As I was attempting to catch up with my Blaugust feed this week, I came across Axxuy’s post on checking out big books from the library. I’ve been doing a lot of reading this year and, subsequently, have done some thinking on my own reading habits.

Auxxy says:

I’ve checked out many books of short stories or poems and some of the breezier nonfiction. But I stay away from the big books, even the ones I would like to read. The trouble of course is that you do have to bring the books back, and sooner than later. I feel cramped by the due dates.

I find myself frequently avoiding checking out big books. Even those I’ve had on my to-read list for years.

I am lucky enough to live in an area with three large library systems. I rarely buy books and can almost always find what I’m looking digitally unless a title is very popular and/or very new. There are usually enough copies (or lack of interest from other patrons) that my loans auto-renew. Still, due dates do add some extra stress to finishing a book. Even more so with digital loans. I have been guilt tripped many times by Libby informing me there are multiple people waiting for a book that I haven’t opened in a week.

I am a life long reader but I am a slow reader. I’m constantly below the “Typical time to read” on Kindle books by at least a few hours for fiction books. Who know’s how accurate that stat is though. I finish one or two average sized books a month. Sometimes three if I’m really pushing it. This used to bother me, but it doesn’t so much any more. I found forcing myself to try to read faster just wasn’t enjoyable. It’s not a competition after all.

The time required for me to finish a book makes me hesitate to grab long books of the digital and physical shelf. I really need to be in the right head space for it. If the book is more than 400ish pages it’s probably the only book I’m reading until for the next 3 weeks. But when the mood strikes, and I go to check out something big, I know most of my free time will be spent reading. I recently read Kelly Link’s The Book of Love which is just over 600 pages. It’s, by far, the longest book I’ve read this year. While I did enjoy it, I had to spend an average of 2 hours a day reading to finish it before the 3 week loan ran out. Leaving me with little time to do anything else.

If it’s non-fiction, then forget it, I’m buying the ebook and I will absolutely spread it out over several months no matter how long it is.