This is a little harder to judge if you're reading on a device, but for me, with a paper book, it's usually about 50 pages from the end. There are two factors here. One, if I keep going I know I'll read all way to the end and then I won't be able to get up on time in the morning. And, two, I know if I do manage to read just a little bit more and then have to stop, it will spoil the exquisite pleasure of the resolution.
Is this silly? Or maybe a wee bit obsessive/compulsive???
And of course this isn't counting the nights when I fall asleep reading, and hubby has to take off my glasses and put the book on the night stand. The dozing off thing is very annoying--it means that the next day I have to page back through the book until I find the last thing I remember.
REDS, what about you? Where do you have to stop? And is there anyone who can put a book down five or ten pages from the end?
HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: Nope, nope, absolutely not. Once I get close, I want the whole experience. Sometimes if it's too late, I'll start reading something else instead, because I know if I stay up I'll be sorry in the morning. Also--I always think it's not fair to the author to rush through just to see what happens--which is what I wind up doing. I ALWAYS see Jonathan asleep with a book on his chest. Is that a compliment to the author--or not?
LUCY BURDETTE: no, I save it for the next day, even though that almost kills me. I want to savor, and I know I don't remember the last thing I read late (for me!) By the way, I finished a good one last night called Celine, which I am sure a couple of you recommended last week. There I was, in bed, with nothing left to read and not quite ready to turn out the light. So I started something new, a book I had given to our daughter for Christmas called The Mothers by Brit Bennett. What an amazing voice! Now I am excited for bedtime tonight!
HALLIE EPHRON: The Mothers is on my bedside table as we speak, but I haven't started it yet. My daughter loaned it to me -- she raved about it, too.
I cannot read in bed (I fall asleep) and I often stop with 20 or fewer pages left. Especially if it's a really good book and I want it to last.
JENN McKINLAY: I read in bed and I read all the way through. Yes, I know I'll regret it, but I do it anyway. If I don't, I'll just stay awake wondering what's going to happen so it's best if I just keep going. I do wake up with books on my chest, and it cracks me up when I have to go back ten or more pages to figure out where I clonked out. Sleep-reading, it's a thing.
INGRID THOFT: I can put a book down with as few as twenty pages left, and I definitely stop reading if I don't think I'll be able to finish it before I doze off. Like Debs, I want to savor (and remember!) the ending, which is more likely to happen the next day. My hubby and I also debate the fact that even if I'm loving a book, if I get sleepy, I can't possibly keep reading. He, however, is able to stay up and finish. He says the books I'm reading aren't interesting enough, but I beg to differ! I think this is more a commentary on me and my brain than on the book I'm reading!
RHYS BOWEN: I find very few books these days that I simply can't put down. I suppose I'm more picky than I used to be. I get letters from fans accusing me of making them stay up all night to finish one of my books. I don't think I've ever done that, but I have stayed up well past my bedtime. I think the last one was Kate Morton's The Lake House. Usually if I have a book I'm really enjoying I look forward to going back to it, like having a secret stash of dark chocolate and taking nibbles when I have a moment. And there have been a few books I didn't want to end.... ever! I'm off to England next week and have a fully loaded Kindle which, fortunately, I'll be able to take on the plane with me. Huge sigh of relief.
DEBS: There is nothing I love more than staying up into the wee hours to finish a really gripping book, and I have to admit I'll indulge myself when I'm in England on my own, with no fixed daily schedule. Otherwise, sigh, I have to put the book down at a reasonable hour or I'll regret it. The dogs aren't inclined to take "I stayed up too late" as an excuse in the morning!
READERS, what's your stopping point?
Is it even possible to set a good book aside? I certainly can’t do it . . . I keep reading, even if I know I have to get up early the next morning.
ReplyDeleteRight now, I have thirty-nine pages left in Hallie’s wonderful “You’ll Never Know, Dear” and even though I have to get up in the morning, I’m absolutely going to finish the book before I go to bed . . . .
Oooh, the last 39 pages ... that's my favorite section (once I figured out how the 'doll parts' would pay off.) Thanks, Joan!
DeleteI simply couldn't put it down, Hallie . . . what an incredible, amazing story. I loved it.
DeleteI have no particular stopping point for a book. I do most of my reading in the morning (after visiting FB and sites liked JRW) and can read solidly for a few hours most days. I can't read much in bed. If I try to do so, I will only read a few pages and end up like Lucy, with the book on the floor.
ReplyDeleteHow wonderful to spend the morning reading! A well-deserved retirement
DeleteI read in bed almost exclusively, need the quiet comfort with lack of distractions. If a book is very very very good, Pulitzer/Booker/National Book Award good, I will make it last as long as possible because I don't want it to end. It's all about the journey.
ReplyDeleteLet me say I read no bad books, toss those aside after a few pages. I've been particularly disappointed this year in the newest by Ann Patchett and Dennis Lehane, both of whom could easily be in the above rarefied air categories. That's not the question here, though.
Most nights I start reading around 8 pm, and I continue until my Kindle falls and hits me in the forehead, between ten and midnight. Then I take off my glasses and turn out the light. The next night I have to thumb back a chapter or two, having no memory of reading them. I guess this is sleep reading?
