I just finished reading Julie & Julia, Julie Powell’s blog-turned-book about the year she dedicated to cooking her way through Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking.
I came into the book with high expectations. Eagerly engaged in my own happiness project, I thought I’d be inspired by reading about Julie’s. Moreover, I really enjoyed the movie version. (Plus, what blogger wouldn’t be intrigued by the idea of a teeny-tiny blog exploding into a hotly selling book and a blockbuster movie starring Meryl Streep?)
But, as it turned out, I wasn’t a fan.
On the one hand, I think that Julie Powell is a talented writer. No, I didn’t care for her liberal use of vulgarity. But I do think she has a strong voice and a way with a phrase. On the other hand, I was annoyed by her self-indulgent (and nearly constant) whining. (Needless to say that it became quickly apparent while reading why I found Amy Adams to be so irritating in the film version.) I also found the organization of the book to be odd and the book itself to be in serious need of further editing.
But even worse, I was disturbed by the callous way in which Powell mines her family and friends for narrative fodder. From mentioning her own workplace flirtations (how did that make her husband feel?) to revealing that her father had an affair while he was married to her mother (how did that make either of them or her brother feel?), Powell takes the idea of transparency to upsetting ends.
When we choose to blog, or write memoir, I think that we must be conscious of the threats we’re making to the people we love most. Reading Powell’s story, I saw her loved ones as victims of her work. (Did they know beforehand how they would appear in her story?)
So – and this brings me to the point of this blog post – why did I keep reading? I wasn’t really enjoying myself and I got increasingly frustrated with Powell as the book wore on. Why didn’t I put it down, put it away, and then give it away?
I struggle, you see, with my own personal BRP (Book Rejection Policy). For years, I forced myself to finish every book I started, especially if the book had earned an award or praise from a friend or other respected source. Then, about five years ago, I swung in the other direction, allowing myself to give up on a book if I wasn’t hooked 50 pages in. (After all, isn’t life too short to read bad books? Hat tip to Katy.)
Somehow, though, I’ve worked myself back to a place where I slog through books I’m not enjoying. But for what? A sense of accomplishment? A sense of obligation to the author? An imagined gold star coming my way?
Tell me, friends, am I alone in this? Am I the only one who can’t bring herself to bid adieu to a literary clunker?
What’s your BRP? What’s the last book you BRP-ed?
Did you read Julie & Julia? What did you think?
{ 67 comments… read them below or add one }
Freedom, by Jonathan Franzen. I went into it with enormously high expectations, and then found myself torn between a powerful desire to kill myself and an equally powerful desire to kill Jonathan Franzen. So depressing.
Julie and Julia I liked, but the later revelations about her marriage were pretty shocking in the context of the book.
On another note entirely, boy is it nice to have you back.
Thank you, my friend.
I’m so interested to hear your impressions of Freedom. I’ve been hearing and reading non-stop raves and have also been following the controversy surrounding the Times‘ multiple fawning reviews, coverage of his book party, various interviews. It’s always refreshing to hear a counterpoint. I’ll probably check it out at some point, but the whole provocation of suicidal/homicidal tendencies thing does worry me.
Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel, and I just blogged about it this same topic here:
http://www.finolablog.com/2010/09/abandoning-wolf-hall.html
Funny coincidence :)
Just another example of Great Minds Thinking Alike! :) Off to check off your thoughts on Wolf Hall, another one that I’ve been thinking about reading.
I feel your pain. Normally I give a book about 50 pages to proves its worth but I don’t always adhere to my own policy. See my post on the same topic:
http://pagesetc.wordpress.com/2007/11/07/editorial-the-bell-definitely-doesnt-toll-for-me/
I am getting better though. And I try not to put too much expectation on a book.
Off to check out your post. Thanks for stopping by, Karin!
I haven’t read the book and really have no interest. But what’s more shocking–a movie was made and now she’s super rich. WTF, right?
I stop a book if I don’t like it. I give it a good faith effort, but there are too many great books out there (usually on my shelf or nightstand), so I move on pretty easily if I’m not digging it. No guilt.
Oh, I have the same quandary when it comes to my BRP. I’ve found that I can’t have a hard and fast rule. I need to adjust it for each book. For some reason I slogged through The Story of Edgar Sawtelle…
http://pineslakeredhead.blogspot.com/2010/03/stick-fork-in-me-im-done.html
No, I haven’t read Julie & Julia probably because I too found Amy Adams annoying in the movie.
