First 100...

Fooled you, didn't I? you thought i was going to talk about the president's first 100 days. Nope; rather, the first 100 pages.

i'm struggling to finish reading a book and have already violated my usual criteria: if it doesn't grab me in the first 100 pages i put it down, set it aside, bottom of the pile. more times than not, i return to it much later out of a personal obligation i feel toward the author; but not always.

this particular book was very interesting the first 50 pages so i had very high hopes for it, but it has been downhill ever since. i have at least three other books just "calling my name," waiting to be read, but i feel as if i'm letting down the author of my "struggle-book" by setting her aside and moving on. i've already given her the benefit of doubt by going as far as page 133. She doesn't seem to know how to make a point and let it lie. she beats it like a dusty carpet and just won't let it go. she also makes the mistake of giving WAY too many examples of quotes from others who agree with her and a gazillion who disagree with her. it gets to the point tho, where i am not sure if she's saying this one agrees or disagrees!

granted, she wrote this back in the early 1900's, so perhaps folks in those years were more patient. i've always considered myself a very patient person (except when i'm waiting for an elevator!), but i think i've decided to stop struggling and set her aside. as a writer (well, published only once), i've always thought the worst thing in the world would be to find something i'd written on the "bargain table" at the local bookstore. but right up there with that embarrassment, is having someone lay aside my book and not be inclined to finish reading it to the end.

i typically feel compelled to read absolutely EVERY thing a writer puts in her/his book: forward, prologue, notes, epilogue, acknowledgements, etc. if it's printed, i read it. (for some strange reason i always think there is that very outside chance that i might just know one of the people who are listed in "acknowledgements," but after my decades of reading, alas; i never have. still tho...there IS that chance!)

last year, which was my first of relifement, i started a spreadsheet of all the books i'd read. i was delighted to have tallied 29 books, only 3 of which were fiction. this year, in addition to my regular reads, i've decided to again read all through the Bible. (is it fair to add 66 to my list of books read, when i finish?)

so far, since january, i have finished Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Matthew, Mark and Luke. this will be my second time through the Amplified version, which is definitely my favorite. i forget how many times through the Bible this will be; maybe 5 or 6??? yet, it simply amazes me how many, many things i come across that i have no recollection of having read before! if only i could remember every thing i read!

i WILL say this: it sure didn't take God a hundred pages to get my attention!