[Timboli]

How do you savor a story or feel in that regard?

Personally, I like to savor a story for a while, before passing onto another. For how long, varies. Certainly the length of time, is dependent on genre, which can also allow me to read more than one story during the same period. It is also about the impact of the story, and what thought processes it has set in motion.

It certainly varies depending on the length of a story and how deeply engrossed I have been and how quickly I read, plus to what exclusion for all else. It will be different if an earlier story or book in a series, compared to a last. Often for instance, I will begin immediately reading the next story, if I am in possession of it ... but not always, as sometimes I feel a rest or break is justified, especially after a conclusion of some major element has been reached.

For instance, if I have just finished a Fantasy story or are still reading it, I won't read another Fantasy story, certainly not by a different author. I don't like to have thoughts in my head that meddle with memory, due to similarities.

So I could in essence, be reading a Fantasy story and a Mystery one and a non-fiction story, all during the same period. Generally though, once started, a Fantasy or Mystery story, I would read until finished before reading another.

Another thing I find is, that it takes me very much longer to read a book that is a collection of short stories, especially if all the same genre, than it does to read the same number of pages in a full novel. No doubt due to a brief pause after each story, to ponder it for a while or just have some breathing space before heading in the new story direction. Of course, this is to prevent some blending into each other, and mixing my memories up perhaps.

It all rather sounds a bit complex I guess, and for some is just automatic, without really thinking about it, but I tend to think of such things. Perhaps some of you do too or have a different approach or outlook etc?

I find the reading habits of others quite interesting to reflect on. Especially having been an almost constant reader since the age of around 8, having been read to before then by my parents and teachers. By my mid teens, I was certainly a bookworm, and have remained mostly so, with non-reading periods a few times, due to various events in my life.

Take my wife for instance, she barely read when I met her at age 28, but now reads all the time, in fact a lot more than I have over the last few years.

All three of my children have varied their reading habits over the years, with my oldest at 30 reading a lot more than the other two, the youngest at 23 having not read for a couple of years now, and the one between very intermittent with her reading. I would describe my oldest as a bookworm, but the other two have yet to get into a reading frame of mind for very long.

Of course, all three children have far more distractions in this day and age, especially the two boys with their love of computer games etc. Constant chatting on their phones and Facebook probably doesn't help either.

For me, despite the other attractions and distractions, reading is still pretty much my greatest joy ... too many books, so little time.