What’s The Longest You’ve Gone Without Reading Any Fiction? (4/23/23)

[Marc]

What's the longest break you've had from reading any fiction? Was it by choice? And, how much of a break, if any, do you prefer between reads---do you start a new book the day you finish a book, do you wait a day or so, or does it vary greatly for you?

[Tracy]

I think that was waaaayyy back in college, when I didn’t have time to read much else than text books. Although I did tend to have a novel going for a break from the science. I just didn’t read as many books as normal.

Break between reads? That is rare- I usually jump right into the next book.
However, if a book was so good that it gives me a hangover, I might take a day or two off, or switch to another genre, like nonfiction.

Or, I might jump down the rabbit hole and either read all the books by this author, or learn all I can about the topic of the book.

[Hugh]

I didn't keep records of what I was reading when I was at school, but it is possible that I went several years of reading only non-fiction back then. I rarely leave a significant gap between books, though sometimes social events stop me reading for a whole day.

[Robert]

From 2006 - 2008 I did not even touch a book. This was because I had some significant life changes and picking up a book would exhaust me.

I went to Barcelona and took a book with me, hoping it would restore my pace and it did! I definitely made up for the lost time

[Lark]

a few hours?

[Robert]

Lark wrote: "a few hours?"

I mean my reading pace picked up a lot after that

[Alwynne]

I think about six months a few years ago, got hooked on streaming and was mostly reading 20th century history.

[Lesley]

I didn't read anything except short magazine articles for about a year after my partner died. I couldn't maintain concentration. Apart from that it's been every day since I learnt to read - excepting brief periods of acute illness.

[RJ - Slayer of Trolls]

I think about 27 years ago when I moved in with my girlfriend (later my wife, later my baby-mama-ex-wife) and took a new job that had a 90-minute commute each way I had a few weeks where I didn't read much of anything. A lot of adjustments had to be made in my life lol.

[Franky]

Lark wrote: "a few hours?"

That is about the length of my break, too. I try to read every single day and most of the time it is fiction. I am not a big nonfiction fan, so if I'm reading most likely it is fiction.

[Ellen]

The past few years, I've had more spells (weeks) of not being able to focus on fiction--reading more poetry and essays.

The longest though is 40 years ago--after my mother died, I couldn't read fiction for about a year. In fact, I couldn't read anything for months.