Bah! I hate finishing a book and having to start a new one

[SprogTakesAQuarry]

It seems disproportionately hard every time!

I struggle to even finish the book. But yes I agree.

Agreed! I finished a book early last week. I've been walking around with 3 possibles and my kindle since then trying to decide. 🤦🏻‍♀️

It's especially difficult if you've been very involved in the previous book.

Yes! I always dither over what to read next and have a small fear that I'm going to hate whatever I pick. It's ridiculous.

I even resorted to using a "decisions" app, effectively flipping a coin to decide. And it doesn't actually solve the issue at all. 😞

Yes this very much about the fear. It makes me feel defective but now I know I'm not alone.

I agree. I find alternating between fiction and non fiction helps.
I finished Legends and Lattes (fantasy thing) yesterday, today I started In Her Nature (about women in the outdoors).

Agreed. I get invested in the characters and find it hard to accept I'll never hear from them again.

It's hard, isn't it! I tend to read either an author or a genre though and this does ease it a bit as either I get to stick with the voice, style or issues that an author or genre cover.

The better the last book, the harder it is.

Do you think scientists have ever studied way the brain works at different stages of reading a book? Like it’s cognitively much harder at the start - but by the end you’re involved in some kind of compulsive, dopamine type loop.

I agree it's hard. There is also some adjusting, new book's writing style, characters. If it's hard to start, I try skipping a few pages and reading an interesting bit so I could get into it easier.

Was wondering if people read different books at once or if they start with one and then another.

I get terrible book hangovers and find it hard to start something new. This year I am just making myself pick up the next book and read a chapter the same day I finish the previous book. It's worked pretty well so far and I haven't had that whole 'it's been a week and I still can't summon any enthusiasm for something new'.

I think it's particularly hard if you read a really good book, I think it's almost easier in those situations to read a trashy novel as a palate cleanser before moving on to something with more meat.

I have a pile of books and I take the top one - means I’m not choosing.

it is harder if you’ve really invested in a book and in that case I switch to non-fiction or read a book by the same author. I also give my self time to actively think through what ive read and that makes it easier to move on

I’m going to try this. Just go straight away. It’s so rubbishy to end up playing on my phone.

I also think it's to do with the personal nature of reading. People get very involved and binge watch tv series for example. But there's less personal effort in comparison to reading. Most of the time it's just you and what's written on the page. Going at entirely your own pace. It's a very private experience, a very private relationship on the whole.

Me too.

I have been reading through my daughters box set of Famous Five books, I loved them when I was little, so if I finish a book that was so good I can't decide what's next, or recently one so dark I needed light fluff in between, I just grab one of these. Also working my way through all the Agatha Christie books in order, pretty much guaranteed to be good, and both are short books, so I can chose my next read while I read these.

Move immediately onto a familiar old favourite before starting a new book. This probably contributes to my compulsive rereading.

I do, occasionally, in a book I've loved, just flip back to the beginning and start again. I did it with Hilary Mantel's Wolf Hall. And I did it with Rebecca West's The Fountain Overflows trilogy. And I read my favourite Bronte novels as a roughly annual 'circuit'.