You Are Not Required to Finish the Books You Read

You are not required to finish the books you read. At the library, unfinished books are a badge of honor. They say: I tried. I tasted. I sampled. I am a literary explorer, not a prisoner. Reading is not like a restaurant buffet where you feel obligated to try every dish, even the suspicious casserole with raisins. It's more like dating. You can politely say, "It's not you, it's me," and swipe left on Moby-Dick before Captain Ahab even clears his throat.


Charles Dickens will not file a complaint. Tolstoy will not wake up and glare at you in the night.


Finishing a book is not proof of intelligence. What matters is that you read with curiosity and joy.


So, dear reader, remember: every book you start is a doorway. Sometimes you'll step through and wander for miles. Other times, you'll peek in, shrug, and move along. Either way, the doors are always open. And the library has thousands more waiting, no guilt required.



Phil Shapiro

https://tinyurl.com/storiesofkindnessandcourage



(Public domain – freely distribute.)

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Phil Shapiro, pshapiro@his.com
https://pairsmathgame.com
https://philshapirochatgptexplorations.blogspot.com/
https://bsky.app/profile/philshapiro.bsky.social

He/Him/His

"Wisdom begins with wonder." - Socrates
"Learning happens thru gentleness."
"We must reinvent a future free of blinders so that we can choose from real options."  David Suzuki

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