Hit page 50 of a 400 page novel and realized I only had 10 pages left to really care

I was reading this big fantasy book everyone swore by, and at page 50 I just stopped and checked how far in I was. That's when it hit me - I had given books exactly 50 pages to hook me for years without realizing it. I actually looked back at my Goodreads and found I quit 8 books last year right around that same mark. It's like my brain has this invisible timer that goes off when I hit that milestone. Has anyone else noticed a specific page number or chapter where you just know if a book is worth finishing?

2 comments

2 Comments

ivan5227d ago

Ngl, I finally just stopped forcing myself past page 30 and my reading life got way better.

stellam897d ago

The "page 30 rule" is honestly the best thing I ever did for myself @ivan522. I used to feel like a failure if I didn't finish a book that everyone raved about, even if I was bored out of my mind. Now I give a book three tries-if it doesn't grab me by page 30, it gets tossed. Life's too short to slog through six hundred pages of something you hate. The funny thing is, I actually read more now because I'm not wasting time on books I don't care about. It's like a permission slip to move on, and it works.