Do you sometimes feel you need a few days off after reading a really good book?

[Ann Herrick]

Sometimes I get so caught up in a story, and in the characters, especially, that I need a few days before I can get into another book. It's as if those characters are hanging around, not wanting to be forgotten! 

[mooshie78]

I'm the opposite.  When I read something really great it rekindles my passion for reading some and I'm more anxious to read something else.

It's when I read something disappointing or boring that I get a little out of the habit of reading and maybe don't start up a new book right away.

[Jeff Shelby]

Ann, I'm with you.  I always need a few days off.  I miss the characters - it's like they were people who came to stay at my house and they left and I miss them.  I have to decompress a little.

[gdae23]

I also feel that way Ann. When I finish a good book, I leave it in my "Currently Reading" folder for a few days (or leave it out if it's a physical book) even though I'm technically done with it. I'm not really done until I finish savoring it for a while.

[Tony Richards]

I'm the opposite.  When I read something really great it rekindles my passion for reading some and I'm more anxious to read something else.

I'm the same. Although I generally like to read soemthing completely different from the last book.

[Chad Winters]

Sometimes I do have to let it percolate, and I feel like changing worlds immediately prevents that

[J.R.Mooneyham]

The last ten books I read were the Vorkosigan saga by Lois McMaster Bujold, in a several week frenzy. It's been maybe a month or so since I finished the last one, and I've not yet started a new book. Partly it's because the series was so wonderful that it's satiated me reading-wise for while (I now consider those ten volumes to be among the best of the 2000 plus books I've read over my life, and Bujold the top all around story teller of those).

I also need a break to give other books/authors a chance at capturing my imagination again: for Bujold may be the worst possible author to have to follow in that regard, since she's so spectacular across the board.

What's truly amazing is that not more people know about her: but apparently her book covers, her book reviews, and book synopses all fail miserably at conveying the power and quality of her stories. I almost never read my first book of her collection, because of those. Basically I was hurting for something new to read, saw some recommendations for it, and decided what the heck? I'll try it.

If anyone else wants to start this journey, keep in mind that her stories have been published sort of haphazardly in various ways, so that it can be difficult to read them in proper chronological order, and without overlap of some material between titles. The most economical and efficient reading seems to consist of ten books, beginning with Cordelia's Honor. Yeah: it doesn't seem like that great of a title, until after you've read a good chunk of it, after which it becomes incredibly on target.

However, this collection of stories in one of those rare ones that you will mourn completing, after you're done, because there is no more, and nothing else like it out there.

[Geemont]

The problem with taking time off afterwards is that time moves on and something will need to fill the empty space if not reading.  I haven't enjoyed movies or TV in decades, so that staple is out.  I suppose I could write a detailed review of my impressions or thoughts.  But usually the easy path is to just pick up the next book.  The best thing, after a great book, I guess, would be to pick something completely different.  If it was science fiction, start a literary novel or non-fiction--something to take you somewhere else.

Or maybe I should have more interests.

[cheriereich]

Sometimes I can read books back to back, but other times, I do want a few days between them. I find my reading slows down when I don't give myself that time after reading a particularly powerful book. I just want to savor their characters and world, I suppose.

[Chad Winters]

The last ten books I read were the Vorkosigan saga by Lois McMaster Bujold, in a several week frenzy. It's been maybe a month or so since I finished the last one, and I've not yet started a new book. Partly it's because the series was so wonderful that it's satiated me reading-wise for while (I now consider those ten volumes to be among the best of the 2000 plus books I've read over my life, and Bujold the top all around story teller of those).

I also need a break to give other books/authors a chance at capturing my imagination again: for Bujold may be the worst possible author to have to follow in that regard, since she's so spectacular across the board.

What's truly amazing is that not more people know about her: but apparently her book covers, her book reviews, and book synopses all fail miserably at conveying the power and quality of her stories. I almost never read my first book of her collection, because of those. Basically I was hurting for something new to read, saw some recommendations for it, and decided what the heck? I'll try it.

If anyone else wants to start this journey, keep in mind that her stories have been published sort of haphazardly in various ways, so that it can be difficult to read them in proper chronological order, and without overlap of some material between titles. The most economical and efficient reading seems to consist of ten books, beginning with Cordelia's Honor. Yeah: it doesn't seem like that great of a title, until after you've read a good chunk of it, after which it becomes incredibly on target.

However, this collection of stories in one of those rare ones that you will mourn completing, after you're done, because there is no more, and nothing else like it out there.

