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A hundred pages in, it still isn't clicking, but you've already invested the time. Should you finish a book you're not enjoying?

A hundred pages in, it still isn't clicking, but you've already invested the time. Should you finish a book you're not enjoying?

A quiet, personal debate that comes up every time someone is deciding whether to keep going or put a book down for good.

What happened

Reading communities regularly discuss whether to persist with an unenjoyable book, especially as reading-tracking apps make it easier to see how many books get abandoned partway through.

Why people disagree

Finishers argue books can turn around late, and that following through builds a habit of not giving up when things get difficult. Quitters argue reading time is finite and better spent on something that's actually working, and that a bad match isn't a moral failing.

What's still unclear

Whether abandoning books more freely changes what people get out of reading overall, for better or worse, compared to sticking with a habit of finishing.

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