Jul

21

I Heart Nancy Pearl

2008 at 2pm     Posted by Rebecca Joines Schinsky

I used to have a hard time not finishing a book once I got started.  I felt guilty that someone had poured their blood, sweat, and tears into something that probably tooks years to complete, and I couldn’t manage to give it a few hours.  I always felt conflicted because I didn’t want to waste time on a book I wasn’t enjoying when I knew there were so many other good books in the world, but I didn’t want to stop reading something without giving it a fair chance.

Then I read Book Lust,  librarian Nancy Pearl’s marvelous collection of suggested reading and advice for readers, and I discovered The Rule of 50.  As Pearl puts it:

Believe me, nobody is going to get any points in heaven by slogging their way through a book they aren’t enjoying but think they ought to read. I live by what I call ‘the rule of fifty,’ which acknowledges that time is short and the world of books is immense. If you’re fifty years old or younger, give every book about fifty pages before you decide to commit yourself 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 deciding.

Oh, the liberation!  The freedom to read, or not read, or stop reading!  I love it.  Thankfully, I haven’t had to invoke The Rule of 50 very often.  A few years ago, a friend recommended a book called Thumbsucker, which was allegedly a modern-day cousin of The Catcher in the Rye. Not so much.  I struggled through the first 50 pages just so I could say I had, but I couldn’t wait to give it up.  More recently, I abandoned Alice Sebold’s latest novel The Almost Moon before I even got to page 50.  This made me sad, because I really enjoyed The Lovely Bones and Lucky, but the premise was strange, I didn’t care about the characters, and I just couldn’t get into it.  With a huge pile of TBRs waiting in the stacks, it’s hard to justify sticking with something I don’t really like.

Just yesterday, I decided to invoke The Rule of 50 on All We Ever Wanted Was Everything by Janelle Brown. I picked up the ARC when I heard it described as similar to Tom Perrotta’s Little Children, which I thoroughly enjoyed.  But I disliked it from the very beginning–the writing was clunky and overly descriptive, the plot was predictable (wealthy 50ish housewife’s husband leaves her for her best friend on what is supposed to be the best day of their life), and the characters were cliched and unsympathetic–and gave up around page 45.  And thanks to Ms. Pearl, I don’t feel even the tiniest bit of guilt.

Now it’s back to the TBR pile for what I’m hoping will be a much more satisfying selection…stay tuned.

Related posts:

  1. BTT: Worst Book I've Ever Read (or, why I still *heart* Nancy Pearl)
  2. BTT: Unread
  3. You want it? You got it! (A Pearl-Rule Giveaway)
  4. Just call me Nancy Botwin (Adventures in Bookselling v.15)
  5. BTT: I'm a one-book woman.
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No Responses to “I Heart Nancy Pearl”

  1. tlc on July 21st, 2008 3:41 pm

    Gosh, I loved Janelle Brown’s novel, ALL WE EVER WANTED WAS EVERYTHING. Loved it! Couldn’t put it down. Just goes to show you, one woman’s garbage is another woman’s gold.

  2. Joanne on July 21st, 2008 5:56 pm

    I wish I knew about the “Rule of 50″ when I read The Almost Moon. Like you, I really enjoyed Sebold’s previous two books, but I honestly disliked the main character (Helen) from The Almost Moon.

  3. bermudaonion on July 21st, 2008 7:48 pm

    I’m glad to hear about The Rule of 50. I’ve always been one to stick with a book because of some strange feeling of commitment, and it’s good to know that I can set it aside without feeling guilty.

  4. jameswharris on July 21st, 2008 10:37 pm

    I have a different rule – I stop reading wherever I lose interest. It’s cruel, but I read by another rule. Why read any book when you can read a great book. I can only read about 50 books a year, so why waste a week on one I’m not passionately anxious to finish. By great, I don’t mean a dusty old classic, but a great read.

    I did love The Lovely Bones and Lucky, so I’m disappointed to hear about The Almost Moon. I will try it though.

  5. Shana on July 22nd, 2008 12:29 am

    I love that rule!

    I’ve been wanting to read Book Lust. Glad to year you enjoyed it.

  6. Ann Kingman on July 22nd, 2008 12:34 am

    I also invoke the Rule of 50, but …. sometimes it’s misleading. I put down Prince of Tides 3 times before I read past page 50, and now it’s one of my top 10 of all time. I had a very similar experience to yours with All we Ever Wanted Was Everything, but I kept going (full disclosure: I work for the publisher). There is one particular scene that causes the entire book to change from the way that you describe it to something else entirely. I think the Perotta comparison is very apt when you take the entire book as a whole. So maybe put the ARC on a shelf for some other time down the road and give it another shot, knowing that “the moment” lies ahead.

    In the meantime, I hope you find something wonderful to read!

  7. Swapna on July 22nd, 2008 10:12 am

    If I’m uninterested once I hit 100 pages, I’ll usually put a book down. I don’t see the point in forcing myself through books I really don’t like!

    And in other news, I nominated your blog for an award!
    Details: http://skrishnasbooks.blogspot.com/2008/07/i-have-been-nominated.html

  8. The Eighth Art on July 23rd, 2008 4:13 pm

    I’ve never been in the “Owe it to the Author” camp, but still, I am incredibly reluctant to drop a book once I start it. Part of it is just being stubborn, part is probably pride.

    The one that first got me to start dropping books I hated was Nostromo by Joseph Conrad.

  9. You want it? You got it! (A Pearl-Rule Giveaway) « The Book Lady’s Blog on September 8th, 2008 9:59 pm

    [...] and I started reading it last night.  I’m up to page 50, and I’m going to invoke the Nancy Pearl Rule.  While it’s interesting, I just don’t think it’s a good fit for me. Kathleen [...]

  10. erisian on September 17th, 2008 5:24 pm

    i invoke the same rule, but very very rarely.
    it is hard for someone to write a book i am not interested enough to finish.. even if it one that i have to put down for a week before continuing.

    i have one of those that i will be reviewing on my site fairly soon.. it was un enjoyable to the point that i dont even look forward to blogging it.. back burned..

  11. Pearl Diamond on November 26th, 2008 10:02 pm

    Sounds that’s cool and intersting to me. I will read it more.

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