What Makes You DNF a Book?
Over the weekend, my sister and I were watching a psychological thriller on Netflix, but around the 25-minute mark, a fourth of the way into the movie, I told her I was bored and wanted to watch something else. I love a good psychological thriller on film and in print, but this one was dragging. My sister, however, didn’t want to give up on the movie.
She said she’d finish watching it another time, and we ended up watching Roadhouse on Amazon Prime. We watched the original with Patrick Swayze because we’d never seen it, and the new one with Jake Gyllenhaal. (Both were fun movies, by the way!)
Giving up on the first movie made me think about what makes us give up on books. Like movies, books are a form of entertainment, and readers will DNF a book for all sorts of reasons. They might be bored, like I was, with the movie. They might not like the author’s writing style, or there could be triggering content in the story.
I have a friend who only gives a book the first few chapters to grab her attention, and then she DNFs and moves on to the next one. In my case, I’ll read as much as a fourth of a book before I DNF. Typically, it happens when the plot moves too slowly and I’m bored. I also don’t like reading books that have a lot of typos, though that’s thankfully rare.
What about you—what makes you DNF a book and how quickly do you do it?
The post What Makes You DNF a Book? appeared first on Romance Author Delaney Diamond | Contemporary Romance and Romantic Suspense.
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I've never DFN a book. Don't get me wrong. I've read a few books where I wanted to DFN it, but I just struggled through it, and finally finished it. I am glad that I've not come across many where it was just going so slow.
I DNF a book when it doesn't get my attention in the 2nd chapter, when it only one POV, I don't like books in first person and when the author drags the story.
Shannon wrote: "I DNF a book when it doesn't get my attention in the 2nd chapter, when it only one POV, I don't like books in first person and when the author drags the story."I used to skip first person books altogether. First person present tense used to drive me crazy lol. But so many books are written in first person now, I became desensitized. They no longer bother me.
Kim wrote: "I've never DFN a book. Don't get me wrong. I've read a few books where I wanted to DFN it, but I just struggled through it, and finally finished it. I am glad that I've not come across many where i..."I haven't run across too many that are slow, either, thank goodness. But I only read about 50 books a year, so if I do come across one, I eventually skip it so I don't waste time and can move on to another book that grabs my interest more quickly.
DNF = Author uses redundant sex scenes and annoying and tedious profanity as filler because the story is too long, dull and boring! Fortunately, out of 3300 books read on Goodreads, I only have 16 DNF's! Because my favorite authors know what they are doing!!!!!
Whit wrote: "DNF = Author uses redundant sex scenes and annoying and tedious profanity as filler because the story is too long, dull and boring! Fortunately, out of 3300 books read on Goodreads, I only have 16 ..."I haven't come across redundant sex scenes, thank goodness! Fave authors are like comfort food. You can dive in knowing you'll get an enjoyable read. ❤️
I started a folder to get me into DNFing books,as I was the typical "I started so I'll labour through it" reader. I'll blame COVID for the backbone of not having a reason,if I'm not feeling it I'm done,no reason or excuse, DNF come back around later or not,the books stay in rotation anyway.
Angie Leonie wrote: "I started a folder to get me into DNFing books,as I was the typical "I started so I'll labour through it" reader. I'll blame COVID for the backbone of not having a reason,if I'm not feeling it I'm ..."I understand, sometimes it's definitely a mood thing! Then going back to the book later works.
If I reach a point where I start skimming, I don't care about the characters and what happens to them, or I start thinking about something else while reading, then I generally DNF the book. Or when I read something that I find truly offensive (doesn't happen often), that'll do it, too.
J. wrote: "If I reach a point where I start skimming, I don't care about the characters and what happens to them, or I start thinking about something else while reading, then I generally DNF the book. Or when..."Good point about skimming, because when I'm really enjoying a book, I don't want to miss anything.