Agreed, I love her
Try the Omnibus editions at Baen.com if you're just starting. Its a very cheap way to go

[mooshie78]

The problem with taking time off afterwards is that time moves on and something will need to fill the empty space if not reading.  I haven't enjoyed movies or TV in decades, so that staple is out.  I suppose I could write a detailed review of my impressions or thoughts.  But usually the easy path is to just pick up the next book.  The best thing, after a great book, I guess, would be to pick something completely different.  If it was science fiction, start a literary novel or non-fiction--something to take you somewhere else.

Or maybe I should have more interests.

Yeah, I'm a person that has a lot of interests and I'm not super into any one of my hobbies.  I work a good bit as well, so my free time is somewhat limited.  And it gets juggled between movies, reading, tv, watching sports, video games, goofing online etc.

It just varies from time to time on what I spend more of my free time on.  Lately I've been watching a ton of movies.  Sometimes I get sucked into a great video game and that's all I do in my free time for a couple of weeks.  Sports eats up more time around the playoffs of the sports I follow.

Reading I do pretty consistently as I usually always read at least a chapter or two at night before sleeping.  But sometimes I get sucked into a great book or series of books and read more than that.  Not counting all the reading I have to do for work as a professor!  Which is part of why I tend to spend more free time on other hobbies!

[belindaf]

I like to take a few days off to digest the last story, too. On the other hand, reading a great book encourages me, after that short break, to pick up another book right away. I've had the opposite happen, too, where I read a book I just couldn't get into and didn't want to read for a while after.

[Julia444]

Yes! I sometimes think of that blank time after a great book ends as a period of mourning.  I have lost something that was important to me, and I can't imagine something else taking its place.

It's a post-reading void.

Julia

[Jan Strnad]

I'll take a break, too, and then leap into something very different, such as going from a powerful work of fiction to a non-fiction book about worms or somesuch. (I'm not kidding about the worms, BTW. Amy Stewart's "The Earth Moved" is great! You'll never look at a worm the same way again!)

[tamaraheiner]

Oh yes, I know what you mean! It's like I'm not ready to let them go. I keep "reliving" the moments from the book, savoring the intimacy I feel with those characters. I'd rather immerse myself with them again than move on to another "relationship."

[Atunah]

No, not really. I read a lot, I love reading. I mean I really love reading and I love reading good books. So when I read something I totally loved, I want to read another good book right away, as I love the feeling of having read a great book. 

I have books that always stay with me, the stories, the characters, the emotions I felt,  but it has nothing to do with what else I read. I can easily multitask like that. Some books stay with me for years so I would never read anything again if I needed to wait to digest.  .

I do get in slumps sometimes, usually when I read something that doesn't quite touch me, or when I don't feel good.

At the most I go a day without reading.

[history_lover]

I'm the same. Although I generally like to read soemthing completely different from the last book.

Same here! Otherwise, I wind up comparing them too much and of course nothing would live up to the really good one I just read.

[pahiker]

No time off.  After reading a really good book, I just jump to the next book in hopes that it's another really good book!

[Pawz4me]

No time off here, I can't imagine how I'd fill the void.  But like others have said, I do generally choose a different genre or a non-fiction book for my next read.

[MrPLD]

I remember as a youth, when I got to the end of the Belgariad series, I felt completely detached.  I ended up reading the last book at least two more times so I wouldn't feel so alone in the world.

[FrankZubek]

Decompress. Good word.

Now a really good book will get me to drop most of my daily routine and I'll just sit there turning page after page totally absorbed. And then once its finished I take an hour or two and savor it like you would an especially good meal.

And even after I have begun something else- whether its the same genre or not- the characters from the last book are still in my head

But on the other hand... if I had a bad book experience there have been a few times when I give it the old 100 page test. If the book hasn't grabbed me by then I drop it like a rock and move on. But like any bad day or experience it also tends to linger. But not as long as the good experience.

[Borislava Borissova]

Reading is a pleasure for me, not a competition. I have never said myself I must read ten or twenty books in the next three or four, or five months. If I like a book, I rather would re-read it intstead of taking a new one. I want from a story to absorb me, to draw me longer than to be in a hurry for the next one.

[Kim Sheard]

Now a really good book will get me to drop most of my daily routine and I'll just sit there turning page after page totally absorbed. And then once its finished I take an hour or two and savor it like you would an especially good meal.

And even after I have begun something else- whether its the same genre or not- the characters from the last book are still in my head

Absolutely this!

