Life rule for beers and books

I just created a new list on my Goodreads account called "incomplete." There's a motto I live by that may not be particularly novel, but I really can't attribute it to any one person in particular. The motto is that:

Life is too short to drink cheap beer or finish bad books.

This post is about the bad books. A buddy of mine just finished the Fountainhead. He insisted that he was doing it to find out why so many people were so enamored with Ayn Rand and her works. I tried to tell him there were easier ways to find that out than reading an 800-page manifesto disguised as a novel, but he did it anyway. I was impressed, but still thought to myself, "What a waste of precious reading time."

When I look back on it, I can't remember whether War and Peace or Heart of Darkness were the books that inspired my 50 page reading rule. That amuses me solely on the fact is that the first was VERY long and I got through 300 pages of a 1500-page volume. It helped my insomnia. Heart of Darkness, on the other hand, was a tiny work - 75 pages tops - but I decided to set it aside quickly.

People should strive to fill their life with meaning. I just feel that if you give a bad book more time than its worth you are taking meaning out of your own life. I am not saying you should agree with me on my book tastes. I'm saying you should be true to yours. Feel liberated when you decide to put a bad book down and try again. You get to the good ones faster!