Every Sunday I try to pick a new bookish topic to discuss. Have an idea for a discussion post? Just leave a comment or send me an email at christinathebookreader@gmail.com
I know that all books are different, but one of the reasons that I love YA is because many of the books have short chapters. And then every once in a while I run into a book with super long chapters and I get really peeved. Why? You may ask. Or you may have already figured it out.
Well, I'm personally not a very fast reader (don't pay attention to my reading challenge seriously. I don't have a life at all. I just sit home and read lol). But I'm very picky about where I stop when I'm reading a book. It has to be at the end of a chapter, or at a break in a chapter, like this:
(and yes that is Throne of Glass)
I get really annoyed when I have to stop in the middle of a chapter. I don't get the closure I need and when I start back to reading I have trouble finding my place on the page, remembering what was happening. I remember reading one of the ASOFAF books (I think it was A Storm of Swords) and there was this one really really long Tyrion chapter. Half of the info I felt either wasn't relevant or could've been done by another perspective. And the chapter just went on and on and on. And I just wanted to go to sleep, but I refused to until I finished the chapter (which ended up being two hours later). So yeah, I really prefer short chapters. I think they give a good sense of closure and don't drag things out longer than necessary.
How do you feel about chapter lengths?
Oh I agree I absolutely hate stopping in the middle of the chapter! I really prefer to stop and take a break once I finish a chapter, but if I have to I'll break at middle points with breaks.
ReplyDeleteI know! I hate having to search the entire page to figure out where I stopped. And it's nice to get a sense of closure from the end of the chapter. Like you know you just finished something so you're starting a new part pf the book. I listened to The Queen of the Tearling on audiobook and my big gripe was the 2 hour chapters that could have been five different chapters. It seriously bugged me.
DeleteI hate stopping in the middle of a chapter! Regarding chapter length, I don't have a preference because I think that chapters are there to control the pacing of the book, so I don't mind reading a book with chapters that vary in length, as long as the book flows well =)
ReplyDelete