And if you found the character in the movie annoying, you definitely shouldn’t read the book. I think that Nora Ephron did a lot to make the Julie character more palatable in the movie.
And now I’m off to see what you thought about Edgar Sawtelle…
Like you I was brought up to have a healthy respect for books and so always would slog through a book to the bitter end. Now though as precious reading time is so very limited I find myself more easily able to give up on a book I do not enjoy. If it is OK I will finish it, but if it really does not appeal to me I do not. Sometimes it can happen even with an author I love, like Jane Hamilton whose book When Madeline Was Young I just could not finish. More recently I started and gave up on Little Bee which I just could not get into.
Interesting comments on the book Julia and Julia – I too have seen the film which I was not expecting to really like but really enjoyed, but I too found Amy Adams annoying in the movie so can now appreciate how hard the script writers probably worked to get her to mildly annoying on screen as opposed to flat out whiny :-)
I used to make myself slog through a book, but now I find that I can usually abandon something that doesn’t grab me within 50 pages. Usually. But sometimes, a book will have gotten such good press that I don’t abandon it, even if I hate it, because I expect it to get better. Example: Eat, Pray, Love. Like you experienced with Julie and Julia, it was Gilbert’s incessant whining and narcissism that made me just loathe her. It’s a hard read when you loathe the protagonist. Same with Bret Easton Elis’s American Psycho. Hated the book but had to finish it.
You probably finished it because of the charming anecdotes about Julia Child. :)
One book that didn’t grab me for quite a while, but I kept going and then was suddenly hooked was The Poisonwood Bible. It took me almost 100 pages to “get” the book, but I was so glad I stuck with it.
I actually had the same experience with The Poisonwood Bible and then again this summer with Barbara Kingsolver’s latest The Lacuna, but I ended up loving both of them. She must be a slow-build kind of writer. (Come to think of it, I went into labor while reading the first few chapters of Prodigal Summer so maybe I just have an unusual relationship with the beginnings of her books!)
Barbara Kingsolver is my favorite female author, but I gAve up on both Poisonwood and Lacuna!
Oh no, Elizabeth. Say it ain’t so! Do you generally prefer her non-fiction?
Actually I love her fiction. I adore Prodigal Summer and The Bean Trees is almost the sole (and soul) reason I live in the Southwest!
Maybe the number of pages is less a static number as it is a ratio of read to unread pages. The Poisonwood Bible is like 8 million pages, so 100 pages is just like 50 pages. Also, Barbara Kingsolver is one of my literary icons. But I promise not to take it personally if others don’t like her. ;)
There are lots of books out there that I have no idea how they got published. The market is supposedly so tight, and there are so many great writers getting rejected.
Sex in the City. Tried, failed. Too boring. From the TV show, I figured it would be fun. Not.
My policy? The stacks of unread books in my study. A title that doesn’t grab me into the story in a few chapters goes to goodwill. There are plenty of others to take its place.
If I can’t finish it, I walk away. By not finish it, I mean if I find reasons not to read it or it begins collecting dust or used as a coaster. There are so many engaging and well-written books out there that I don’t feel bad for skipping out on the ones I don’t care for.
What I don’t do, though, is tell anyone. I’ve found that people take their book selections and their loves/hates extremely personally. Many times, I’ll tell someone I don’t like a particular book or don’t respond to a particular author and they are either offended or try to justify their own choices.
A bad (in my opinion) book is like politics and religion — I just don’t discuss them in mixed company.
I love this observation, Kelly. And I think you’re really onto something. I wonder why it is that we associate books so closely with identity.
I think part of it is that books — and the type of book a person enjoys — is (thought to be) indicative of the person’s intellect and class. I am guilty of making fun of my husband for his Steven King collection. ;)
My usual cut-off is 75 pages, although I rarely let myself do it. The last book I put down unfishined was Michael Lewis’s “Liar’s Poker” which I was really enjoying. But I’d just finished his “The Big Short” and reached my saturation point on reading about financial markets. I intend to go back to it after a break.
I’m really interested in your response to Julie/Julia. I’m currently reading Julia Child’s “My Life in France” and loving it. Because I’m in the midst of that one a friend gave me J/J for my b-day and I will read it (or at least skim it) because it was a gift, but I’m not optimistic.
