I realised a very depressing fact fairly recently, which is the limited number of books one has “left” in one’s lifetime.
I used to devour books, but now take them more slowly. So perhaps just a couple of books a month, say 25 a year. So may only have 500 books left to read as may well continue to slow down.
Which means that if a book doesn’t grab me in 20 pages or so it goes straight to the charity shop. No time left for mediocre.
Exactly. (I’ve also made your calculation, as it happens.)
I suspect I may miss the odd gem, but it’s a risk worth taking!
Interesting post.
I rarely abandon a book, but virtually all of my reading is non-fiction in my research areas. Some of it’s very dull but can still be very enlightening. Fortunately every couple of years something comes along that’s informative and a great read the last one was Bohannon (2023) Eve: how the female body drove 200 million years of evolution You’ve probably come across it, but if not it’s a big recommendation - an exceptional book.
However, I recently ploughed through the first 150 pages of Edmund de Waal’s ‘The White Road’ (a history of porcelain) then hit a brick wall when his very international account shifted to C18th England. because I’m having increasing difficulty in wanting to read anything about the UK.