Reading fast, reading well, and reading widely (2020)
&gt; People feel compelled to finish books they’ve started – that’s just a tax on your reading. Why would you do that to yourself? Imagine a world where any restaurant you tried you had to keep on going there for days or weeks, you’d hardly ever go out to eat.<p>I got this advice from an English Lit professor 20 or so years ago. His advice was: &quot;Read the first 50 pages, if the author hasn&#x27;t earned your attention by then, you can stop reading. You&#x27;ll never read all the good books anyway, don&#x27;t waste your time on the bad ones.&quot; A literature professor, mind.<p>It&#x27;s among the top pieces of advice I&#x27;ve ever put into practice. It&#x27;s liberating. I try to pass on this advice, but it&#x27;s rare that anybody sees the wisdom there.