Booking Through Thursday asks – “Life is too short to read bad books.” I’d always heard that, but I still read books through until the end no matter how bad they were because I had this sense of obligation.

That is, until this week when I tried (really tried) to read a book that is utterly boring and unrealistic. I had to stop reading. Do you read everything all the way through or do you feel life really is too short to read bad books?

I was out of town all last week and didn’t have a chance to read Booking Through Thursday’s question. I was having trouble with one of the books I took on my trip and kept wondering whether I should plod through it or just give it up so when I finally recovered from the red-eye flight, I was surprised to see how timely this week’s question was!

I have been trying for weeks to read The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett. I got about 25 pages into it on the first attempt and then decided to renew it at the library because I thought it would be a good book for a long trip. It’s BIG, 973 pages big. On my second attempt, I got to page 40 and then picked up another book. I’m now on page 53 and haven’t opened it in a week. I think I may have to give it back to the library and try again next year. The few pages I read were fine but I wasn’t pulled in and with so many other books vying for me attention, I think it’s time to stop feeling guilty about not finishing it and move on.

Normally, I give a book a lot of leeway before I quit. Usually 250 pages is my threshold but I didn’t get anywhere near that on this one but I do plan to try again after the new year. Maybe 2010 will be my year to finally finish The Pillars of the Earth.