My coworker said she quits books after 50 pages no exceptions and it made me rethink my whole system

Was talking to Dana the other day during a slow shift. She said she gives every book exactly 50 pages. No more. If it hasn't grabbed her by then, she's out. I've always been the type to force myself through a whole book even if I hate it because I feel guilty or like I'm missing something. But she said life's too short and there's too many good books waiting. That hit me because last month I slogged through a 400 page thriller that I knew by page 30 I wasn't into. Wasted like 10 hours of my life. Now I'm thinking about adopting her rule but maybe 75 pages? Has anyone else tried a strict page limit like that and did it work for you?

2 comments

2 Comments

iris_stone283d ago

My cousin swears by a 30 page rule for non-fiction. She read the first chapter of "Atomic Habits" and tossed it because she said the guy was just repeating his blog posts. I tried that once with a mystery novel and bailed at page 35. Felt weirdly guilty for a day but then I read a killer thriller about a missing hiker instead and forgot all about it. 75 pages seems like a solid compromise though, gives the writer enough rope to hang themselves.

raymartin3d ago

My cousin did that 30 page thing with "The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fck" and missed the whole payoff because the last half is where all the good stuff is. I mean honestly who cares if you bail on a book, nobody's keeping score.