I'm sure that a lot of you are, like me, typically pretty quick readers.  Most of my books I'm done with in just a day or two (sometimes an hour or two).

Are there books that you loved reading so much that you just took as much time as you could and spread the book out longer than it would normally take?

Right now, I'm reading The Mistress of the Art of Death.  I'd intended to start and finish it this past Sunday, but I'm enjoying it so much that I've decided to spread it out over at least a week or so.

I have been reading the Black Dagger Brotherhood series and I know just what you are saying. I am a very fast reader and when I reached book 5 of 6 I made myself slow down because I know that the end is in sight and I hate that.

Stephen King's The Stand was like that for me.  It took almost two months for me to finish, partly because of its length, partly because I'd have to stop after important parts and just absorb what had happened.  That usually only happens for me with really long books where I get very emotionally invested in the characters and events.

All the Harry Potter books. When I finished that last page, I was SO sad. Knowing that there won't be anymore made me quite depressed!

The book I I can remember really savoring was Beach Music by Pat Conroy. He has a way with a description that makes me go back and read some paragraphs several times just so I can really picture what he's describing.

This is one book that I'll never offer on PBS because I read it with a pencil in one hand and underlined the paragraphs that I loved. Writing in books isn't something I do very often!

Another one is A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving. I've read it many times but I always slow down when I'm getting near the end. I know the ending and it's something I really don't want to happen.

I don't have that kind of patience. If I really love a book, I will lose sleep until it's done lol.

There ARE some books I read slowly on purpose, to make them last longer, ones invoking a setting that I love, usually small British towns.  (Barbara Pym, Maeve Binchy, Rosemunde Pilcher.)  Then there are fiction books that are written with beautiful language, where you want to read and savor the actual sounds of the words--instead of your eye sweeping over the sentences to get the gist of the meaning.  Those take longer.  I also read advanced psychology books because the subject interests me so much, and those (and any serious non-fiction) take a while because you have to concentrate to comprehend the subject matter.  Lighter fiction, cozy mysteries, and non-fiction written for a mass audience--I can read quickly.  When I look at my TBR piles I sometimes think I should read faster, but since the idea is to enjoy the books, I will adapt to the reading speed demanded by the book of the moment!

I've had a couple of books like that lately...as I read them I caught myself slowing down because I didn't want them to end.

Cypress Point by Diana Chamberlain

Prospect Street by Emilie Richards

Water for Elephants... I was so sad when it was over!  I actually slept with it under my pillow for a few days!

The Dark Tower series by Stephen King.   I didn't want the series to end, but I think it ended perfectly!

The last book I stretched out was Twilight on Little Round Top by Glenn Lafantasie.  One of the best books I've read about Gettysburg recently.

I was slow to finish the 5th Outlander book, "The Fiery Cross" by Diana Gabaldon, largely because of the length (that sucker is almost 1500 pages).  And even though I already had the 6th book in the series on my shelf, I didn't know if it would continue after that so I was trying to really savor it.  But luckily she is working on the 7th one with plans for an 8th, so I gobbled up the 6th one once I found that out.  :)

Hi Amanda - I read MISTRESS OF THE ART OF DEATH last year and thought it was awesome. It was a library book so there was a deadline for reading it but it was wonderful. I didn't bring it to work to read, too many interruptions and distractions, I read it in the evening when it was quiet and I could savor it. I really hope Franklin comes out with another book featuring this wonderful heroine - sort of like The Closer in the Middle Ages. Gail (I just joined today, my first post, hope I did it right)

I need to move up to the top of my TBR city Mistress of the Art of Death, according to you guys.

The Outlander series is the series I savor and become totally engrossed in each time I read them.  I think I've read them 4 times now, and I will read them again this winter, and then again in the summer to be ready for Echo in the Bones. I've not read anything ever that even comes close to this series.

I hated for The Pillars of the Earth to end; I'm anxiously awaiting the softback of  World Without End this fall; I pre-ordered it.

Karen, if you loved Pillars you will really enjoy World Without End. I could not wait and got mine at Costco. It is amazing !

I'd like to add another one..."Water For Elephants".

I couldn't sleep the other night and read this all night. However, I loved it so much that last night I started reading it again...only much more slowly this time.

I waited for what seemed like forever for my name to make it to the top of the list of members waiting for it and it was well worth the wait! What a wonderful book.

The Harry Potter books. Even though I have read them so many times, I still wish they would go on forever, every time I read them.

I have the Outlander books on my TBR. I will try them next as they seem to be highly recommended.

I'm not  a quick reader - I like to really get into whatever I'm reading, and I often find myself contemplating certain issues or making connections to my own life. I'd have to say that the books I really savor are my very favorite books - those I wish would never end. Right now, those would have to be Pride and Prejuidice and the Harry Potter Series. These are, I suppose, the stories I wish I could just jump right into.

I totally agree with Water for Elephants and also The Time Traveler's Wife. 

Sounds like I'll have to add Water for Elephants and the Time Traveller's Wife to my TBR list.  It doesn't matter how fast I read, that darn TBR just keeps getting longer...LOL.

I feel like that about everything written by Dorothea Benton Frank.  I'm a fast reader, and whenever I pick up one of her books I have to force myself to slow down so I won't finish it so quickly!  That's hard to do, especially because her stories are all so good!!!

I agree also - Water for Elephants - I loved that book.  I started whining when I realized I had read the last page.

Also for me, Matthew Reilly books.  His I tend to read his fast because of the edge of your seat action so I have to force myself to slow it down or even re-read a couple of paragraphs or pages.

For me, if I really, really love a book, I have to rip through it as quickly as possible to find out what happens next - I literally can't read fast enough and get so impatient that I start sneaking glimpses a couple of pages ahead.  Once I know what happens, that driving need to know is gone, and I can enjoy a leisurely reread to drink in the details.  The last book I read like that was His Majesty's Dragon.

I vote with C.S.Lewis-can't ever get a book long enough to suit me!! The Lord of the Rings is one I used to read each year and live the story, walking every step with Frodo and Sam and Strider. It was the most fun when I read it aloud to my son (6 years old) over a period of about a month. We even took it on a trip to Hawaii and read some every night. I sang all the songs and did the voices-scared him when I did the language of Mordor. Gone with the Wind was good too-what a saga, what a lot of miscommunication between Bret and Scarlett!! But a little book like The Little Prince by St Exupery is one you have to savor and read very slowly-poetry-"what is essential is invisible to the eye."