For a real book put it down and put it away but for a real life keep moving on turning new pages as you go. With a book you may not like the author’s style, but for your life you are the author and the style is all yours. Everyone has a book in them – it’s called My Life.

Wow, your opening was no short of best seller drama book!

I have read in past boring books, as I always thought never to leave book half finished. But once I read such a boring book that I had to leave it in middle and I was so glad to do it.

In other hand, I like re-reading my favorites books by Jane austen or P G wodehouse. I can do it again and again and no problem. Thanks for sharing.

I’m a project-oriented person. A Finisher, even of the most monumental projects. Abandoning that book — a book I knew to be well-written, and even amusing — felt like a failure.

When my mother-in-law, a seasoned gardener, was giving me advice for our new backyard, she passed on some words of wisdom someone gave her when she was a gardening novice herself. She told me that if you plant something and it does not thrive, do not spend all your time and energy trying a million different things to make it grow. Just plant something else there. There you have it: the key to a successful garden.

A simple idea. But one that blew me away, knowing as I did that I would be the gardener insisting that the plant grow.

On the other hand, I’ve stuck it out at jobs that I didn’t think I’d be at for more than a few months, only to be happy there — 10 years later.

But the bigger issue, as you wisely point out, is how quick we are to move on from an endeavor if it just isn’t working out. And this is a tricky issue. Where is that tipping point between knowing for certain that you don’t enjoy something/aren’t good at it and maintaining the possibility that you still could “get it” at a future point? How do you know if you’ve made a good enough effort with something? And aren’t there varying points – you could acquire the skill of sewing in a week but learning pottery takes years (or whatever).

I see both sides of this argument. It’s important to finish what you start. To be committed and not give up too easily. But it’s also important to spend your time doing what brings you joy. The tough part is that some things that will eventually bring you joy are very difficult in the beginning.

Like how your wrote the article. The book infatuation gone sour kept me interested. I wanted to keep turning the pages so to speak.

If you were trying to slog through a list of the 100 hardest books to read in order to write a book about that feat, you might want to keep going. But if you’re trying to do this for “fun” or “relaxation” it sounds counterproductive. Better to find a new book to fall in love with — after all there’s no shortage of “available” books …

Thx. Giulietta