Is it OK to stop reading a book halfway through?

Somewhere along the way many of us picked up the idea that finishing a book is a moral act. It isn't. A book you are not enjoying blocks the next one, and the next one might be the book of your year. Quitting is not failure; it is editing.

You are also in good company. The French novelist Daniel Pennac, in his essay Comme un roman (1992), published in English as The Rights of the Reader, drew up a list of ten rights for readers. The third one on the list is the right not to finish a book. The second is the right to skip.

A page-count rule

The best-known rule comes from the American librarian Nancy Pearl, author of Book Lust (2003), who came up with her Rule of 50 while recommending books on Seattle radio: give a book 50 pages, then decide whether to carry on or give it up. Her version adds a twist for readers over 50: subtract your age from 100 and read that many pages instead. Reach 100, and her rule lets you judge a book by its cover.

You don't need to follow it to the page. The point is to decide in advance how much of a chance a book gets, so you are not still dutifully trudging through it three weeks later.

Four questions before you quit

1. Am I curious about what happens next? If yes, even slightly, keep going. If no, that tells you a lot.
2. Is it the book or is it me? Tiredness, a stressful week or a bad reading spot can sink a good book. If your mood is the problem, put it aside for later rather than giving up for good. Our page on reading slumps covers that situation.
3. Am I only continuing because of the pages I have already read? That is the sunk-cost trap. The pages you have read are spent either way; the question is only whether the next ones are worth it.
4. Would I recommend the first half to a friend? If you would not, do not inflict the second half on yourself.

When it is worth pushing on

• A slow start in a book you trust. Some great novels, especially classics, take time to set up their world. If people whose taste you share loved it, give it an extra few chapters. See how to read a classic without giving up.
• Book club, with friends waiting. You can still skim. Pennac would approve.
• The ending is the point. Some books are built around their final chapters. If you are halfway through and only mildly bored, a quick look at a spoiler-free review may tell you whether the payoff is worth it.
• You are learning something you need. A useful non-fiction book can be read selectively: skip to the chapters you need and leave the rest.

How to quit well

Put a bookmark where you stopped, in case you want to return. Note a line in your reading log, if you keep one: "stopped at page 140, not for me right now." Pass the copy on, or return it to the library. Then choose the next book quickly, while the momentum is there.

And go easy on yourself. Many readers return years later to books they abandoned and find they love them. Timing is half of reading.