Is it OK to DNF a book? Yes. If you’re around 50 pages in and still reading out of duty rather than curiosity, you can put it down without guilt. DNF is short for “did not finish”, the reader’s name for a book you deliberately stop. Below you’ll find where that 50-page line comes from, six questions to ask before you decide, and what to do with the book afterwards.
What does DNF mean?
DNF stands for “did not finish”. It’s a book you choose to stop before the end. Readers use it as a verb too: “I DNF’d it after three chapters.” We’ve collected more of these terms, from TBR to ARC, in our reading glossary.
A DNF isn’t a verdict on the book, or on you. Sometimes a title just doesn’t match your taste, and sometimes it doesn’t match your week.
Why it’s so hard to stop reading
Because you’ve already put something into the book: money, evenings, the first hundred pages. Psychologists call this the sunk cost effect. Hal Arkes and Catherine Blumer described it in 1985 as a greater tendency to keep going once you’ve invested money, effort or time. In one of their studies, theatre-goers who had paid more for a season ticket went to more plays over the next six months than those who got a discount.
Books work the same way. The pages you’ve read are spent whether you finish or not. The only real question is whether you want to give this book more of your hours.
The rule of 50 (and its variations)
The best-known rule comes from Seattle librarian Nancy Pearl: when you get to page 50, ask yourself whether you’re really enjoying the book. If not, you can put it down. She later added a version for older readers: once you’re over 50, subtract your age from 100 and give the book that many pages. The less reading time ahead of us, the less of it a dull book deserves.
When the Harvard Gazette asked librarians and lecturers in 2024, several had similar rules. Folklorist Maria Tatar puts aside a book that hasn’t hooked her by about page 50. Librarian Mary Frances Angelini gives a book she reads for pleasure about 10 percent of its pages.
Here’s how that plays out:
| Book length | Rule of 50 | 10% rule |
|---|---|---|
| 200 pages | 50 | 20 |
| 350 pages | 50 | 35 |
| 500 pages | 50 | 50 |
| 800 pages | 50 | 80 |
For short books the 10 percent rule is kinder to you; for long ones it’s kinder to the book. Neither is a law. Think of the number as the moment to pause and ask, “Do I want to keep going?”
6 questions to ask before you DNF
- Is it the book, or am I just tired? Try 10 pages in the morning or at the weekend. If there’s still nothing, it’s probably the book.
- Is this the right moment for this genre? Heavy non-fiction in a stressful week can lose to anything. Next month it might win.
- Do I know why I’m reading it? For fun, for work, for a book club? If it’s for fun and the fun is missing, you have your answer.
- Has someone I trust said it “gets good later”? Then give it one more fixed stretch, say two chapters, and not a page more.
- Am I avoiding reading altogether? If you’ve been scrolling instead of opening this book for a week, it’s blocking all your reading. Our guide on how to get back into reading covers how to get unstuck.
- Would another format help? Some books are better heard than read. An audiobook can rescue dense prose.
Pause or quit?
They aren’t always the same. A paused book has a chance of coming back; a quit one usually doesn’t. If you feel it’s the timing rather than the title, leave the bookmark in and note where you stopped. Plenty of readers keep a separate list, something like “Later”, so these books don’t vanish but don’t hang over them like unfinished homework either. Our guide to keeping a TBR list shows how to run one.
When it’s worth finishing anyway
- Assigned reading or a book for work. DNF isn’t an option here, but you can change how you read it: shorter sessions, the audiobook on your commute, a note after each chapter.
- Reading with others. If you’re in a buddy read or a book club, tell the others first. They might be struggling too, and you can pick something new together.
- A book that genuinely asks for patience. Some novels start slowly and you know it going in. Set one specific point you’ll read to, instead of “a bit more”.
What to do with a book you’ve quit
- Write one line about why it didn’t work. “Too slow”, “can’t stand the narrator”, “wrong moment”. After a few of these you’ll spot a pattern, and picking your next book gets easier.
- Choose the next book right away. The gap between books is where it’s easiest to fall out of rhythm.
- Give it away or swap it. A print book on your shelf can look at you reproachfully every evening. With someone else it might land perfectly.
Does a DNF mess up your reading stats?
It shouldn’t. Pages you read are real reading, even if you didn’t reach the end. In Talemi, the app we’re building, you can remove a book from your shelf and your reading history, stats and challenge results stay exactly as they were. Pages you logged from that book keep counting in your stats and in a pages challenge with friends. In a books-finished challenge, though, only a book read cover to cover scores. If you’re working towards a yearly goal, recalculate it calmly with the reading goal calculator, and for measuring your reading in general, see our guide to choosing a reading tracker app.
A book you’ve set aside frees up room for one you’ll actually look forward to. For other ways to read more, see how to read more books.
Want every page to count, including the ones from books you don’t finish? See how Talemi works and join early access.
FAQ
Is it bad to not finish books? No. Reading for pleasure comes with no obligation to reach the end. If a book is a chore, putting it down leaves time for one that grabs you.
How many pages should I give a book before quitting? Nancy Pearl’s popular rule says 50. For long books, about 10 percent of the length is a fair alternative.
What does DNF mean in books? It stands for “did not finish”: a book you deliberately stopped before the end. It’s also used as a verb, as in “I DNF’d it”.
Should I go back to a book I quit? Sometimes. If the reason was timing rather than the book itself, park it on a separate list and try again in a few months.
Sources
- Arkes, H. R., & Blumer, C. (1985). The psychology of sunk cost. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 35(1), 124–140.
- Shelf Awareness (2011). Nancy Pearl’s Revised “Rule of 50”. Quotation of the Day, 10 February 2011, from The Globe and Mail.
- Mineo, L. (2024). When to quit a book. Harvard Gazette, 17 October 2024.
