What Causes Me to DNF a Book?

Confession: I really, really, really hate giving up on a book before I have finished reading it.

When I first began blogging at the beginning of the year, I had no idea at all what DNF stood for. I didn't know that people would even share a book on Goodreads, or anywhere for that matter, if they did not finish it. I had such a hard time as it was not finishing books that I was not sure I would ever be able to share that I did so. However, I quickly realized that this information can be very useful to fellow readers and bloggers. If another reader with similar tastes DNFed a book, then there is a likely chance that I would want to do the exact same thing. While it was not easy, I became a little less hesitant to put down books without finishing them. Why should I suffer through reading something that I am really not enjoying? Still, despite being more okay with the whole idea, there were still some things I took into consideration before I would put down a book for good. I thought I would share those things today. Perhaps some of you feel the same way about these things, or maybe I'm just weird (that's a strong possibility).

Reasons I DNF a book: 

1. I cannot get into the story within the first half of the book - I like to give every book a fair chance, so I try to read several chapters before I decide to put it down for good. If I make it more than half way through a book and am enjoying it, then I always want to finish because I figure I have already made it this far. However, if in the first half of the book I'm not happy, I am okay with stopping.

2. I cannot relate to the characters. At all. - It is a really big deal for me that I can relate and understand the characters in a book, and that I have some sort of feelings towards them, whether they are good or bad. If I feel nothing towards the characters, then I feel no obligation to finish reading.

3. It is a sequel in a series, and the series really did not need to be continued - If I begin reading a sequel and do not enjoy the first half of the book, then I will probably stop reading the series unless I have read/heard that the series picks up again. If I enjoyed the first book and got all of the story I really needed, there is no reason to force myself through a sequel.

4. The book is incredibly slow/confusing/a topic I don't enjoy - I think that this is pretty self-explanatory. Some books just read really, really slowly to the point where it is nearly impossible for me to get into the whole thing. I don't usually feel too bad about giving up on these because I know that I would be stuck for ages on the same book otherwise.

5. I do not enjoy the writing - This is probably the main reason for why I put down books throughout the year. There are some authors that tons of people love, but I do not love their writing style. It's bound to happen; we all have our opinions and things we enjoy. Unfortunately, sometimes the writing bothers me so much that I just can't finish a book, no matter how much I might enjoy the premise.

What things cause you to DNF a book?