A Crisis of Bookish Morality

When a reader becomes accustomed to devouring novels over the course of hours, it becomes something of an expectation that every book which sounds promising will have the same effect. When we come across a story that does not immediately grip us in the way we hoped it would, we begin to feel oddly guilty.

It must be something wrong with me, we think. Perhaps I’m too tired, or I missed an important paragraph, or maybe it’s the insomnia…

I understand the impulse to make excuses. I’ve done so myself, because there is a soft voice inside me that tells me I am committing a sin by putting down a book I expected to love.

Somewhere out there, after all, an author put a great deal of work into this very novel.

Being an author myself, I have an instinct to give them a chance. I find myself asking: What if it were my novel? How would I feel if someone gave up thirty pages in?

As I’ve gotten older, however, I have come to realize that time is limited. Each book is written, after all, for someone. I might not be the person for the book I am holding, but someone else might be—and surely they will write a generous review making this known.

Life is short, and I am doing no favors to myself—or, frankly, to the novel—by forcing myself through a story that hasn’t gripped me by page 100.

No, You Don’t Have to Finish the Novel

I want to say this to you gently, but firmly: you are under no obligation to force yourself through a novel when you clearly are not its intended reader.

I don’t particularly enjoy science fiction. Very rarely do I encounter a sci-fi novel that I genuinely enjoy, so I tend to avoid those shelves when I go to the bookstore.

That doesn’t mean I look at science fiction with disdain. I know there have been brilliant authors working within the genre, authors who have built much-deserved followings. I know that, for the right reader, a sci-fi novel, a slasher horror, or a romantasy might be the best thing they’ve ever read.

My preference does not diminish the impact those books might have on someone else—or on the literary world.

But, friends: I don’t have to read them.

They’re doing perfectly well in their own corners of the literary universe. They do not need me to force myself through them in order to be validated.

Lately, I’ve been struggling with the mentality of but I don’t want to hurt the book’s feelings.

No, Mariella.

This book is going to have plenty of readers.

Maybe sooner or later, you’ll return to it, and it will be the time. Your time to enjoy fanfic aboard the Enterprise, perhaps. Or maybe even a monster romance.

Today is not the day, and that’s okay. There is a literal pile of books behind you that you already know are made for you.

I don’t have to finish the book, at least not today. Neither do you.

The Book Will Survive

There is a strange sort of morality we sometimes attach to reading. We talk about finishing books as though perseverance itself makes us better readers—as though putting down a novel halfway through is a failure of character.

But a book is not a moral obligation.

You are allowed to admit that something isn’t for you. You are allowed to close the cover, place it back on the shelf, and move on without writing a lengthy defense of your decision. You do not have to apologize to the author. You do not have to wonder whether you simply weren’t intelligent enough, patient enough, or disciplined enough to understand what everyone else seems to love.

Perhaps you simply didn’t love it.

And that’s enough.

The book will survive. Somewhere, someone is going to pick it up and find exactly what you could not. They may devour it in a single evening. They may press it into the hands of their friends. They may call it one of the best books they have ever read.

Good for them.

Meanwhile, there are books waiting for you.

Books you will stay up too late reading. Books you will carry from room to room. Books that will make you forget to check your phone, miss your bus stop, or sit in the driveway for ten extra minutes because you simply cannot bear to stop reading yet.

You don’t owe every book your time.

But when you find the right one, you may find yourself giving it gladly.