Bookmark: Life's too short for boring books

Choose your reading materials wisely and you will finish every book you start.

Most of us don't do that. But Lorna Rafness of Marshall, Minn., does. She was one of more than 100 readers from across the country who wrote in response to my column about finishing — or not finishing — books.

Rafness keeps a detailed book journal, and consequently, "I rarely put a book aside that I've started because I've learned to be discriminating," she said. "However, if after a few pages it's obviously not for me, I have no qualms about giving up on it."

Inspired by librarian Nancy Pearl, many of you follow this system: Take your age, subtract it from 100, and read that many pages before deciding. Others choose 50 or 100 pages as the cutoff.

Not Charleen Miller of Burnsville, though. She is ruthless. "I give a book 10 pages before I give up on it," she wrote. "Life is too short to waste time."

Judy Nobles of West St. Paul said she used to feel obligated to finish every book, "no matter how god-awful," but no more. She added, "I tend to never start a book that won the National Book Award, for I've never read one I thought deserved any prize."

Kathleen Durkee of Alexandria, Minn., gives a book 50 pages. "If it doesn't catch my interest by then, I ditch it! I acquired this philosophy from my mother, who died in 2019 at age 103. She was still reading books at that age, even though it required a magnifying glass and strong light."

Sue Schoepke of Eagan felt liberated when she realized that nobody need know when she stopped reading. "A couple years ago, it hit me — I don't have to report it to the book police, do I?"

Others try hard to make sure they'll like a book before they bring it home. Sheila Kelleher of St. Paul reads the blurbs, then reads a few random paragraphs. Then she reads the first 20 pages. Then she'll flip to the end to peek at the ending.

At that point, she's willing to proceed but will "hold back part of my soul in case of any of the following: The author is enthralled with being an author in New York City; the mystery involves a cat and baked goods; cruelty is described in sensuous detail."

When he was in college, Dick VanWagner of Eden Prairie began reading experimental fiction, giving each book about 20 pages before deciding to continue. "I wish I could have done the same with a few textbooks," he said.

Toni LaFranchi of Fairbanks, Alaska, used to think she needed to finish every book she started. But not anymore. "Now if something on the first page annoys me or doesn't pull me in, I drop it."

I was amused by how many of you said that even if you stop reading you'll peek at the ending. Sometimes you just want to know what happened. Other times, it's out of respect: "The author has put blood, sweat and tears into creating this missive," wrote Sheri Smith of Albertville, Minn. "I feel a need to honor that."

Still, many said that they put a book aside only to pick it up months or years later and find that it now resonated. "I started Charles Frazier's 'Cold Mountain' three times before I stayed with it," wrote Marilyn J. Martin of Lacey, Wash. "I'm so grateful I persevered. One of the best books I ever read."

Laurie Hertzel is the senior editor for books at the Star Tribune. books@startribune.com