You don’t. Just pick something else. Reading should be pleasant, not a torture.

Audiobooks on a long trip? It’s been the answer for me on occasion, but some books are impossible to put up with

Don’t. Life’s too short.

If you’re enjoying it but it’s a hard read take a break and try again. If you’re just not enjoying it sack it.

normally i put them down and forget about it. i think there’s only one book i finished despite hating it, and that was to be sure that i was right and it was an incredibly shit book and i didnt make a snap judgement. it was this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Man_with_the_Golden_Touch

I check out books from the library, which of course jas a due date. If I like the book I finish it before it’s due. If I find myself struggling to get into and haven’t finished it by the due date, I just return it and never look back.

It depends. There have been books that I have HAD to read and I survived by making notes in the margins about how everything they are saying is wrong. :)

For stuff I didn’t HAVE to read? Fuck that, life is too short. I might consider going back some day, but in most cases, never have.

I got 100 pages into Dune and walked away, that was probably 40 years ago now.

If it isn’t for a test or essay for school, why would you push through a book you didn’t like?
If the phrase “time you enjoyed waisting wasn’t time wasted” is true, then spending time doing things you don’t want do is wasting time. Life is too short to waste time on a book you’re not enjoying

Huge fan of Do Not Finish. There are too many good books out there to waste time with mediocre ones. I’ve noped out of books by my favorite authors. Finishing a book you started because you started it is the perfect example of the sunk cost fallacy.

Life is too short to keep up hobbies that don’t bring you joy. If that book ain’t doing it for you, shelve it for now and try a different one.

I don’t. When I’m clearly not enjoying a book and don’t feel like finishing it, I stop and move on. Unless I have a pressing reason, I see no point in pushing myself to do something I hate. Reading is for me is fun and interesting, it is not something I do to torture myself. Sometimes it’s hard to “give up” on a book, but in the end life is too short.

Do what you enjoy the way that works for you, there are no rules.

I don’t. There are so many books, if I’m not into it I drop it. If I know it should be good I am more likely to stick with it or pick it back up later. Neal Stephenson’s Quicksilver took me two false starts over five years to finally reach a place where I could see it through.

Enjoy what you enjoy—life’s too short and there are too many other books out there to waste time on what you don’t enjoy! I have no qualms about not finishing a book, no matter how far along I’ve gotten. I’ve been known to skip to the last chapter or last few pages just to see how it ends, then move on.

On the other hand, for books that you have to read (for school, e.g.) set a goal of X pages per day, and reward yourself when you make the goal. I also find it helps to read more interactively: take notes, argue with the author, think about what you read and whether it’s total b.s. or whether there was anything, however small, of value in it.

I skip to the last chapter, and if I don’t understand it, keep skipping back until I do. Or just put it down for a couple of weeks.

Sunk Cost Fallacy. Shelve that sum’bitch and don’t look back.

The only time I read books I don’t like is when I dislike them so much that I want to be able bitch about em on the internet without someone telling me my opinion is invalid because I didn’t finish em.

Other than that, I just drop 'em.