I find that a good book spurs me forward into reading more... no matter what it may be. But that the characters and story lines can stay with me even after the book has been put down and the next one picked up... in a way, I am never sure if I really want the next one to be quite as good. Sometimes I will intentionally choose something that isnt as much in my normal reading set just to make sure that I don't taint any other similar stories with the same brush. And, that allows me to savour the last story more too.

[Straker]

Reading is a pleasure for me, not a competition.

Agreed. The idea of setting a goal for myself of reading X number of books in a month or a year has never appealed to me. As in most things it's the quality, not the quantity, that counts.

Regarding the OP's question, I definitely like to take a break after a particularly good book, especially if it was a long one. And when I do start on the next book, I'll often choose something that's very different in order to "cleanse the palate," so to speak.

[George Hamilton]

A really good book can seep through my mind for months if not years, so I can't put off reading another one for that time. I usually like to find another great book if I'm not too busy with other things. If I have to struggle through a book which is not so good, it can stop me reading another book for a while, unless I'm sure that I'll really enjoy and whizz through it.

[Lursa (aka 9MMare)]

No time off.  After reading a really good book, I just jump to the next book in hopes that it's another really good book!

Agreed. As soon as I finish, I'm back standing in front of the book shelf looking for the next one...usually something in a different genre or of another theme. Or these days, skimming my collections on my Kindle. Still doing both actually.

I do understand the person who said that sometimes you miss the characters. I feel that too sometimes, even more surprising since I'm not real character-oriented. But the fictional suckers do get to me sometimes!

Note: I'm usually reading one non-fiction and one fiction book at the same time.

[Dara England]

If I've been reading an intense story that really excites my emotions I often feel like I need a little break when I get to the end. Just a few days rest before I plunge into the next book.

[Darlene Jones]

That has happened to me too. Sometimes the feeling has been so strong, it has prompted me to reread the book right away - more slowly the second time - to savor.

[Sylvia Day]

Sometimes I get so caught up in a story, and in the characters, especially, that I need a few days before I can get into another book.

It doesn't happen to me often, but I sure love it when it does. I take a few days off to savor the experience.

[Ann Herrick]

Several have mentioned reading a non-fiction book after reading a particularly enjoyable novel. I think I'm going to have to do that this time. I waited a bit before picking up another novel, but I have the other novel's characters still very much in my mind! So I will turn to non-fiction. 

[DYB]

Yes, absolutely!  Sometimes you just need to let your brain cleanse before moving on to something else.

[jumbojohnny]

It is the other way round for me. Once I've finished a book I want, perhaps need, to start another one straight away. The only concession to that is I would prefer the next to be the same genre and preferably from the same series if it is a series, but, apart from that, I just like to carry straight on to the next one.

[DH_Sayer]

I find that I can't launch right into another book after almost anything I read... but especially if the book was really, really good. It's like I need time to soak in all the goodness.

[patrickt]

I was asked my "goal" in my reading and I said, "At my age, my goal is to finish this book before I die." So, I start another book was quickly as possible.

[slandon36]

I'm actually just sad when I finish a good book or a series.  Its like part of the family moving out or something. 

[Rebecca Burke]

V. funny, PatrickT. I'm not old enough to have that thought, but no doubt will someday.

I only have this feeling of wanting a little break when I have absolutely loved a book. If it's kind of meh and I've just plugged away at it, then I'm desperate to have another good book in my hands asap.

Recently The Sense of An Ending by Julian Barnes had this effect on me (and others, if you believe its reviews). Its world was so richly drawn and psychologically acute, that I didn't want to enter any other fictional world too soon.

Like some other commenter said, it's almost like a relationship. You don't want to be disloyal by forgetting about a good book's characters and author too soon. If you were an author, this would be the highest praise.

Think of all the kids reading the Harry Potter books. You KNOW they were not willing to walk away from the world Harry and Hogwarts just because they turned the last page.

[Eltanin Publishing]

Yes, I often want something of a pause, but rather than reading nothing, I'll often read a short story, or periodical, or non-fiction - something short so that I'm not diving right back into something intense again.

[Guardian]

Yep. One of the most memorable was the H.M.S. Ulysses by Alistair MacLean. That one got few days of mourning.

[tinytoy]

No time off.  After reading a really good book, I just jump to the next book in hopes that it's another really good book!

This is me too.  But I do occasionally have a hard time transitioning from one book to the next.  It takes me a few chapters to absorb the new characters, writing style, etc.