strongly seconded. Life is too short to read bad books or drink bad wine. I have this rule that if I'm not excited about the book after 50-100 pages I move on (

strongly seconded. Life is too short to read bad books or drink bad wine. I have this rule that if I'm not excited about the book after 50-100 pages I move on (exception are some rare novels or philosophical works that don't start before page 400 or are so arcane that you won't get them until the 3rd or 4th pass anyway). The hard part for me is to stay focused and not drift off into multiple genres/topics. If I read about the period of the enlightenment it's easy to get sucked into 20th century authors covering (sometimes regurgitating) the subject. If I find myself drifting off in this manner, I make it a new category on my "to-read list" for a future time to maintain focus.