👋 Good day, book fan!
Recently, some friends and I attended the epic three-day music festival Splore.
It poured with rain on the first night. The next day, tents had flooded and the entire place had turned into a bog.
It was battle.
I took my Kobo to the festival so I could escape into a good book, but over the course of the three days, I read only a single chapter of a book. I started The Final Gambit, a book in The Inheritance Games series. I usually dig YA books, but I struggled to get into this one.
Cutting Off the Ol’ Ball ’n’ Chain
For years now, I’ve been ruthless with giving up on books. I tend to give something fifty pages and if I’m not on fire to keep going, I mark it DNF (Did Not Finish) and move on. This has set me in good stead, and is partly inspired by something my dad said to me when I was a teenager:
If you don’t accept anything but the best, you only end up with the best.
This can be applied to many aspects of life. Life is long, but it’s too short to put up with:
- Under-stimulating jobs
- Inconsiderate friends
- Unhealthy food
- Boring books
- Bad sex
Often, we find ourselves battling through situations because we’ve already put in effort/money/time. This is know as Sunk Cost Fallacy, the idea that because you’ve invested in something, you have to complete it even if it ends up costing you way more than you initially planned.
You see this especially in relationships. When a couple have put so much on the line by getting married, having a child, buying a house, and yet they’re not especially happy. But they stay together anyway.
And you, as their friend, have to bear the brunt of it.
They argue all the time and are gross to be around, and spend the majority of their catch-ups with you complaining that “he never helps with the cleaning” or “she’s always pestering me to stop going to strip clubs with my friends because I come home smelling like an old can of cat food.”
Meanwhile, you’re thinking: Guys, it’s simple. BREAK UP.
Only The Best
Heeding my dad’s advice, I’ve been pretty brutal about trimming the fat in my life, and I’ve surrounded myself with people who do the same.
I have a friend who formally broke up with another friend by way of a well-written letter. It was brave, difficult decision that has proved to be worthwhile.
For books, I have my fifty-page trial. If it hasn’t hooked me by the fiftieth page, I’m breaking up with it. But here’s the thing…
Splore ended up being hugely fun.
I mean, it sucked on Friday night when the temperature dropped severely and all my clothes (and my Kobo) got soaked. But the next day, the sun did its best to poke through the clouds and things got better. I spent my final day swimming and eating chips while listening to live music, having a gorgeous time.
Here’s another thing… While writing this newsletter, I searched Goodreads for The Final Gambit and saw that it’s actually the third book The Inheritance Games trilogy. I haven’t even read the first two. I mean, the clue is in the name—The Final Gambit—but I just dove in without checking. It’s no wonder I’m not digging it.
What can we learn from any of this? I suppose, like all things, balance is key. Yes, you should be ruthless in your pursuits. At the same time, you should also have patience and persistence. You could end up basking in the sunshine eating fries and drinking coffee like me on the last day of Splore.
What I’ve Been Reading: Tomorrow And Tomorrow And Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin
This last week, I read Tomorrow And Tomorrow And Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin and holy shit, it’s really great.
Zevin captures a particular atmosphere of friendship and relationships between young people, explores how our relationships can change and evolve over time, and articulates complex feelings that feel both universal and unique.
Absolutely highly recommended, especially if you like John Green, Sally Rooney and Taylor Jenkins Reid.