I finished a book today. Well, mostly I finished it last night. But I have a few rituals I follow when I'm finishing a book... and I've only just discovered them, but I've done them for maybe forever.
When I see the end coming, I slow down. And I speed up. Sometimes simultaneously. I skip ahead, and then I jump back to pore over every word that I skipped. It's like I want to get to the very last scene, and yet I don't want this to end before I have absorbed it all.
And then it ends. And then I read the last few paragraphs again, because it feels like the end of a conversation and I want to finish it well. I want her to know I was really listening.
And then I add it to my list of books I have read, and I feel a little sad to be done with it but also a little proud of myself for fitting yet another book title into my life.
And then I get excited to start the next one. Right now.
That's what I do.
1 comment:
There is one more step for me. I have to sit and think about how much I'll miss the person in the story and wonder about what she's doing now -- today. Since clearly her story has moved on without me, even if she is entirely fictional.
Yeah, you come by it honest. We have lots of steps in the process of thorough book reading.
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