I’m one of those people who will suffer through a book, thinking I have to finish it even though I’m not into it at all.
I know that I need to stop this as, well, life is just too short (and my tbr pile is long)!!!
I’m the sort of person who needs rules (and guidance!) so I was perusing the net to see if I could find any information. I stumbled across a post from Life Hacker who has a quote from author and librarian Nancy Pearl and I decided to roll with it.
The Rule of 50
People frequently ask me how many pages they should give a book before they give up on it. In response to that question, I came up with my “rule of fifty,” which is based on the shortness of time and the immensity of the world of books. If you’re fifty years of age or younger, give a book fifty pages before you decide to commit to reading it or give it up. If you’re over fifty, which is when time gets even shorter, subtract your age from 100—the result is the number of pages you should read before making your decision to stay with it or quit.
So I thought this is now my new rule!
But then I thought hang on, if my book is 900 pages then 50 pages is surely not enough to really know, it’s a drop in the ocean!!!
That’s where I need your help!
- What do you do?
- Do you follow the rule of 50?
- Is there another ‘rule’ I need to know?!
CJRTB Books 
I read 80 to 100 pages but I don’t take up long books… Only 300 to 400 pages…
I feel 1/4th or 1/3rd of book should be the cut off point
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Thanks! I was thinking of maybe 100 pages, ì might try both and see what works!
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Skim read and see if it picks up
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Ooo yes!! I’m worried I’ll miss something!!
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I don’t think so much… Because there are so many books… 😂 But I try to skim read or check 2 or 3 star reviews. They would tell you if it picks up or not
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I dont normally ever check reviews until after but that’s a good idea!
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I have no rules Caro. It depends on the writing first. If the writing is bad or just does not do anything for ma I can stop after 20 to 30 pages. If it’s the character that I don’t really like I will try to read more and see if there is no character growth. It also depends on the number of ARCs waiting for me.
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I need to find a happy medium! But I’m the sort of person who needs rules, even if it’s a rule of thumb!!!!!
I need to get better at this like you!!
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I follow the ‘100 pages’ rule. After reading 100 pages, if I’m not enjoyo a book, then I DNF it. There have only been one or two books that I’ve abandoned before the 100 page rule. I think 100 pages generally gives you a feel for whether you are going to enjoy a book. Life is to short to be wasting time on bad books!
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100 pages sounds much better than 50, I’ll try that!
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Gosh I relate so much to struggling through books I don’t like! But this sounds like a good rule!
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I’ve been thinking more and 50 seems like such a small number so I’m going with 100 pages to see how it goes!
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Yeah I get that- I think 100 makes more sense in a lot of ways (especially as some books can just have a slow start)
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I decided to try 100 pages with a book I started last night, I got halfway through and didnt even look at the page count, so good! Seems like every book wont need it!!!
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