I read often. Less than a lot of you, but more than the general population. I read a book-book once a month, and a few manga/graphic novels a month.
Though I’ve read a lot, I only have a handful of books that I love enough to recommend, The Road, Story of Your Life, American Psycho and some Isaac Asimov shorts.
I’m really picky and usually don’t walk away from books thinking, “wow that was a great book.”
I was asking myself recently, why do you read so much? You don’t like most of what you consume. I realized I like the completion aspect of reading.
Whatever that “thing” is, makes up for my often disappointed feelings regarding what I read.
I just wanted to share this realization and see if anyone else feels this way.
It raises an interesting question. Why do you enjoy completing books?
Bragging rights? Do you like telling people how many books you’ve read?
Knowing you’ve absorbed something in its totality, start to finish?
Does reading sometimes feel tedious and finishing something you start in spite of the tedium give you satisfaction?
Do you measure self-worth or quality of life against a metric that finished books bolster?
I, for one, experience all of these haha