Life is Too Short . . .

. . . To read bad books! At least that is what the lady at my free bookstore says. Yes, I go to a free bookstore - as opposed to the pay bookstore that most people go to. But that isn't the point. The point lies in the dilemma between finishing a book you don't like just to get it over with, or moving on and spending your time reading a book you actually enjoy.

I started thinking about it when I began to read A Change of Climate by Hilary Mantel. The premise is interesting enough - its about a young couple that moves to South Africa to do "missionary" work. While there they get tangled up in the politics and end up getting deported to Bechuanaland. They decide to stay and to continue with their mission work until something tragic happens which forces them to return home to England.

The book sounds interesting enough but I just couldn't get into it. I make myself read at least 100 pages of a book before I even consider putting it aside - but then my own little tragedy happens where I have no internet connection and that gets me to page 200. By this time I figure that I might as well read the last 140 pages just to see what happens. I finally get to page 240 before I want to tear my eyes out. I just can't do it. I can not possibly read any more of this book!

But how do you really put aside a book that you trudged through 240 pages of? Then again, why waste my time reading a book I hate when there are at least 1001 books to read before you die? Such a dilemma!

So I started to do the math:

I can read 1.5 books a week (a slow week) and that gives me 75 books a year – not counting a 2 week vacation (where I actually read more books not less, but for arguments sake). If I read only 75 books a year, I figure that it will take me 13.33 years to read those 1001 book. And that is assuming that I ONLY read books from that list – which I haven’t even looked atbtw . . . However, if I am reading a book I don’t like, it could take me a week and a half to finish 1 book! And that means that I will only read about 36 books a year – if I only read books I don’t like – and 27 years to get through that list!

God, I really am a nerd!

So what do I do? I decide to pick up a super easy read called The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing by Melissa Bank. This book would have taken me a night to read, but I started it a little late so it will take and a night and a half. . .At which point I will probably pick up the book I don't like and force myself to read that last 100 pages. Does this make me a masochist?