Interesting how in this blogging world where we all share so easily we still draw a line and are quick to identify when someone else has crossed it. I’ll be sure to let you know what I think once I’ve read it. Thanks for your perspective!
My Life in France is on my bedside table right now. When I told a friend how much I enjoyed the movie version of Julie & Julia, she told me that Nora Ephron had adapted the Julia portions of the movie (which I loved) from My Life in France and I was sold.
Please do let me know what you think of Julie & Julia when you read it.
I am less conscious of my BRP. Some books just fall to the wayside (or under the bedside table) and are forgotten. Whiny and unlovable protagonists (and scary stuff) turn me off quickly.
Like Kitchen Witch, I used to force myself to “slog through” books I hated, and then would end up feeling so disappointed and let down at the end. I’ve come to realize that life is too short for bad books when there are so many fantastic ones waiting out there to be discovered. However, I’ve also come to realize that a lot of my disappointment in reading material comes from my trying to re-create those heady early years as a new young reader. I mean, no matter how fantastic a book is, reading it is probably not even going to approach the thrill I felt the first time I read Anne of Green Gables or The Secret Garden. (Which is probably why I go back to those books often, to try to recapture some of that feeling).
I never made it to J&J because when I watched the movie, I wished all the “Julie” parts had been cut out to make room for more Julia. I’m not surprised Julia refused to meet her. In the movie (where you’d have thought they’d have tried to make the character more appealing) she came off as nothing but whiny, bratty, self-absorbed and entitled. I can’t imagine how painful the book must have been!
I love reading. And there are so many GOOD books, that I dislike wasting time on those words that don’t speak to me. I watched the movie, Eat Pray Love, but couldn’t for the life of me get through the book. I need to move forward with a character or plot or prose – If those elements are not present, I choose to read another book. Enjoyed your post and the discussion. Glad your back!
Thanks, Rudri! I’m glad to be back.
I was struck by this: When we choose to blog, or write memoir, I think that we must be conscious of the threats we’re making to the people we love most.
As writers (of anything), I think it behooves us to consider who in our families may be reading. Even if we choose to reveal certain things, we should at least be conscious of the potential impacts – this – one of the reasons many of us are very judicious in what we say and how we say it.
As for Julie and Julia, I thoroughly enjoyed the movie, and wondered if I would like the book. It sounds like that’s a (potential) no. It also sounds like some careful editing / filtering took place in the film version to prevent the sort of irritation you’re talking about.
As for my “Book Filtering Policy” (love it!) – it’s very different from my Men Filtering Policy. With constant constraints on my time, I’m nonetheless very interested in giving a man (or anyone) time to slowly reveal himself. However, when it comes to reading, those same time constraints demand that I be “hooked” within 20 pages or forget it.
Oh, indeed. The “slow reveal” (I think that might be a term I’m lifting from strip clubs, courtesy of Tony Soprano and the Bada Bing) often works much better with people than with books.
Time. For me it’s come down to time. If I’m flying through a book I don’t even notice time, how much has passed, for instance. But when I’m staring at pages that feel like an eternity to get through–like all the good stuff is hidden and I’m on a scavenger hunt–I have to put it down and find another book. Thing is, though, that the book I put down sits next to my bed or on my dresser for weeks. I glance at it guiltily, like I did it a disservice. And I tell myself I’ll get back to it…eventually. Sometimes I do, but more than likely I don’t.
Two recent books that I picked up despite hating to read hyped up books killed my mood for books altogether.
In The Lovely Bones; There were “dangling elements” in the story that the author never tied up and finished properly. It was as though she wasn’t entirely sure how to end the book so she left all kinds of story lines open. This is indeed the sign of a poorly written book! Then the ending… THE ENDING was so sappy. So very very typical and cheesy that I threw the book at the wall.
Another book I threw at the wall: My Sister’s Keeper.
The whole book could have been resolved with a very good heart to heart as a family. I can’t stand books like these!
——> end rant!
And as you can tell I pretty much read to the end. Which obviously I need to start letting myself just put it down.
I remember being completely creeped out by The Lovely Bones (and had absolutely no interest in the movie; definitely not a story I needed to see played out on the big screen) and I had the exact same reaction to My Sister’s Keeper. That was my introduction to Jodi Picoult and I haven’t read anything else by her as a result.
