I had a bit of a bumpy start with both of these titles. One arrived on a very long reading list for our upcoming civil rights pilgrimage (“Wow, this seems overwhelming. Thank God I’ve read half of these already!”) And one was a switcheroo for book group (“But wait, I already bought the other book!”) I should have known any frustration was worth it. Or, in an Ignatian-sort-of-way, I could have paid closer attention. These books might just be special treasures, instigating emotion from me on day one.
Indeed both have easily passed the Nancy Pearl Test.* I will read each to the end, alternating between “fiction” and “non-fiction” until one grabs me and I can’t put it down. At this point, either has a fine chance of winning that race.
*Seattle Librarian Nancy Pearl’s Test of Whether to Finish a Book or Not –
Read a specific number of pages based on this formula: 100 – (one’s age) = # of pages to read. Then stop and decide. Is this book worth reading to the end? Read on or not. But what if the reader is 100 years old? Then judge a book by its cover, of course.
Always Bridging 