I Hate Starting Books

Hate is a strong word. Don't mistake that as me saying that I hate books, because I don't. I wouldn't be blogging about books if I hated them.

I'm fine with the middle and the ending because of course that's where all the action is and by that point, I'm already fairly invested in the events and characters of the book. I just have trouble starting a book. The physical act of opening the cover, and turning to the first page, or opening an ebook app and clicking on a book, terrifies me sometimes.

There's something about that uncertainty of how I'll feel about a novel that is scary to me. It's why I often times find myself procrastinating on reading a novel by instead reading fanfiction. I'm already familiar with the characters, the setting and the world for the most part and there's no time really needed to have to ease myself into it. Also, if I hate where the fic is going, I can just exit out of the story, no harm, now foul.

I'll fall in love with a synopsis of a novel and add it to my TBR of one of the many piles of books sitting on my floor, and they'll sit there for maybe a month, half a year, or maybe even years, because I'm afraid the hype I've built surrounding the synopsis won't match up to the story. That's really mostly what I'm scared of, to be honest.

On the other hand, that's one of the many charms of reading novels. I never know what I'll end up with. I can explore new worlds within those pages and meet characters that fulfil some need that I hadn't known existed yet or a character that I could just fall in love with. I could either fall in love with the story or really just hate it and not finish it*.

Every book I purchase, every book I pick up is a gamble. I do my research and often, it's not much of a gamble, but everybody's tastes are different and I could be the black sheep and hate a well-beloved book. Obviously, I've blocked the hated ones out of my mind because otherwise, I'd name one or two right here.

I suppose I just need to suck it up and gather my courage because it's really not that big of a deal. Reading is something that I love to do and this little fear could never really fully deter me from continuing to read. This is just something that I've noticed whenever I'm in between novels and often go for what could be several days to several months in between books.



*On a side note, I DNF fanfics way more than I DNF books. I'm already familiar with the characters, setting, etc. of the source material for a fanfic and I have a standard of grammar for fanfics, so I tend to be much more nitpick-y with fanfiction. However, with novels, I usually try to hang on until the end of a novel, even if I'm not enjoying it, because I don't really know how it will end and maybe I'll like it by the time I reach the end.


Also, don't forget I have a giveaway going on for some swag packs here! 

Happy Reading!