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Breaking Free From The “Finish At All Costs” Reading Mentality
You walk out of every bookstore with a new burden. Each well-meaning birthday or Christmas gift brings anxiety. In the quiet corners of our homes, on our nightstands and bookshelves, lies a common but seldom discussed problem: the unfinished book. We have all come to know that person in our lives who has more unread books than read books at home. If you don’t, then you may be that person.
A more insidious problem is the partially read book that stops you from making any progress in your reading. You know the one — that book you started last year, managed to get 30 pages deep and then abandoned to your bedside table gathering dust whilst also repelling any other book in sight. Yet, somehow, it still looms large, a silent rebuke every time you consider starting another. This scenario traps many readers in a frustrating cycle, creating a barrier that might even stop them from picking up new reads altogether. But what if we reevaluated this approach to reading?
The prevalent belief that once a book is started it must be finished from cover to cover can be more harmful than helpful. It’s a mindset that has been entrenched in us since we began learning…
