Sometimes I get to the end of a book and set it aside before reading the final pages.
It’s not that I don’t want to know what happens—quite the opposite.
I set it down because I don’t want the book to be over. Don’t want to say goodbye to the characters, the world. It’s almost as if finishing the book means I’ll lose a relationship I don’t ever want to end.
So I savor the last few pages. And may even plan how to keep the story going after I’m done. Or at least revisit something I loved about the book in some way.
I can read other books by the same author (a bit like meeting the siblings of a partner), so might make a list of those. I can read books the author was influenced by, and might do a little research.
I can reread the book a few years later (or sooner!) so might set it aside to return to. I may do a deeper dive right away, take some notes. Reread favorite passages. Ponder the meaning and craft. As a creative writing instructor I may even add some material to a handout so I can teach a little about what I loved.
If the book is part of a series, all the better—I have more to look forward to. Unless (and this happens all too often!) the next book just isn’t quite the same. But maybe the book after it will scratch that itch.
I know that some writers even go so far as to write their own fan fiction in the worlds of the books they loved to read—a satisfying way to creatively re-enter those worlds for a while.
But as bittersweet as it is, at some point I will finish the book and close its covers and feel a little bereft. Though I take solace in the fact that I’m not really “breaking up” with the book. I can pick up another and fall in love all over again—guilt free.