BTT: The End

You’ve just reached the end of a book . . . what do you do now? Savor and muse over the book? Dive right into the next one? Go take the dog for a walk, the kids to the park, before even thinking about the next book you’re going to read? What?

(Obviously, there can be more than one answer, here–a book with a cliff-hanger is going to engender different reactions than a serene, stand-alone, but you get the idea!) — BTT

I’ve just reached the end of a book — and odds are, I’ve already got the next one in hand. I go from book to book like I go from breath to breath: steadily, near constantly, and mostly without thinking much about it.

There are some different factors determining what book I go on to next. If I read one of a series, I’ll probably go to the next in the series — unless I’ve read the series before — unless I’m reading through the series again. If it’s a stand-alone, I may choose something in the same genre or by the same author or with the same general theme. Or, I might close my eyes and point at a bookshelf, and pick whatever is under my finger. During term time, I will often go on to the next book on one of my reading lists — which is often thematically linked to what I finished (the next Canadian novel, or the next Victorian novel, or the next renaissance play).

I feel like I always need to have a book to read, and perhaps a next-book to read as well. Rather than going to the park or taking a walk before thinking about what to read next, I think about what to read next so that I can go to the park or take a walk (anyway, do people do those things without bringing books along?).