#1 - Quit Trying to Finish Every Book

I have made it my goal this year on The Phantom Paragrapher to get more into writing blog posts rather than the countless reviews , book blitzes, cover reveals . An author I follow is Gretchen Rubin who writes about Happiness and Being Better.  Based on her book Better than Before is a list of things we can do to make our "Reading Better Than Before". I am going to go through the list on my blog once a week is the plan and give my 2 cents on the piece which brings us to #1.


#1 - Quit Trying to Finish Every Book






This goal here resonated with me so deeply as for me personally it has never been an issue as I have made for years one of my main reading mission statements.

"Life is too short to waste on boring books".

As I write reviews on all the books I finish, I love to cherish my reading experience as in a review you want to be positive about the book you have just read and experienced. Just like in life, all your experiences that you have you want them to have a positive outcome or effect on your life, not a negative one. If you find a book boring and hard to get into, during your book you end up so focused on finishing the book and getting to the very end that you forget to experience the book and the words written on the pages.  

Which leads to coming to the review writing part, if you have been so focused on the negatives of the book when you come to writing your review - that is what the basis of your review will be which not only dampens your spirit as your mind starts to think about all that time you wasted on the book but it also hurts the author every time they get a negative review. Now of course, you are probably thinking - well authors, need to grow a thicker skin as they know what to expect and yes, that is true but there is a tactful way to go about it. For myself, as I stated in my review policy if I can't finish a book - I won't write a review and I will rate it 2 stars on Goodreads. If the author wants to ask me why I didn't review it, then I have been known to email them back and give my feedback in a nice way though. I never rip their work to shreds as this is the author's baby - all their countless hours, heart and soul went into making this book and you have to remember - authors are humans too. 

The other good tip to remember is that A) not every book will be everyone's cup of tea and also if you are so focused on reading and never quitting a book even a boring one then B) you might miss out on a really good book that could have been a diamond in the rough or a brand new author that would become your very own Unicorn.  For those that aren't aware - Unicorn Authors are those authors that no matter what they release - you will always one-click their works.

To Conclude: Are you the type of person who is wasting away their precious reading time by reading boring books or are you like me and more than happy to put down the book you are struggling with and move on to another?