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Is it worthwhile to read the portions of the casebook between the cases? For example, in the Contracts casebook, several pages are devoted to the transition from classical contract doctrine to modern and how the two differ (e.g., objectivity vs. subjectivity, static vs. dogmatic, etc.). Is there any point (in terms of what will be relevant for the final exam) in reading these portions of the text, or, for the sake of efficiency, is it better to just focus on the cases?

That shit won't be on the exam (i.e. the evolution of K law) and I basically never read the notes (even when I took my 1L reading seriously) unless I was super confused, and I did pretty well. FWIW, the #1 guy in my class read EVERYTHING multiple times but you can still do really really well without reading them.

Depends on the professor. At least skim it in case your prof decides to ask about something in there during class.

Totally depends on the prof. Talk to 2 and 3Ls who did well in the class. Look at past exams to get a feel for the prof's style.

Agreed, totally depends on the professor. About 25% of my 1L contracts final was an open-ended question about theory and development of contract policy. Talk to upperclassmen (if you can; I was lucky enough to have a prof teaching contracts for the first time) and see how much time s/he spends talking about it in class

Reading notes about the development of the law is a waste of time, but notes often address majority rules and limited exceptions and this has been test material for me.