Raven's View

Might also call this - right books. Pun not intended. The Globe and Mail had an interesting essay  yesterday by Nancy Pearl, explaining her Rule of 50 for books. Like many of us, she was raised with the work ethic to finish what she started, including books. I admit I do feel an obligation tp keep slugging through, for a myriad of reasons, such as: others liked it, so it must just be me that needs to try harder, I owe it to the author that worked so hard, my friends will think I'm a quitter. When the author became a librarian, surrounded by more books than she could even attempt to get through, she realized she needed a new rule to manage her focus better to the "right" books. She reads critically, giving a book 50 pages to prove itself. If it hasn't grabbed her by then, if she doesn't care if the butler did it, if she doesn't even care if the butler dies - she stops. She adds that if you really only want to see the ending- then flip to the end. Either way, when you bring a book back, the library doesn't know how many pages you read. Your friends may think if Oprah loved it then you should too - that's their problem.