I am a slightly obsessive reader and if a book doesn’t grab me within the first 50 pages, I put it down. There are so many top notch books out there (and the 5 or so magazines I subscribe to), that I don’t have time for bad books.
I read Julie and Julia and also preferred the movie, but I did slog through (with much eye-rolling) perhaps because it was easy to read and because I was already invested in the story. But yes, whining, over-sharing and self-indulgent for sure.
The only time I make myself read through an entire book I don’t like is for a book club so when I attend the meeting, I don’t sound like an ignoramus when I’m trashing the book.
Other times, if it doesn’t engage me, I just don’t bother. There are plenty of books out there I haven’t read that I don’t feel obligated to give every one of them a chance.
One exception: Twilight. I read the first book until the end because I was trying to figure out WHY it was such a hit. I thought if I kept reading, I might finally see it. Turns out I was wrong.
I actually read Twilight for a book club. This may lose me some readers :) but I didn’t like it at all. I am still mystified by how it became such a huge bestseller. (And don’t even get me started on the movies; I find the three leading actors completely unappealing.)
Me too! I don’t understand the allure of these actors. At all.
I read the Twilight series on a dare and hated them. I too really don’t get why these are so popular – I think the writing is just awful. And the movies are laughable.
I’m impressed you could get through the whole series!
I am relatively free and transparent with what I share, but I am also very conscious of the impact that some stories can have so I censor a lot. I have a real problem with writers who choose to make fun of/embarrass their partners/spouses in their work.
That is not to say that it is never appropriate because sometimes it is. Most of the time it isn’t and it just makes the writer look badly.
As for books, well I give it the three read rule. I’ll pick it up and start reading up to three times. If it doesn’t grab me or give me a sense that it is slow starter I put it back on the shelf.
I like your three-strikes-and-you’re-out rule. It combines my love of books and my love of sports in one neat package!
I used to finish everything, too, no matter how much it made me want to slam my head into a wall. But as my “me” time has become more and more precious, I’m much pickier. If I give a book a decent chance – which varies depending on the length and subject matter – and I still feel indifferent toward it, I let it go. That doesn’t happen often, but when it does I no longer feel so guilty!
I’m not going to read through the comments to see if this has been brought up… but what’s even worse is that I think she had an affair, and it’s now been public as well and she talks about that. (I think, don’t quote me on that though…)
There is such a fine line. It’s also the line of exploiting your children for blog fodder which I’ve seen come up recently. As children get older and decide they don’t want to appear on their mom’s blogs… it’s interesting, and bound to come up.
And as I’m sure it’s no surprise to you, I have a problem letting myself quit a book. The only one that I didn’t finish that comes to mind is Found Art (I think was the title) and it just was. not. for. me.
I’m pretty sure her affair is the subject of her second book. Clearly she is a woman who is far more comfortable baring all than many of us. (Both metaphorically and literally, I suppose!) Then again, I’m assuming that most of us would also not have an affair – so there’s that to be considered too. :)
Like so many others, I no longer feel guilty about not being able to get through a book. I have tried to read One Hundred Years of Solitude forever. I can’t willingly give up, so every 3 years or so, I try again. this last time, I got a little further, but it did not capture me.
I also liked the movie Julie an Julia, but I found Amy Adams more than a little whiny. And I have no tolerance for whining, especially if I did not give birth to you.
As for her family becoming emotional and literary road kill in her book, it’s funny that you mention that, given what I have experienced personally after the last few weeks. I CANNOT write about things that I feel would be hurtful to those I love the most. Even though my blog is mine, and chronicles my experiences and feelings. I would be insulted if someone put my stuff out there without my consent. I would never dream of doing it to someone else. Maybe they stuck around for royalities?
So happy you are back…Missed you so!
Yet another reason I adore you, Maria: it took me forever to get through One Hundred Years of Solitude! I’ve read other things by Garcia Marquez that I’ve really enjoyed and, obviously, a lot of people consider that book his masterpiece. But it didn’t capture me either. (I eventually had to read it for school so I did get through it, but it was a slog!)
This got me thinking about how many of us have been trained to read books all the way through because of the school context in which we read many books we wanted to quit. I find that I read five books at once and so those I “don’t finish,” are more like those I’m eternally in the middle of…
As far as revealing personal details in one’s writing, this made me think of a wonderful poetry teacher I had in college who taught around a book by Richard Hugo called, “The Triggering Town.” Hugo suggests that this Triggering Town is a place where the writer must be free to have things happen as fiction, even if like situations might have happened in the writer’s life. He puts it better and he’s well worth reading on all sorts of levels.
