Let’s Talk Bookish – Book Stopping Places

Aria @ Book Nook Bits is the new host for Let’s Talk Bookish! If you aren’t following her yet, good check out her blog and give her a follow!

 March 3: Book Stopping Places? (suggested by me!)

Prompts: Are you the type of reader able to stop reading just anywhere? In the middle of a sentence? Paragraph? Or do you need to reach the end of a chapter before stopping? What do you do if you can’t stop at a good point – do you have to go back right away to stop at a better place? Do you use bookmarks in a special way to remember where exactly you are? How uncomfortable does it make you to stop in the middle of an exciting part of the book, and how do you deal with that?

Welcome to another week here at LTB! Today’s topic was suggested by none other than yours truly. I thought about it one day and wondered, what does everyone else do regarding this? So I just had to submit it. Thanks to Aria for taking it up and posting it though!

I am usually not the type of reader to stop anywhere. Ideally I like to stop at the end of a chapter. Or at the very least at the end of a paragraph. Or if I’m desperate to leave at the end of a sentence. See the pattern here? I think one of the big problems about stopping randomly is that things usually take place in a chapter because it follows the same train of thought, idea, or general storyline; if you stop for too long and forget to come back, you basically have to re-read the whole chapter again lest you forget where you were. Unless you pick it back up quickly enough, of course.

I usually attempt to just keep going when I come back to the book. Usually, if it was just a quick break for something like an interrupting parent or pet, it really isn’t a big deal. I do recall having to read the same page a couple of times sometimes though, just to try and figure out what exact frame of mind I was in, and what exactly was happening to the story. Sometimes you just can’t choose when you are interrupted though, no matter how hard you try. And that’s just how it is.

I usually read books on my library app on my phone, so I don’t need to use bookmarks for that. But for physical books, I often will put the bookmark sideways to indicate which line I am on. Sounds smart right? Except that usually when I come back to it, I don’t remember which side I was referring to anyway (left page or right page), and even if I did, I don’t truly just start from the same line. Admitting this, I’m not even sure why I bookmark it that way—I usually just end up scanning or skimming the whole page anyway to find where I was.

Let’s just say…I don’t like being interrupted while reading. I like choosing where to stop, and deliberately putting it down. Not expecting to have to stop and being interrupted really interrupts the flow of a reading session. That being said, obviously sometimes it just can’t be helped. But the only real solution is, like many of you have said, is just to put it down and get right back to it as soon as possible. And that’s definitely the solution I go by too. No one likes leaving the book at the best part! I am already super guilty of needing to finish books despite my other obligations, and this is of course especially the case when I find the story riveting.

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And that’s a wrap! Thanks for participating in my prompt everyone! Point me to your own answers in the comments and let’s see how you all take breaks in your reading! Do any of you have any special habits for stopping places?