When to stop reading a book

You do not owe a book an ending

The pages you have already read do not oblige you to read the rest. Your reading time is limited, and a book you dread can stall your reading for weeks: you do not want to read it, so you read nothing. The guide to getting out of a reading slump starts from exactly this.

Plenty of readers stop books, and many keep a list of the ones they did not finish. Abandoning a book says something about the book and the moment, not about you.

Signs it is time to stop

• You keep putting off reading, and the reason is this book.
• You read whole pages without taking anything in.
• You do not care what happens to anyone in it.
• You are reading only to be able to say you finished it.
• It is upsetting in a way you do not want right now.

One sign is enough if it lasts. A dull chapter in a good book is not the same as a book that has not worked for a hundred pages.

Try one thing before you stop

• Set a limit. Librarian Nancy Pearl suggests a “rule of 50”: give a book about 50 pages, and if it has not caught you by then, let it go. Readers over 50 subtract their age from 100, so the limit gets shorter with age. A few chapters work as well.
• Change the format. A book that drags on the page sometimes works as an audiobook, or the other way round.
• Change the moment. A dense book that loses you at night may read fine on a quiet weekend morning.
• Ask whether it is the book or the timing. If it is the timing, set the book aside for later rather than for good.

Stop without losing what you read

Before you put the book down, write a sentence about why you stopped and where. A year later, it tells you whether to give the book another try. If something in it was good, a scene or an idea, write that down too.

In Pagetime, tap the shelf button on the book screen and move the book to “Abandoned”. It stays in your library with its notes and reading time, and the book screen shows how long it was with you. If you tap “Delete book”, Pagetime offers “Move to “Abandoned”” instead: deleting removes the book’s notes, abandoning keeps everything.

If you change your mind, start the book again. It moves back to “Reading”, and an “Undo” button appears in case you tapped by accident.

Pick the next book carefully

After a book that did not work, choose one you are likely to enjoy and finish: a shorter book, a favorite author or a genre you know you like. The guide on managing your TBR list has ideas for choosing quickly.

The free version holds up to 5 books and includes 20 page scans with text recognition in total. Deleting a note does not restore a used scan. Notes and the timer work offline without an account; sync is free after signing in. A subscription removes the book and scan limits and unlocks your full stats history, year in review and folder export. Pagetime is coming to iPhone and Android; you can leave your email below to hear when it is available. Until then, a pencil mark where you stopped is enough.

This independent guide is published by Pagetime and is not authorized, sponsored or endorsed by Apple Inc. or Google LLC.