Savoring Reading

This past weekend I decided to start reading another set of popular books that I heard about on the radio, 50 Shades of Grey. The people that talked about it said it was pretty graphic, but I got through the first 60 or so pages and was starting to wonder what on earth they were talking about. Then I found out.

Then I found out even more.

Wow.

My foray into reading books containing such graphic descriptions of sex has usually been in the romance genre; and then, it's usually two or three scenes in a 400ish page book. I've lost count of the amount of sex these people have had in the 6 week time span that the first and second books cover. And each scene is depicted in great detail.

I don't know if this is a romance book or not. Are there specific guidelines to follow in defining a genre? This series is probably better defined as erotica. I've just never seen erotica go so mainstream.

But, back to the topic of this post (which, incidentally, is not about savoring erotica) - I find myself sprinting through this book. And it's made me think that I tend to sprint through a lot of books. Once I start reading a book that actually holds my interest (regardless of quality), I simply can't stop until I'm done. I've seriously contemplated calling in sick just to finish reading books that I'm currently working on. Twilight was a problem for me - I started reading it in the midst of final exams during my first semester of law school. I still did well, but I wonder if I'd've pulled off straight A's if it hadn't been for Stephenie Meyer and her sparkly vampires. Harry Potter almost decimated my GPA.

Is this a good thing or a bad thing? I think it's a bit of both. In some cases, the subject matter has managed to hold my interest, but then I find the story lagging, so I skim, just because I want to know how it ends. In other cases, I'm just that enthralled in the book. In many cases, I'll end up re-reading them over and over again.

I don't think Shades of Grey falls into that last category. I'm finding it entertaining and interesting, but I'm not sure if I'll re-read it. Parts of it have become pretty redundant. Really, I just want to know what happens? But don't ruin it for me - I plan on finishing out the trilogy.

Do you like to savor books a page at a time, or are you a sprinter?