When is it time to stop reading a book you're not enjoying?

We’re sure you’ve been there, begrudgingly picking up the book you’ve been reading but not finding satisfying; feeling you need to continue with it because you’ve made a commitment.

But when you find yourself in this situation, is persevering through the pages really the best course of action? Consider if it were your child struggling through a read, would you expect them to stick with it?

Research shared last month by The Reading Agency revealed more than half of UK adults (54%) are stuck reading the same book for up to three months before deciding to ditch it. According to them this ‘book-block’ is preventing the nation from reading more. 

Nearly a quarter of the 2,000 participants surveyed held a stoic approach to reading, insisting once you start a book you should always finish it. However, in contrast, The Reading Agency is encouraging people to ditch burdensome books they’re not enjoying and try something new instead. Their Chief Executive, Sue Wilkinson, said: "At a time when so many brilliant books are being written and published, you should never force yourself to read something you're not enjoying.”

Don’t let reading become a chore
At Kumon we aspire to foster an enjoyment and love of reading in our students, (supported by our Recommended Reading List); asking students to continue reading a book they’re not enjoying or finding challenging will have the opposition effect of what we’re trying to inspire. 

Of course, it is important to try and finish what we start, and an important quality for us at Kumon is perseverance, but making a child finish a book they’d sooner give up will almost certainly shade their perception of reading and could end up having detrimental effects on their long-term reading habit. 

When deciding ‘to read or not to read’, perhaps it’s important to remember why you’re reading and encouraging your child to read in the first instance - to learn something new and/or for entertainment. If neither of these are being fulfilled, then it’s worth moving on to another book which will fulfil this.