I religiously track my reading on Goodreads. As a lifelong bookworm, I live for the rush of marking a book as read and watching my reading stats grow. As Good Housekeeping’s books editor—you could call me a professional reader!—it helps keep me organized in tracking my reading and TBRs.
As much as I like Goodreads, there are a few features readers have been asking for forever to make the site even better. (When will we get the ability to give half-star ratings?!) Goodreads has listened to the demand and is finally introducing a long-asked-for feature: a Did Not Finish (DNF) shelf.
For years, users have been manually creating their own versions of DNF shelves to track books they started but ultimately put down. Now it will be an officially integrated feature for all users.
Why do DNF shelves matter?
There’s a definite debate in the book world about whether you should finish every book you start, or if you should drop a book you aren’t enjoying. To be honest, I used to be team finish the book. I liked to experience the entire thing as the author intended, and it was rare to find a book bad enough to make me give up.
But as a books editor, I’ve actually become a big fan of DNF’ing. Because I read for work (which can be both a blessing and a curse!), I don’t have the time or ability to finish books I don’t like. When I’m reading on a deadline, if I have an early sense that a book isn’t going to work for coverage, I have to abandon ship and try something else.
That’s how I learned DNF’ing can be sanity-saving! If you aren’t having fun with a book, you don’t have to push through. And I love having a Goodreads shelf that tracks everything I didn’t finish, in case I want to give the books another try in the future–or avoid authors that I know aren’t a good fit for my tastes.
Having a DNF shelf celebrates prioritizing your interests and helps track important information about your preferences and what you’ve tried. Plus, with the new feature, if you give a “read date” to books on your DNF shelf, those books will count towards reading challenges on Goodreads. If you don’t add a read date, the books won’t count—you’re in control.
The new feature hasn’t launched yet, but it’s already a hit with the Good Housekeeping staff.
“Love. As a rule follower, I feel guilty adding DNFs to my reading challenge, and this will ease my conscience,” says deputy digital editor Juliana LaBianca.
When will the DNF shelf come to Goodreads?
We think that the feature will be available in March. In an email to users, Goodreads shared that on February 28, some custom-made DNF shelves will automatically transfer over to the new, official DNF shelf. If you have a custom shelf named “did not finish,” “dnf,” “abandoned,” “unfinished,” “didn't finish,” or “dropped,” it will automatically convert to the new DNF shelf, preserving your reviews, ratings, and reading history.
In that email, Goodreads also wrote, “After Feb. 28, your existing shelf or tag may show a different name or appear non-editable as we prepare to launch in the coming weeks.” Although we don’t have an exact date, that sounds like a March rollout for the new feature—and we can’t wait to try it.