However, the essence of poetry and art are that they go for something a little beyond narcissistic self-revelation (which is when dirty underwear in pathetic bids for attention might evoke the perfectly reasoned response to just stop reading… hopefully before we’ve even bought the book).
Finally, in Hollywood you get ten pages max to hook a reader or be relegated to the “pass” pile—so I have no problem expecting a writer to convince me that I’m in good hands (even if I don’t know where a book is going) within minutes and not months.
I’m not assertive enough as a disappointed reader to have an official BRP, but I’ll peter out on one when “reading” becomes “slogging.” Then protocol involves cardboard box that I should label “The Island of I Lost Interest.” (I won’t usually get rid of the books, because they tend to be important (Faulkner) or by an author I otherwise adore (Marilynne Robinson, Emily Giffin, Ian McEwan, James Baldwin). I won’t force the finish now, but maybe in ten years I’ll dig them out and give it another go. It’s worked before (The Shipping News, The Blind Assassin…)!
Oh, how I tried to slog through The Hours. I wanted to like it. Everyone said I should like it. The acclaimed actors in the movie version made me think I ought to like it. Just. Couldn’t. Do. It. Had to reject it after the first 50 pages or so.
Right after that, I picked up a fluffy book about a stay-at-home mother of 10 children who supported her kids by entering slogan contests (The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio) and my love of reading was redeemed. Pulitzer Schmulitzer.
Ooo I loved the The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio!! I must have read that 5 years ago and felt so inspired. : )
I only read what I enjoy. I have a hard time in bookclubs because it is hard for me to force myself to read something I am not in the mood for, or don’t feel led to read. But at the same time, the bookclub choices I have managed to read have been enjoyable, and a stretch for me. I have My Life In France by my bedside as well. So far sweet, but I am having a hard time getting into it…a few too many descriptions of food for my liking. I will give it a chance for a few more chapters, because I like Julia Child :).
My policy is this: I have three books being read at all times. One ,a dessert book (easy quick read, just finished The 19th Wife), two, a fiction that I want to read but is more difficult in material (I am into Tolstoy at the moment) and one nonfiction (finished Hello to All That by John Falk, a neighbor of mine, which was crazy to become intimate with someone you barely know but see frequently on the street ) and three, embarking on a journey of biographies about the US presidents. So like Priv of Parenting I have many going and sometimes one sits longer and like Justine, no guilt. What works one day might not work the next. I remeber reading Barabara Kingsolver’s The Poisonwood Bible the first time and putting it down after 30 pages because I hated it and then 5 years later read it and loved it. This summer I reread Madame Bovary and found it to be a whole different book than the one I hated in high school. I fell in love with the book as a 38 yo married woman vs a 17 yo know nothing teenager. So if you can’t get through it, put it aside and retry later. That is my policy.
Great question on your part, I enjoyed everyone’s answers.
“A dessert book”: a term that is new to me and one which I must remember to use over and over again (giving you full credit, of course!).
I like your idea about having a rotating pile of three books at all times. Right now I’m reading a non-fiction book that is very interesting and mostly quite riveting, but sometimes I’m just in the mood for fiction at the end of the day (which is when I do my longest chunks of reading). Adopting your approach would allow me that flexibility.
Kristen,
I would like to take credit for the word but I heard it in a line froma movie. It was Finding Forrester with Sean Connery. He was saying he reads the Times for dinner and reads The Enquirer for dessert. From that line I adopted my philosophy on books. And even recently my best friend who is a 2nd grade teacher in Denver told me, she lets the kids check out 2 books each week. One is a book they can actually try to read and the 2nd is a dessert book, one that they just like to look at or dream about reading.
