Do You Always Finish the Book?

There are two kinds of readers. Some readers feel that a book started must be finished. Failing to finish is a moral failing, a lack of perseverance, disrespectful. Alternatively, there are readers who ask “Why in the world would I keep reading a book that I’m not enjoying?”

Which are you?

I made this overly simple. I know it isn’t quite that neat, but being one or the other seems to me to mostly ring true. 

I am a finisher. As best as I can recall, I always have been. Genetic? Fear of being wasteful? Did I just have an epiphany?  I’ve never had this thought until this very moment, but there could be something to it. When I was young, I cleaned my plate. Some of that, no doubt, was my parents’ approach to parenting, but it was more than just their expectations, I think. 

I was never in danger of not eating. I didn’t go to school hungry wondering where my next meal was coming from. But, there were times when the supply was less than the demand. I think I was pretty much always conscious of eating and hunger and having enough and not having enough.

Did all of that carry over to books and reading? Maybe; who knows? I wonder if there are reading therapists. Maybe I need one.

So, I’m a finisher, but that doesn’t mean I always finish. I started and didn’t finish Moby Dick, Don Quixote, Remembrance of Things Past, and Robertson Davies: Man of Myth. I didn’t finish these books, but I still intend to. It isn’t even really a question; I’m going to read them. Now, in practice I don’t know that is true, but I haven’t given up on them. That seems different to me than I book that I didn’t finish and I know that I will never finish. These are the ones that to me feel like I failed.

I’m not arguing that it is failure just that it makes me feel like a failure.

Two Sides 2 the Story

Lory is not a finisher. She has no feelings of moral weakness. Not only does she not worry about finishing, she often has no intent to finish books. Lory samples. Some books will get a few pages. Some a few chapters. She feels out what books have to offer her. Now, Lory reads more nonfiction than fiction. It is easier to dip a toe into nonfiction, easier to sample what the book has to offer. 

By no means does that mean she never finishes books. She and I have read books and had interesting conversations about them. If she takes on a fiction book, I’m thinking that she generally finishes. Maybe we will talk about that some time. Nonfiction is a different story. Many more that are sampled rather than read, but even there it doesn’t mean never finishing. Two favorites of Lory’s (and mine) are Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert and Gift from the Sea by Anne Lindbergh. 

Let me stop a moment here to say that we will recommend lots of books. That doesn’t mean we are saying that we KNOW what you should read. We will share with you books that we like and that are important to us, but you might not agree. That is okay. One of our big goals is to help you find books that you like. We enjoy connecting people with books. 

If you aren’t a sampler, but struggle with to finish or not to finish, a couple of thoughts. Nancy Pearl, librarian extraordinaire, says if you have read fifty pages and aren’t caught up in the book then dump it. Who am I to argue with Nancy? I fully expect that we will be talking with you more about Nancy. Someone else, unfortunately I don’t remember who, said if you had time to read just one last book, would the one in your hands be the book? A very interesting question and one that has made me question my finishing approach.

Let us know what you think and how you read. You can contact us at twosides2thestory@yahoo.com.