Question about letting a non-fiction book sit on a specific topic for months between chapters

I was at the library in Bend, Oregon last month and overheard two people arguing at the book club table. One said they read a chapter of a history book (about the Donner Party) then waited 4 months before finishing it. The other person called that "cheating" because you lose the thread. I do this all the time (like with a book on volcanic eruptions I started in January and just finished last week). Does anyone else pause a non-fiction book for weeks or months, or do you have to plow through it in one go? How do you handle book club discussions when you take those long breaks?

2 comments

2 Comments

hall.quinn15d ago

Who cares if it's "cheating"? Reading isn't a competition and there's no rules committee for finishing books. I put down a book on the Great Chicago Fire for like six months and picked it right back up without any trouble. For book club just skim the last chapter you read again or look up a quick summary online.

nancyd8515d ago

Oh gosh, yes! I do the same thing all the time. I start like five books at once and then forget where I left off, and honestly I just skim a chapter summary online and it's totally fine. The whole point of reading is to enjoy it, not to pass some test. I picked up a novel about a family moving to Alaska after three months away and just read the last few pages again to get back into it. No shame in that game, it's better than giving up on the book entirely.