Meme-ful Musings: Once a month I’ll post a book-related meme that I think brings up an interesting discussion about books. Feel free to join in by making a comment below or linking back!
(Meme from: http://www.memeaddicts.com/stupid/reading-books-memes/)
Put your hand up if you’ve ever done that before…
We all have our reading quirks and one of my most compelling is to always stop reading at the end of a chapter (or if it’s one of those books with really long chapters, a page break). I don’t like stopping mid-scene because you lose the feel for it as soon as you step away and then you have to reread to get the vibe back. I like stopping at the end of chapters of page breaks because the scene has wrapped up and a new scene is just about to unfold.
Which is a great plan except for those damn “cliffhanger” chapter ending. You know the ones where a big plot-bomb has been dropped and you can’t even process this fantastic turn of events, meaning you must continue on with the next chapter immediately…
But that repeats itself at the end of this new chapter and so on. And before you know it, you have finished the book!
This is how people end up staying up all night reading a book (something I talked about last July) or missing the bus, etc. since time escapes you as you read (so long as it’s a good book).
I personally love books like this! Anytime I actually groan aloud that I can’t finish a chapter, the book automatically goes up a star rating for me. Sure, I get a little angry at myself for being late but a good book is worth it to me–to a certain degree.
Which brings me to the second part of that meme “I’ll see you when I see you”.
I’ll be the first to admit I am a reading addict but I do possess the power to put down my book and join the “real world”. Fictional worlds are great but it is important to remember that there is a real world out there and you should enjoy it!
Let me put it this way: while a friend who is a fellow reading addict will understand your need to finish a book, not everyone will. How would you feel if someone made plans with you but they had to cancel because a TV show they were addicted to was on? You would probably be a little understanding but at the same time you would probably be angry. You might even ask yourself/them “why do you have to watch it now when you can stream it later?”. The same can be said about a book: you can leave and return to the exact same moment in a book no matter when and where you put it down, but you cannot do that with your real life or people!
Reading is great (so is blogging about it!) but remember that there is a world away from your books! It is a world that is definitely enriched by reading but a world that doesn’t require you to be reading all the time in order for it to function!
So every once and a while, why not just simply read “a few pages” and actually mean it?
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So so true! 😀 Love this post!
Thank you!
That meme totally describes me. I understand not wanting to stop in the middle of a chapter, but sometimes I do, so that I actually stop!
I get the “returning to real life” thing, too- however, I always stick to my plans, even if I’m I’m the middle of a really great book. Because I’m in the middle of a really great book a LOT of the time. I just usually don’t do new plans. XD
-Amy
It describes so many of us I think! I definitely stayed up late the other day going “just one more chapter”.
I always struggled with motivating myself to study for exams. Since I studied in my room (and not elsewhere), I’d much rather read something I enjoy (like a novel) than my organic chemistry notes 😛
Hahaha exactly!
Of course; it’s much more fun to read about death than science equations! 😉
Amen to that!