writingwhatsnow

Maybe it’s not yet time, or maybe it’s not for you at all.

Did you know about Nancy Pearl’s Rule of 50? It says to stop reading the book if it doesn’t spark your interest after reaching the first 50 pages. Debatable? Yes. Because you’ll never know when the plot starts to pick up, but its discernment of whether to continue upon reaching a certain mark does make sense.

This might be a polarizing decision for people, especially if you’re a firm believer in the classic “to finish what you start.” But I think it’s more practical to not beat yourself up for shelving something that’s not your cup of tea.

Try to see it from this perspective: if you were in a library with thousands of books, your whole life would not be enough to read them all. With our precious finite time, it’s wiser to filter them and read what resonates with you the most.

I always believed that consuming any form of media or literature, especially the ones closest to your heart, comes with serendipitous timing. A movie could tick all the boxes objectively: cinematography, music scoring, actors, directors, plot, writing. The execution is perfect, but it’s just one side of the equation. The emotions it imparts make the biggest dent. The same goes for books.

Young students reading The Alchemist may spark their love for reading. Friends watching White Chicks together for old time’s sake may be in it for good hearty laughs. A woman listening to (I Can See) The Future by Leith Ross may just be the catharsis she needs post-breakup. A law student stumbling upon To Kill a Mockingbird may just be the message she needs to remind her she’s on the right track in life.

Not finishing a book doesn’t mean it’s badly written. Most of the time, it might not just be palatable in your current phase or temporary state. Humans always try to find a reflection of themselves in something, and that’s where relatability comes in. An almost five-star novel on Goodreads may be someone’s first book slump of the year, but an average three-star movie on Letterboxd may just be someone’s all-time top four. And the reason would always be something personal. It could be a question answered, a release, a realization, a lesson, a warning.

So yes, it’s okay to put that book down. Maybe it’s not yet time, or maybe it’s for you at all. And if it’s the former, it will meet you again at the right time.