Kristen, you are obviously not alone in this. I think I’m the opposite extreme. I have very strict book standards and will put a book down if it crosses one of my hypothetical lines. Oy, that’s why I read science textbooks these days. : )
Oh, I love this topic. We readers are so affected by the words we take in and appreciative of the work that goes in to writing a book. How could we EVER not finish reading what we’ve started, right? I, like you, used to always finish a book. But sometime since having children (I feel no need to further explain), I’ve changed. I listen to books during my long drive to work, and if I’m not looking forward to getting back in the car to hear the next word, I move on. Life is short, yes. But, also, I’ve learned that all readers need and appreciate different styles, stories, forms. Right now I’m listening to Carolyn Wall’s “Sweeping Up Glass,” a book that just happened to be on the audiobook shelf last week when I breezed into the library to return books. I had never heard of it, but I grabbed it, confident that I had nothing to lose. Now, I’m captivated. As for books I’ve abandoned, there are many. And I still suffer mild guilt about it, strangely. The book that almost everyone I know can’t believe I haven’t read is Bel Canto by Ann Pritchett. I’ve tried and tried, but I just can’t do it.
Your comment has got me thinking about expectations, Jen.
I wonder if your experience with Bel Canto was similar to mine with The Help. So many people had told me how wonderful it was that, by the time I got to it, I was expecting something life-changing. (And didn’t find it.) Meanwhile, you came to Sweeping Up Glass with no expectations at all and your experience has been very positive. (I actually came to Bel Canto knowing nothing about it and really enjoyed it.)
Good topic.
I can usually stick it out, Anthony Swofford’s book Jarhead (they made a movie about it), pushed my cancel button. The story is about the author’s experience as Marine. He begins the book discussing how he had stolen gear from one of his bunkmates and pawned the items at a store. It only got worse in my opinion. Nothing redeeming I could find, so I stopped the book about a a third of the way through.
I struggle with this topic. I’ve written about it with a heavy heart and guilt. I have such an appreciation for the literary process and pretty much assume that each published book carries with it a lot of hard work and this makes it hard for me not to read through the end. I tend to be this way with movies, performance art, live music, etc. I’ve never walked out of a show. It’s especially difficult when I love the author but don’t fall in love immediately with their latest book. That’s when I slog through motivated by a sense of loyalty, or something. I have an easier time putting a book down when I don’t know much about the author, haven’t read anything by them and I didn’t pay for it.
I really enjoyed this post, Kristen. I loved the movie which made me want to learn more about the author but alas, did not become interested enough to pick up any of her books.
I always felt like I had to finish a book I had started. THen I joined a book club a few years ago and we had to read “Reading Lolita in Tehran” and every one of us could just not get through it. So I declared “Life is too short to read bad books!” and it took with us, too. It was the first book I’d ever done that with!
Me too. Have tried Reading Lolita in Tehran a few times and I just don’t get it. Always nice to know I’m not alone!
I used to never be able to quit on a book but I have changed my policy. If I am no longer looking forward to a book, I generally end up starting another one and forgetting about the first. If I find myself wondering what happened in the first book, sometimes I will go back to it.
Did anyone ever read the book Follow the River? I started that in 2003 and somehow lost interest and to this day I want to know what happens to that woman, but I lost the book.
Sorry, Alecia, I don’t know that one.
Oh and Liz, I ditched “Reading Lolita in Tehran” and “Lolita” not even half way through. I literally left Lolita on a train in Europe because I was so disgusted.
The other one I tried and abandoned this year was War and Peace. A noble effort, but life is too short…
I don’t make it too far, Kristen, I have to admit it. I’ve got pretty high standards and I do hate being fooled, by book jackets, by blurbs, by those little chapters that are meant to draw us in at the beginning of a book. Very annoying. I just like good writing, that’s all and I can’t make myself read something I don’t like or don’t believe, if it’s fiction. Needless to say, I have a lot of unread books laying around to get rid of!
I think I like the advice of giving up after 50 pages, although I wonder if that’s enough. I think it should be. I’ve been trying to read The Hour I First Believed as it’s written by my former high school teacher. I kind of like his first book, but the next two – I just can’t get into. Boring.
I’m reading Freedom and Hand Wash Cold… now. Hand Wash Now is losing steam but I do feel a pull to finish it. Just started Freedom…
Anything Karen White.
Although…..honestly, I read newspapers, magazines and BOOKS from end to front because I can’t stand not knowing if I’m going to like the ending or not. So I pretty much know within two pages (the last two!) whether or not the book is going to make it.
This cracked me up, Natalie. You are one committed reader!
I don’t have a policy, per se. But I do remember a time when I’d feel guilty if I didn’t finish a book. As I’ve gotten older and wiser (and much more aware of how little time I have left on this planet) if a book doesn’t grab in the first 50 pages? Into the give-away pile it goes!