This post is coming very late at night after some major Netflix procrastination. I wasn't inspired to read or blog about reading, so I ended up on the journey that was Camp Takota, but that's beside the point.
Right now, I want to talk about not finishing books, especially those other people are raving about. Maybe a friend has recommended it to you, maybe you purchased it with your own money (or even somebody else gave it to you). Either way, you're probably feeling at least a little bit guilty about it.
But let me let you in on a little secret. It's okay to not finish books. It's okay to dislike books. Even if everybody else is going crazy about it. There are quite a few that I don't like. Sometimes, I even end up deciding just to stay away from an entire genre. That kills me a little, especially when I bought the book, but there's a few reasons why it's okay.
1. We all have our personal tastes.
If someone gave me a peach as a birthday present I'd be a little grossed out. But if someone gave me a tomato for my birthday present, I'd be just fine! It's because I like tomatoes more than peaches and nobody is really going to think I'm crazy. So, if you don't like The Darkest Minds but really enjoy Divergent, that's fine, too. You've heard it before, but it really comes down to this phrase: if we were all the same, life would get pretty boring.
2. Books can help define what you like.
And this doesn't just extend into your reading life. A book could completely change your opinion on koalas. Maybe it had a fire-breathing, 10-foot-tall koala in the book as the major villain and it killed so many people, you were entirely repulsed by the novel and it almost made you want to throw up. Now, you just can't look at koalas in the same way.
This novel has changed the way you view the world (and fuzzy rodent, bear-like animals). So, why should you finish that book about the koala? It's made you dislike an animal and that has made you sad. Why would you keep reading something that has made you feel something bad (but not in the enjoyable-bad way like when a character gets killed off in the middle of an epic battle, but you just need to keep reading)? Finally, why would you risk your love of sleepy koalas?
3. Nobody is going to kill you. The author won't even spare a thought if you put it down. You know why? Because they have their own tastes, as well. Maybe your best friend will shudder at the thought at you disliking their favorite book, but I highly doubt they will murder you and make it look like an accident. And yeah, there are some major fans of it out there. At the end of the day, though, this is a book.
4. And books were meant to be enjoyed.
In the end, if someone really love the book, they need to realize that there are people on the other end of the spectrum who just don't. If they don't, it should be their problem, not yours.
No comments:
Post a Comment