Something I rarely do is skip to the end to see the conclusion. This happens only when a good story gets bogged down in not so good writing.
Lucy/Roberta, I'm so glad you enjoyed Celine. This is one of those books that was more about the journey than the denouement for me. I just finished LONG BLACK VEIL by Jennifer Finney Boylan. It is another one of "those," some lines so beautifully written that they brought tears.
Good morning everyone. I still have bronchitis although improving, and it will be 87 on the tundra today. I want to move back to San Francisco.
Still, Ann? Hope you feel better soon.
DeleteWe're up in the 90s in Boston... that drip drip you hear is my sweat staining the pages.
DeleteAs long as you are writing, Hallie, we don't mind sweaty pages.
DeleteThanks, Karen.
Guilty, of reading all night long. But I've had insomnia since first grade, and it's always better to have a good book to keep me company through out a long, sleepless night. I'm grateful for adulthood; no one tells me to turn off the light and go to sleep. Someone probably should, though, now and then.
ReplyDeleteIt was such a pleasant evening here at the farm last night that I was reading on the porch, until it got too dark to see--three pages from the end! I kept hoping I could finish before to light faded, but nope.
Do you remember what books you read all night long? That would be a good blog too!
DeleteHank, that would be a good blog! Yes, I remember which books I read all night long!
DeleteReading in bed has always been a major treat for me--I've been known to stay up way too late reading--something my mom was known to do, too.But, I'm an early riser--no matter what time I fall asleep-- and I don't function well on 2-3 hours of sleep. So, I will put a book down close to the end. This is easy--because if it's a book I'm loving, I too want to savor the ending. And sometimes I rush it, and sometimes I'm glad I'll be reading on the kindle--can't see the next page! But when it's a wonderful story, I usually spend the next day dipping back in to read all the good bits and savor the ending all over again. Kind of like that strawberry pie you had for brunch on Sunday--a small slice the next day tastes just as good, plus there's the added pleasure of savoring the memories of sharing it with loved ones.
ReplyDeleteOh, that's right! Never thought about it that way… On the Kindle, your eyes can't flip over to the next page and see if they are really dead! Love that!
DeleteThat's what happens to me too. I figure I have a very firm biological clock – I wake up between six and seven no matter how late I stayed up. And then I suffer LOL
DeleteKinda like finishing fine wine. If you leave a bit in the bottle for next time and don't return for awhile it inevitably turns sour
ReplyDeleteI finish a book if I'm close when I can. Sometimes I'm starting to fall asleep so I stop, or if I'm reading at work and actually have to go do some job related stuff, I have to stop by necessity.
ReplyDeleteOther times, I'll simply push through to finish because I HAVE to know what happens.
I usually start to doze off around 10 (especially on weeknights). The weekends are a completely different animal. I can and have stayed up way too late, and some of the Reds have been the cause of that.
ReplyDeleteBut stop 20 pages from the end? I'll force myself to stay up at that point.
Mary/Liz
Last night at an event I interviewed Pagan Kennedy, she is marvelous, and as a science of journalist. ( she had a column called who did that? In the New York Times Sunday Magazine for years.) . She has a new book called Inventology, which is a study of how our imaginations work, and where the major inventions in our lives came from, and how inventors came up with everything from super soakers to tennis ball hopper to smoke alarms. I asked her if she had ever invented anything, and she says she has invented a books on tape reader that you can wear to put you to sleep…
ReplyDeleteSort of an anti-insomnia machine, the air buds are comfy, and you can sleep with them in. But she says sometimes she stays up listening to the book…
One of my friends has to put one of the Harry Potter books on audio every night for his kids to fall asleep to. It has to start on the exact same page every night! He has no idea why they chose that particular place in the book, and he says it isn't a particularly relaxing scene, but it does the trick!
DeleteI read in bed, and have a lovely new bed for that, but I also read at the breakfast table, and stick a book in my purse for spare moments of waiting throughout the day. I generally read more in the morning, and have been known to look at the book, look at the clock, check to see where the chapter ends, look at the clock, and decide, "Screw it. I'm just going to be late for work." Knowing this about myself, I try to stop about 50 pages before the end, so I'm not seriously late for work.
ReplyDeleteI like Hank's trick of picking up something else to read, if I'm too close to the end without enough time to finish. I always have a stack of "something elses" on my nightstand.
I do, too! How does this happen to us :-)?
ReplyDeleteWhen I can no longer keep my eyes open, I stop.
ReplyDeleteYes, I do the same thing, pick up something else on the nightstand. If I know it will take me an hour to finish I book I'm really loving, and I don't have an hour, I'll pick up something else to read for just a few minutes.
ReplyDeleteAnd Flora! I will do the same with a really good book, go back and reread the end, and the best bits.
Great post! I enjoyed all the comments here. Your post reminded me of something. I always like to read books in a series again before a new book in the series is launched. I was reading one of the Maisie Dobbs novels and I was so engrossed that I read all night! By the time I finished, it was the crack of dawn! I could not believe that I read until the morning! I think I just could not sleep!
