Personally, daily. But this is not a competition, nor a combat. You do what works for you, which is what I do.

Ah, but I don't mind the Bible, at all.

I held onto an awful book for years because I couldn't bring myself to burn it but it was so bad I didn't want anyone else to pick it up and mistakenly think it was going to be an OK read. Eventually I threw it in the rubbish.

There're been a few I considered writing on the front page 'this book was one of the most boeing/annoying/shallow... things I've ever read hut I can't bring myself to throw it out, so here it is, still existing. I suggest you don't read it.'

I do this. Not all the time, only if there's a really tense section with a visible break. It bugs me, but I just accept it, and go back and read from where I skipped.

I was just discussing Stephen King with someone yesterday and realised I've turned a corner with him. I used to love his tales, hate his story telling, but now I have no desire to be scared anymore. The angst is over!!!!

I bought tickets to the musical, years after I'd first heard of it and wanted to go. Then I bought the book and feared I'd wasted a lot of money. I loved the musical, and it put the book into perspective.

Some authors are generally loved, others have just a very few fans, and most fall in the middle. Some authors can turn nothing into a joy to read and others ruin an amazing tale with excruciating story telling. I feel...whoever wrote Wicked falls into that last category. Stephen King too, though he is generally well regarded.

It's like tiramasu. My husband adores it. I like the flavours but gag at the thought of soggy biscuits/cake. I'd happily make tiramasu inspired cookies, cake, ice cream, fudge, cheesecake, coffee syrup, pavlova.... but my husband is a purist and only wants the liqueur soaked spinge fingers etc. On the very rare occasions we make it out for dinner, he chooses it for desert and I chose something else.

Books are like that....and also, books are terrible when they are soggy, so is cake. My point is proven.

I have a very basic one, as the many failed journals in my life have taught me to keep it super simple.

I've ruled 4 horizontal lines across a page in my 2022 Brain Dump Book, and headed it '2022 Bookshelf'. Then I turn the book sideways, write the title, author, number of pages and starting date on the day I begin reading it. When I'm done I write the date and a sentence or so summing up how I felt, and how many stars/5 I give it. I then draw a box around it so it kind of looks like a book, and each book I do in a different colour.

And that's it. 11 months in, I've only filled about 3 shelves on an A4 page, but I have recorded every book I've read this year. For me, that's a huge success.

If you want to read classics you just have to accept that they were written in a different era to what we live in now. Don't blindly accept each belief and moral they expressed, just accept that that's the way it was, right or wrong you can't undo what was believed then. If you think you'll be too distracted by opinions you differ from to get into the story, then don't read it. You'll miss the good, and just be miserable. Life's too short to read bad books, whatever your interpretation of bad is. Read the plot outline online, and be done with it.

Also reflect on how strongly defined your own values and beliefs are. The mind can't distinguish easily between truth and reality. That's why affirmations work, with repetition your brain believes it as true. Similarly, surrounding yourself with people, shows or books whose values are different to you, no matter how 'fun' they are, can lead to you accepting and then believing those different values, beliefs and morals.

I loved Trixie Belden as a girl and kept a fee books. A couple of years ago I came across them and decided to read one to see if my pre-teen daughter was ready for them. Nope. The plot was fun and pre-teen-exciting, but I could jot get past the author's habit of describing the physical characteristics of each character she introduced, within a few lines of their introduction (sometimes before their name) and ever good character being attractive and every bad character being unattractive. I knew that my daughter was too fixated on appearances at that stage to avoid taking on that 'pretty is good, ugly is bad' mentality.

But if you think you can let the negative, misogynistic, racist etc passages wash over you with just a 'glad we've grown as a society' thought and delve into the books, you may find a lot of good values and attributes we seem to have thrown out with the negative ones. Many classics, values aside, have a different 'formula' and tlrhyt to story telling than modern writing, which can also be enjoyable.

It's really up to you. Can you read the troubling passages without getting bogged down, blinded or swayed by them? If you can, go for it. And if you can't - and it's fine if you can't - then find something else to read.