Monday, February 7, 2011

The Page 99 Test

Further to yesterday's post, I came across this blog and this blog that  declare one can more accurately glean the gist of a new book by opening to page 69 or page 99 and reading that page rather than reading the inside flap and back-cover publisher hype.

Hmm, they could be on to something. I'll have to give that a try next time I'm at the bookstore or library.

"Open the book to page ninety-nine and read, and the quality of the whole will be revealed to you." ~Ford Madox Ford

3 comments:

oreneta said...

I heard it was page 73 myself...but I'm so starved for books I'll read most anything. I view an airport library as an unimaginable bonanza most of the time, and that's kind of sad.

Sarah said...

That's interesting. Will have to try it sometime. Anything which involves reading should be tried!

Trish said...

It could be any page, really. Perhaps past the first 1/4 of the book so as to get all the initial introductions out of the way and into the substance of the story.

I wish I had thought to do this before buying a couple of books recently.

-ugh-

But that's a whole other post.