gotta be "that person" I guess ... I don't DNF a book. I'd encourage people to think twice, especially quitting a book after only a chapter or so into it. I came close once: I put down Nick Harkaway's "Gnomon" ... for a couple of years! ... I came to the point where I just couldn't go on. Then I picked it up, 1+ years later and completely re-assessed it, and actually loved it. And it's not because there was a "twist" that redeemed it (that would be a shallow way of evaluating a book for me). It's because I began to understand and appreciate it more, after getting into it. So, my warning, think twice--a snap decision could have you missing out on something that could be great. What's the purpose of reading? It's not to rack up as high a number as possible, it's to enjoy and/or be affected by something. To experience it. Yes, I know this is contrary to every Booktuber's advice on the Internet. Yes, I don't really believe in the extreme of never DNF'ing, but I urge people to at least think twice.
Contrary opinions are always welcome. I agree that reading shouldn't actually be a high score. (Just had to find a compelling way to position this topic). I strongly believe in pausing or saying "not now" to a book that isn't working at a moment. I have "dnf'd" books only for them to become favourites years later when I grew as a reader and they clicked with me. And sometimes a book just isn't for me and I leave it for other readers to enjoy
Use intuition more, it's started working and every books been a 5 now
If I don’t vibe with it then most likely it’s going in the donate pile
I find it really hard to DNF a book. As a workaround I sometimes use it as an opportunity to practise speed reading
Do you find you enjoy the reading experience if you're speeding through just to get it done?
@@TheShadesofOrange I’m not sure enjoy is the right word. I’m happy to finish the book sooner! I treat it more like exercise, training my brain to get used to the faster speed without being too concerned about getting 100% of everything. I’m a fairly slow reader otherwise.
This is exactly how I dnf books as well. If I'm not enjoying it then why keep reading it?
Exactly!
books > social gatherings
😄
I've always been willing to DNF - as we all know, life is too short and too precious to waste time on something that doesn't work for us. That being said, I try hard when doing my reviews on Goodreads to be very clear about why I DNF'd as a favor to other readers and the author. I try to explain if I DNF'd for technical reasons, poor editing, subpar writing, did the story push my squick button, or did it just not engage me like I hoped.
Now that I mostly avoid self-published KU books, my DNF rate has fallen dramatically - as much as we complain about gatekeeping, editors and publishers provide a vital role in making sure the final product is up to standard and properly polished.
I've DNF'd several audiobooks recently because of poor production. Hard to believe that's still happening even as cheap as postproduction tools have become.
Yeah you make good points
I dnf books when it becomes unbearably bad or boring. Sometimes it happens in the first few chapters, sometimes in the last few but dnfing a book just after reading 1 page is too harsh
Yeah I should clarify that I treat that more like sampling. Like I'll read the Libby or Kindle sample chapter and nope of the writing style reads like nail on a chalkboard.
I just move onto something else. Maybe I get back to it. But maybe not.
On average I DNF 1 book per month. I have limited free time and don't want to waste it on books I'm not enjoying. I agree with you on not wanting to hang on for however many more pages until it gets good. If I'm not enjoying it now I don't see how it could possibly end up being a favorite
Yeah a favourite has never come from one of those experiences
I actually never DNF a book because I enjoy everything I read.
I'm jealous
I don't have a problem at all with not DNFing! If I'm reading a book that's rubbish, great! I just see that as an opportunity to do a BLISTERING REVIEW. 😈 And the viewers usually enjoy those!
However, sometimes I just won't be in the right headspace for a particular book, and I'll think, "Hmm I can tell this isn't bad, but I'm just not feeling it right now. Maybe I'll come back to it later." And that's always proven to be a good policy for me. Sometimes I'll come back to a book that I initially didn't like many many _years_ later (like Kim Stanley Robinson's The Memory of Whiteness or Alan Garner's The Owl Service), only to find that my growth as a person in those intervening years has given me the added experience to appreciate what I simply couldn't before.
That's all makes sense. Especially as a reviewer. I think a horrible book is actually more "fun" to read and review that a mediocre "just okay" book
I try not to dnf but am not above it. I usually do a little research to see if it's something I'd like before purchasing too.
Yes being decerning while picking books can definitely decrease the need to dnf
As Groucho Marx once said to an aspiring author..."From the moment I picked up your book I couldn't stop laughing. One day I intend reading it!"
Lol! Love it
I've stopped reading books before even finishing the first sentence.
😄
🛸
I never dnf and read about 100+ books a year. It still feels like I don't read enough cause I'm a slow reader. I rarely finish a book within three days.
As long as you feel those 100 books are worth you're time, then it sounds like it's working for you
book surfing?
I read Love In The Time Of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez and hated it, but I kept reading. I actually gave up in the last ten pages or so. Never again.
Oh that's rough
❤👍🏾👍🏾❤
I do not waste time on books that I am not enjoying. If a book is a gift from someone I will read it just to say I read it.
I try to remember that the gift giver never meant the book to be an obligation read which helps
Did
I had to
"Rubbish memory" says the Englishman? That's why I record everything.
To me there's a bit of perfectionism to both sides. I don't need every book to be 4 or 5 stars and I also don't need to finish every book I start. I wont read a book I'm hating though so maybe I'm just not as generous with the ratings. To me three stars still means I liked it.
Sounds like you have a good balance
👍🖖👍
I dont dnf at all
My brain keep reminding me to read it like a snooze alarm
That would be rough
⚛😀❤
My rule about DNFing is that I give a book a 100 pages. Sometimes it's less than that. If I didn't like it by then then I won't like it and DNF. (m)
That's a solid rule
Hi there Hi there Hi there Hi hey
There are too many good books out there to waste time on bad books. I'll DNF a book at any point if I lose interest. That doesn't mean it has to be perfect, but I can tell when I need to stop.
Yes
I'm one of those people who won't mark a book as "dnf", I'll just "read it later". Jokes aside, if I find a book really boring or ridiculous, I tend to skip reading it (like 10 pages out of every 50 pages) 😂
Yeah I have a "not now" shelf on Goodreads. Sometimes I go back, sometimes I don't
:)
So, all those books that were not “your cup of tea” or which writing you have stated you did not like went to DNF… I followed you because I liked the idea that every book you reviewed had been read, with this video I do not think this is true anymore, specially in those cases where you say you did not like it but also comment about the ending…
While DNF is a personal choice, and something that maybe all of us do, I think that giving people an opinion about something that you ignore is contradictory, and misleading. So good luck with your reviews channel, I have unsubscribed.
Sorry if I wasn't clear on camera. If I DNF a book, I don't review it. Every book I have included in my channel (outside of TBR/Haul videos) are books I have read in completion.
The books I DNF or pause get no rating or review and quietly disappear off my Goodreads shelves and get no airtime on my channel unless I eventually come back to finish them. I don't believe it's fair for reviewers to rate and review unfinished books.
If a book is bad, but relevant for my channel content, I will push to the end. (Which is why my challenge isn't just filled with positive reviews.)
Love the channel. Lorne Field/Service Model. Both great so far.
👎🛌😴
Woo!
Wow, this was a huge reality check, I'm currently reading 2 books and I don't really want to pick them up 🥲 but I'm just NOT able to dnf!! Meanwhile, all this amazing books are giving me the side-eye from my shelves.... maybe this video is a sign to just stop reading those books...
Yes! Drop those books and find something amazing waiting on your shelves