Write. Read. Repeat.

Only once have I ever not finished a book I was reading with no intention of ever picking it back up. However, I have abandoned a few for years.

The book in question, was a book a friend of mine’s dad had written. He was self-published and had under 30 sales in a few years.

It is a fantasy novel about a group of people off on some quest. I could tell right away that there were heavy Lorde of the Rings-influences, and while that is an amazing story, his writing, namely his dialogues were atrocious to read. I made it about 30 pages in before calling quotes at the time.

I soon learned how much of a ripe-old asshole he was to my friend and vowed to never give his dad the comfort of a fakes compliment of his shit ass book. Enough said.

Why do we start a book, to only get half way through it and abandon it for months to years?

For me, I have to be full invested in the plot and be heavily drawn to the book to sit and read it cover to cover. Apart from the one mentioned above, there are a few book and series that have taken me a looong time to finish.

It is not because they are not good or compelling stories, it is more of a me issue. I have to be in the right mood for the right book or there is no chance of even “powering through”.

The weird part of that comes when I do not like the book I am reading, but am already invested and can finish it in a few days, out of spite.

Another issue I think most readers, me included, run into is that we cannot get into a new book if we are still in a book hangover.

A book hangover is what it sounds like. You finish a book and it is all consuming. It is your new personality and all you can think about. Now, unless the next book you go to is part of the series, you need to take a day to process before jumping into a new story. If you try to pick up another story too soon, no matter if it is a 6/5 star-book, it just will not compare to your last read and you will not get the dopamine hit we are all hunting for.

I tried to start another book the day I finished Fourth Wing and it did not go well. I stood in front of my bookshelf, perusing my long ass TBR, reading blurbs and what not and nothing was feeling right.

Going back to unfinished reads.

It can be daughnting to pick up where you left off, especially when reading fantasy. I think of it like trying to pick back up in a Zelda dungeon. Even though you had spent previous hours in that dungeon (book), you have no fucking idea what is going on any more.

There are exceptions to this of course. I have been reading the Harry Potter books for the first time since 2018. Everyone calls me crazy for that, but you can only read a book for the first time once and while I have seen the movies a few hundred times, I am floored by all of the bit in the books that did not make it to the screen. I am about 60% through The Half-Blood Prince, which is my favorite, so not much more to go, but I am savoring it for as long as I can.

I find that I tend to put a book down for a while and read others in the second book of the series. Part of this could be that the first a was perfect in it’s own right and the second is just subpar to the first, but I also feel like it is slowing of the momentum we get when starting a new series. They either suck you in to their world or they don’t.

When picking up an unfinished book again, I find it helpful to read the blurb and reread the last chapter. This is usually enough to trigger all of the memories, thoughts, and emotions that you had once felt for the book and can help start the desire again. Extra points if you are an annotator.

Do you put a pause on books and come back later or does that make you cringe?

If you do, how do you reconnect with a book?