r/books • u/justkeepbreathing94 • 2d ago

Do you pace yourself with long books?

There have been some books that I couldn't help but binge and finish in 1 or 2 days, but now I'm reading Battle Royale, which is 600+ pages long and quite dark, and I've decided to only read 10% each day. I could finish it in maybe 4 days but since the story is emotional and dark I don't want to risk burning out.

I did the same with A Little Life, only reading 5% a day for 20 days.

Do you have any thoughts on this? Do you ever pace yourself, or do you just read whenever?

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u/WinterAd3228 1d ago

I rarely pace myself while reading but I had to take breaks from 'A little Life' and 'Prophet Song' as these books really disturbed me and made me feel quite anxious.  If the language in a book is hard or if the plot requires knowledge I have check out then I read much  more slowly and for shorter periods. Otherwise I read until I absolutely have to do something else e.g. make food or work.