I generally do the same thing, although I vary x depending on the context. Certain writers (Graham, Spolsky, Yegge, Raganwald) can write as long as they want a

I generally do the same thing, although I vary x depending on the context. Certain writers (Graham, Spolsky, Yegge, Raganwald) can write as long as they want and I'll read it. Their signal to noise is so much higher (both in content and entertaining writing) that I find it better than reading the rest of the stuff on the internet. But yeah, 300-350 is about my limit for books too. I've passed up books I wanted to read when I found out they were over 500 pages. I just put them back in the todo list for later.