Book selection

[an aside]

1) Once upon a time, in a library in Wisconsin, there was a man named Berkowitz who told a Librarian that if he started a book and wasn't grabbed by the end of the first page, he never finished it. Said Librarian felt that was pretty extreme. But Berkowitz had read loads of really fabulous books in his lifetime, many of which he recommended and the librarian liked too. Still--one page? Extreme.

Then the Librarian had a baby and went back to work full-time. Suddenly the One-Page Stipulation made sense.

That was over 10 years ago. The Librarian has modified that Stipulation:
** 10 pages, and it better have some kind of hook.
** 50 pages, and if it hasn't lived up to the promise, throw it back for someone else to reel in.

There are other reasons the Librarian doesn't finish books. Among them:
--"dirty tricks" by the author (cheating in a mystery story, for instance, or having characters behave inconsistently)
--dull and interminable writing
--great writing, dull subject
--manipulative writing (when the author is overtly yanking on your emotions)
--inability of the Librarian to pay attention, due to life crises

2) Around the same time as Berkowitz expounded the One-Page Stipulation, the Librarian read Lonesome Dove. And loved it. And wants to reread it.

However. It is long. Longer than long. And now the Librarian has too many other obligations. Someday said Librarian will reread Lonesome Dove. When the Librarian retires, probably.

The result of reading this book is a new stipulation began to be used, the Length Stipulation:
**Fiction must be no longer than 400 pages.
**Non-fiction must be no longer than 500 pages, and footnotes are preferred over endnotes.

Of course there have been exceptions: Gabaldon, for instance.

3) The Inertia Rule is the last criteria. If a book sits next to the bed for more than 3 weeks, while other books come and go, I obviously don't want to read it. Throw it back...etc. etc.

The Librarian is very aware of the limits this places on what is "available" to read.
But there are always limits.
These are mine.