Not a fan

I recently finished a book that I wasn't a fan of.

I knew really early on into the book that I wasn't a fan. The main character (also the narrator) was extremely unlikable and the plot often made me roll my eyes. But still, I read the whole thing. And pretty quickly, at that. It wasn't until after I finished the book and took a step back that I thought about why I kept reading.

It's two-fold, really.

In part, it's because I committed myself to reading two books a month. I didn't want to not fulfill that goal of finishing a book. I determined that would be one of my 24 books this year, and so I wouldn't quit. I don't like quitting -- even when I'm the only person holding myself accountable. So even though I knew pretty early on into it that I wasn't a fan, I wouldn't let myself not accomplish that plan.

Second, I was talking with Ben about it, and he pointed out that what I was talking about was in line with the Sunk Cost Fallacy. The fallacy doesn't translate perfectly to emotional investments but basically, I invested time in reading the book, and the longer I waited to consider quitting it, the more it felt like a bad idea to quit. If I quit after reading half the book, I was disrespecting the time I had already spent on it. It just didn't make sense.

Never mind the fact that if I quit the book, I would have been respecting my future time.

I write all of this knowing full well that I will dislike more books in the future, and I will likely keep reading them anyway. I think I'm always hoping that something will change and I'll be pleasantly surprised. Maybe one day I will be. But for now, all I know is I finished that book and it was okay. Can't like 'em all, right?