Feel Free to DNF Books That Don’t Meet Your Expectations

Remember when you finished a book and just sat in complete silence? The official title “DNF” didn’t exist back then. There was no need to justify yourself to your book buddies.

Where is the joy in reading?

It’s in the evocative sentences and phrases; it’s in seeing yourself in characters; and it’s in learning advocacy through plots. And then, there’s the peace and calmness it gives; the no-pressure zone it creates for you.

Too often, readers imbue pressure during the reading process. We set targets for reading, join trends online, and create content around what we read. Gone are the days when nerds were recluses, the quiet ones. Now we have book clubs to our names, entire online communities to champion our causes, no longer the bores.

I dare to say that being a nerd has now become fashionable; these changes have attached expectations to reading. It is now largely a performance of intelligence, mystery? Sophistication even. This shift is the reason why pleasure reading is on a decline.

Why is Pleasure Reading Important? 

Also, note the slight progression from reading for enjoyment to reading for productivity.

Writing books is now approached almost like a production. Book discussions, quotes are underlined for online consumption, and reviews are written to be validated. In trying to make reading “matter,” we sometimes strip it of the very softness that made it matter in the first place.

Remember when you finished a book and just sat in complete silence, digesting and rearranging your thoughts around it? How easy it was to drop a book you didn’t like and pick up another, without any sense of guilt? The official title “DNF” didn’t exist. There was no need to justify yourself to your book buddies. You just didn’t like it — and that was enough.

These moments, where readers are truly free, are the ones we remember with fondness. This was what got us hooked on this bookish life.

I fear that the sanctity of reading is being reduced to a show in these times.

What does it say about you as a reader when you DNF a book?

Does it mean your passion for reading is waning?

It’s not realistic to approach reading the same way in different seasons of life. The way you read in your teens is not the same way you’ll read now that you’re a mother with an infant and a toddler, or a 9-to-5er. The fact that you made time to even read in pockets is proof of your love and commitment to reading.

With that said, we cannot afford to waste precious time and love (emotional investment) on books that do not resonate with us. 

The other aspect of it is that your personal taste changes and evolves over time, with your experiences, even your mood. Even a book that is too heavy or unpleasant to read now may have a special significance years down the road, and a favourite may suddenly seem dull. It’s not always rejection; sometimes it’s just “not now,” and that’s more important than it’s given credit for. 

Some books are worth trudging through—most aren’t. Take, for example, the classics, non-fiction, or certain complex literary works; these may seem dense at first, but after some time, you begin to move with the book, understand its language and central theme. These kinds of works aren’t the problem; they get better, eventually, but those books with neither character nor trope, feel free to put them down with no remorse.

There is also an argument to be made that not finishing everything is not a flaw. Completion being praised as a virtue is counterproductive, but reading is not a test of endurance; it is an act of engagement. A finished book you resent is not necessarily more valuable than an unfinished book you walked away from early.

Don’t let a pleasurable thing turn into a hostage situation. DNFing a book does not mean you are an uncommitted reader.

What happens when we DNF books?

Is it freeing, liberating? Or are there benefits or downsides of trudging through books?

When you don’t DNF a book, your amygdala begins to associate reading with unpleasantness and cognitive stress, and we don’t want that. You reduce working memory and increase the risk of burnout. Letting it go, on the other hand, comes with immense relief and frees up processing capacity.

Remember, you are not a hostage, you have agency and autonomy, and reading is not a performative art; ideally, there shouldn’t be an audience.

You also risk being in an extended reading slump, which can feel like some kind of sentence in itself. And, we don’t talk of the dangers of staying in a slump for too long. By the time you come back, you will notice an erosion of habits and find it easier to fill your time with mindless activities like doomscrolling, and let’s not get started on the issues of cognitive softening, shorter attention spans, and weaker concentration.

These are some of the reasons you should drop performative reading and enjoy its simple joys. In other words, feel free to DNF books that don’t meet your expectations.