The 50 Page Rule

There is a librarian out in Washington state who introduced me to the 50 page rule. Her theory is that giving a book 50 pages to reveal itself is plenty of time. If at 50 pages you are not engaged, don't care about the characters and dread the thought of finishing the book, put it down - there are too many good books out there to waste time with one that doesn't speak to you. (I wish I was aware of this rule back in 1984 when I was reading Stephen King's Christine.)