There is a law written somewhere that says I'm not allowed to read any books unless I'm on vacation or on a plane or similarly unable to accomplish anything productive.
I wrote the law. In blood. Several years ago.
I banned books from my life for a very good reason -- I can't stop. AT ALL. I'm one of those people who picks up a book and five hours later finds herself reading "just one more page." That's followed by twenty more pages and an all nighter because I can't stop. If I sit down with a 500-page book, I'm reading the whole thing.
OCD much? YES. Especially when it comes to books. In my head, if you start a book, you finish the book. THAT DAY.
Which is why I was completely confuzzled as to how it was that Alexis was reading at least 10 chapter books simultaneously. She was lost in Judy Blume's world, reading about secret gardens, and deeply involved in a few mysteries all at the same time. The only book she had read all the way through was The Doll People (her current favorite -- she has raved about it nearly daily since she got it for her birthday). She was re-reading it. While reading the other books. ALL OF THEM. AT ONCE.
But she wasn't finishing much of anything.
Just thinking about it hurts my brain.
For the most part I try to stay out of Alexis' reading world. I check over books before I let her have them, but other than that, she's on her own. She can spend as little or as much time reading as she wants (she'll spend a lot of time reading anyway, so there's no point in encouraging her). She can pick which title she wants to work on. Whatever. She can do whatever.
But the not finishing books thing started to make me twitch, so I asked.
It turns out my kid reads the last chapter of a book FIRST to decide if she she read the beginning. She doesn't feel the need to finish books because she already knows what is going to happen.
WHO DOES THAT?
The same kid who sometimes rolls down hills to entertain herself, that's who.