Throwing in the towel

When is it acceptable to give up on a book? 50 pages in? 60? 75? Or should one feel obliged to stick out what one was started until the bitter end?

I was thinking about that this morning on the streetcar ride into work. (Note to self: perhaps the College streetcar isn't the ideal transit route to work after all. The first couple of times was great: it wasn't crowded, and the thing streamed quickly through the city. The last two times were hell-ish, and one time I missed my stop because I couldn't get to the doors in time.) I've started to read Andrew Pyper's The Killing Circle, and while I'm sort-of enjoying it - it's easily digestible, for one, and fiction set in Toronto will always hold some interest (see post below) - yet it doesn't feel like a book I'm in the mood to fully enjoy. Truthfully, I'm rarely in the mood for narratives that deal with killings and dark, shadowy characters with names like "Sandman." I'm through about 80 pages. I think I'll give it another 20 or so, and if it's still not turning my crank I'm going to toss it aside. I have plenty of other fiction in the queue. (I think Antal Szerb's Oliver VII might be up next while I await on an Amazon order of the new Bolano. For those of who I haven't bored yet with the recommendation, please go out and read Bolano's The Savage Detectives.) It's nothing against the book per se, but more about my current state of mind.

I'm having similar troubles with the non-fiction I have on the go: Susan Neiman's Moral Clarity. I heard Neiman on NPR's On Point and thought I'd give the book a whirl. But, again, my head space isn't quite there. Since it strikes me as a book that I don't need to read from cover to cover, I'm picking my spots. Which is maybe why David Foster Wallace's Consider the Lobster and Hendrik Hertzberg's Politics: Observations and Arguments, two other books I have on the go, have been more easily digestible. They allow me to read bits and pieces (particularly the latter, which I've been reading in bed) without having to put too much commitment to a narrative.

Still, I'm at loose ends, trying to find an interesting non-fiction work to sink my teeth into. Any and all suggestions are welcome. (Although since I only have about two readers, I won't be expecting the recommendations to be flowing in!)

Listening to: Brad Melhdau's Live in Tokyo
Watching: myself lose games in both Scrabble and chess on facebook
Reading: A quote from a broadsheet: "Give me twenty-six soldiers of lead & I will conquer the world" - Benjamin Franklin; yesterday's NYTimes