[Book review] Discussion: Do Short Chapters Make You Read More?

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So I’ve noticed something a little peculiar about my reading habits, lately.

I read Ignite Me not too long ago, which, like the other Shatter Me books, has very short chapters. It has 416 pages and seventy-eight chapters, which averages about five pages a chapter. And I noticed, while reading, that I had a tendency of saying “one more chapter” over and over and over again because they were so short, it was easy to read another chapter without worrying about a major time commitment.

A few days ago, however, I was reading a book with 377 pages and twenty-five chapters, which averages about fifteen pages a chapter. And it was a good book, and I enjoyed it, but I noticed when I reached the end of the chapter, I was way less likely to read another chapter if I had any time constraints whatsoever.

I imagine this is partially because I don’t like to stop reading mid-chapter (though I will if I have to for some reason), so before starting the next chapter, I sometimes have to consider how much time it’s going to take me to finish the chapter. And if it’s getting really late, or I’m getting tired, for example, chances are I’m going to put it down for another day. (Note: This only applies to print books, because I don’t usually go through the trouble of checking with e-books).

But not so with short chapters. I’ve been known to breeze through three or four short chapters (even though it’s the equivalent of one long chapter) because psychologically I guess, it just seems like it’s not going to take me too long. Which is silly. But I do it anyway.

So I’m curious to see if anyone else does this, too. Do short chapters encourage you to read more, or is it just me?

Twitter-sized bite:

Do you tend to read books with short chapters quickly? Join the discussion at @Ava_Jae's blog. (Click to tweet)

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