"The Threshold"

Before I get to the topic named in the title, I first want to share a rather interesting and well-written article on the subject of internet trolling.  Have a look at it here.

The article caught my eye because I'd just made a post similar to it yesterday.  I think the most frightening part of that article is the suggestion that human beings are actually cruel animals, and we're simply nice to each other because we have to be.  I honestly don't know if that's true or not, but I hope not.

On to the topic at hand, I realized last night that every book I read has a "threshold".  It's the point where I know I will continue reading the book until I'm finished with it.  This threshold varies from book to book, but I always know it when I hit it.

In "The Stand", it was immediate.  I still remember the opening bit.  It was a man named Charlie trying to wake up his wife, because they had to escape.  That hooked me right away.  Escape from what?  What's happening?  Why do they have to run?

For other books, it takes a long time.  The Gunslinger took until Roland told about his experience in Tull, and that was roughly a third of the way into the book I think.

Sometimes, it never happens.  I was a few HUNDRED pages into The Sword of Shannara, and I still have no desire to continue reading it.

I was thinking about this last night because I've hit that threshold now in Black House.  I think I'm 15% into the book.  I suppose that's about normal as far as books go.