ReplyDeleteNow when there is a really good novel, if there are 30 chapters, for example, I try to stop half way if I know that I need to get up early. I stick to the plan of stopping at Chapter 15. If I am almost finished with a novel, I stop and put in a bookmark (e.g. one of the many bookmarks I picked up at Malice 2016).
Sometimes I do fall asleep while reading a novel because I am too tired to continue. Somehow I manage to put in a bookmark and set it on a side table!
Lucy,
ReplyDeleteI like to savor good books too.
Diana
I don't really have a stopping point. In fact, since I read on my lunch hour and breaks, I've learned to put my book down when the clock says I have to go back to work even though it absolutely kills me sometimes. (Like when the killer has just confronted the main character and plans to kill them and I see no possible way out of the situation.)
ReplyDeleteAnd my favorite cure for insomnia is reading. Reading relaxes my brain and puts me to sleep. Yes, even in a situation like I just described above. Sometimes, I'm awake enough to put the book down and turn off the light. Other times, I wake up with the light on and my fingers in the book. I usually remember where I left off, fortunately, although I have had a dream or two about what happened next in the book that I need to remember were just dreams.
I usually judge if I'm going to stop based on the width of pages left and not number of pages. I know how fast I read based on thickness.
ReplyDeleteWhich is weird because I'm a bit of a numbers person but that's how I've always been.
Do you check to make sure all those pages are part of the novel, Aimee? Sometimes I get thrown for a loop when the acknowledgments take up multiple pages or there are blank pages at the end. Then I feel discombobulated!
DeleteYes Ingrid! Or it could be recipes or the first chapter in the next book, very unsettling…
DeleteI do. I put my finger in to mark where the end of story is. 😊
DeleteI would stop if there was 20 or so pages left at midnight because I want to be able to remember the ending and think about it a little bit before I go to sleep
ReplyDeleteI read downstairs at night. Husband conks out early and does not appreciate my reading in bed. I look at the thickness of what is left in a book to read. And the number of pages. And how involved I am in the story. I sat up til the wee hours a couple of nights ago to finish Too Lucky to Live by Annie Hogsett. Lord, I love those characters. Can't wait for the next one.
ReplyDeleteOh. And I also reread the "good bits" the next day.
DeleteI don't know that author, will have to look her up.
DeleteInteresting question, and answers.
ReplyDeleteFirst, I'm retired, so the worry about having to get up early and go to work is moot for me.
I can't read in bed. It's just impossible for me to get comfortable reading prone, and trying to pile up pillows and sit up and scoot back and so on just doesn't work for me. I wind up with an aching back, sore neck, and usually a headache. So I read in a nice comfy leather chair, good reading lamp on the side table. When my eyes get tired, I close the book and head for bed.
But what if there isn't that much book left to read? I'm not a rapid reader, so more than 10 or 15 pages is a stopping point for me. Twenty pages definitely. I'd rather have just those few pages to look forward to in the morning, when I'll read them after breakfast, with my coffee. When I'm finished, I'll fire up the computer, add the book to my "books read" list, and then start thinking which book from the TBR I want to begin. I may not start that next book until afternoon, there are things to be done, after all, and I like a little break between books, but a few hours is usually enough.
Oh, and another thing: if I'm close to the end of a chapter, I'll make that a stopping point, same if I'm reading a short story, I'll try to finish it.
ReplyDeleteReading doesn't make me sleepy, but I can't go to sleep unless I've read something recreational right before bed. Even just a couple of minutes. I don't wake with a book on my chest, but I will stop reading immediately when I realize I'm too tired to really comprehend what I'm reading--even if I only have a few pages to go. I love reading so much, and I want to make sure I get every wonderful bit of magic out of a book that an author puts into it.
ReplyDeleteThe act of reading doesn't necessarily make me sleepy. It is more of when I'm reading that does that. If I am reading what passes for late at night for me these days, I can find myself waking up a little while later and realizing I fell asleep.
DeleteBut since I do that while watching TV as well, I'm pretty sure it is because I'm "old and tired" not bored with what I'm reading/watching.
Sometimes my eyes will close against my will, leaving me to wake up in an hour or so to finish. Other times I've dutifully gone to bed, only to toss and turn and get back up to read my friends to a place of safety. A colleague's students would often look at her eyes and say, "What were you reading?" knowing she was short on sleep. She called it modeling a love of reading.
ReplyDeleteBelieve me, it's not hard to look ahead on the Kindle to see what happens next or see how close it is to the end of the chapter! I do it quite often!
ReplyDeleteI try not to read mysteries too close to bedtime if I'm near the end of the book, but if it's the weekend I'll often stay up to finish one. Last night I wasn't feeling well and was unable to sleep. Since I didn't have much left to read in the book I started reading over the weekend I decided to finish it. I read to the end and then downloaded the next book in the series, read the prologue and the first chapter, and then ordered myself to go to bed! Still couldn't sleep but had a whole new book to look forward to!
Deb Romano
That's the thing with the Kindle isn't it? You can satisfy your hunger for the next book immediately! Hope you're feeling better today Deb
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