What are your personal reading "rules?"

I always read at bedtime. I frequently read when sitting on a bus or waiting in a line or at the doctor's office.

I have almost completely migrated to e books because I can read them at night when it's dark without disturbing anyone.

I read a mix of fantasy, realistic fiction, memoirs and nonfiction. Most of the books I try have been enthusiastically recommended or were written by an author who has written something else I loved. I trade book recommendations with my mother.

The book club here has introduced me to some great books.

My to read list on Goodreads is a mishmash of titles I chose to save and possibly read but there are far too many to read them all. I do consult the list when I look for a new book.

My reading is about 50% governed by /r/fantasy bingo, 50% governed by whatever "theme" I choose for my /r/fantasy bingo. e.g. this bingo year (ending april 1) I read a ton of books that were published in 2024. And also a lot of books with 'empire' in the title. Right now I'm reading Malazan because I'm basically done with Bingo and I can't start next year's bingo until the card is announced on april 1.

Without Bingo I probably wouldn't read anymore (this is not true but it would be a lot less)

I track both in the bingo spreadsheet and on goodreads, my history is here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/55658017 and anyone who also tracks books on goodreads please add me!!

I mostly have lists in my head, nothing too formal. My books are mostly on shelves but I also have some ebooks; better authors get the dead tree treament while for experimental stuff or guilty pleasure garbage ebook is enough.

I mainly read in bed before sleeping (or not). I don't re-read much because I always have new books that I want to read.

I almost never stop a book before it's over. Rarely, I'll drop a series. I'm usually irritated by the brutal shattering of my suspension of disbelief or general dishonesty on the part of the author, and this includes contrived cliffhanger scenes that shit all over previous character development (when these are used they are conveniently placed at the end of the book, allowing me to drop the series immediately). I also dislike sustained misery porn and child abuse in my stories. Finally, I dislike stories in which I hate every single character and really can't justify wasting any more of my time on them!

I choose the next book(s) informally and without learning too much about them. It could be recommendations I saw online (even here!) or from friends; books from authors I already like or authors recommended by those authors; even "random" stuff I saw on amazon. I will check reviews sometimes and they can affect my decision. I like variety so I try to alternate; I almost never want to read two books by the same author back to back. I also alternate heavier stuff vs YA, science fiction vs fantasy, novels vs short stories, etc.

I read every night before bed. One chapter per night unless they're particularly short. I hate stopping mid-chapter and will frequently stay up far too late reading a 40-page chapter and hating every part of it, even when it's well-written, just because I need to sit through the whole thing.

I have a lot of books but these days I try to only read ones that are fairly uplifting or happy; I see Orwell every time I open the news, I don't need him in my dreams too. Mostly I read fantasy these days, but I vibe with the classics too.

I'd say I finish about 75% of the books I pick up. I do find myself just getting discouraged partway through if I start feeling like I want to read another book in my collection, and I don't like reading multiple books at a time (fiction books at least; I'm normally working through a textbook during work breaks and such).

I reread books fairly frequently, but normally it's the same 4-5 books I reread once every year or two alongside all of the new reads.

On average I probably read 6-8 books a year. I'm hoping to up that number as I decrease my phone usage but I don't normally have all that much time for reading outside of the evenings. I have a lot of downtime at work but it's normally just a lot of 4-5 minute rests interspersed throughout my shifts and I really struggle to get into a book in that short a time.

I have a fairly large book collection, I'd estimate it's currently sitting aroung 200 or so, mostly well-known classics and fantasy, some sci-fi. Maybe 35 of those books are J.R.R. Tolkien, I seem to accumulate those en masse. Nearly every book I own was obtained second-hand or as a gift, I rarely see the point in buying a book brand new. I don't really care for ebooks much, perhaps if I got an actual E-Reader I'd be happier with them but I just don't like reading books on a screen, I find myself getting distracted way easier without a physical book in my hands.

Oh I thought this was going to be about the hardware of reading :D I have several: don't destroy the books.

Don't bring to a bath; don't fold pages; don't draw, highlight, underline, circle or otherwise mark them. Dont tear out pages; don't toss the dust jacket; remove price labels carefully; keep the おび (half dust jacket?) if it came with one.

Excluding workbooks, puzzle books, journals etc . Other extreme: if it's a terrible book, destroy it don't resell/donate it. Tear the pages off the spine, dis-order the pages, and throw ink on it before recycling. I've only ever done this with a couple books, though.

How do you choose what to read next? Pick from among the guilt ridden tsundoku pile.

Do you read one book at a time or jump between multiple titles? One at a time if I can help it. I love being able to spend 6ish hours a day until it's done, which is why I don't read very much anymore I guess.

How/why do you choose between physical/ebook/audiobook for a given title? I love physical books and will choose them every time if price /availability isn't an issue. My local library is fantastic for this.

How do you decide to stop reading a book you don't like (if at all)? Without guilt, I will drop a book early if I really dislike the world it's set it. Grim dark for example: stories can contain darkness without celebrating it or pretending it makes a story more "real". I have no patience for worlds that take pleasure in shocking the reader or sneer at empathy or decency (Eg, contrast Discworld with Song of Ice and Fire).

Do you have a specific "spot" for reading? Nope. When I was a teen I had a loft bed, the lower portion being a curtained and cushioned gaming and reading den. Would love to have it again.

Do you have any particular reading rituals? No.

When do you decide whether a book is worth a re-read? If I'm thinking about a particular passage I love re-reading it. If I have time and I miss the characters and their world I will re-read the whole thing .

Do you track/rate your books? Not officially, disorganized person.

How much do you learn about a book before you read it? I'd like to hear the premise, or an enthusiastic "okay no spoilers but you gotta read this".

How do you manage your "TBR" (to be read) list (if at all)? Disorganized person.

I have been working hard at being less rules driven. I tend to do things in systematic fashion and that makes things less fun. The last things I've read where intentionally less deliberate. So I just try to assess what I really wanna do and then I do it. It's harder than it sounds. Lately I read one Star Trek book and two complete manga series. I have no lists.

Hmmm so iv realised that I stick to SciFi and fantasy a lot. It's kinda what I grew up reading so iv continued that trend. Since that realisation iv started branching out more and it has been refreshing and fun.

As to choosing what to read that usually requires a bit of research. If enough people recommend something then I'll pick it up. Also there are more than enough classic scifi/fantasy books iv not read yet so if i havnt found anything I can resort to that. Also iv been reading on kindle a lot recently so Amazon can dictate what I read by having sales. That's now come to am end for me as I'm not going to buy from them anymore.

So I was reading 1 SciFi/fantasy and 1 academic book for a while but with uni I stopped doing that a few month's back. My brain just couldn't take it, but iv recently started reading 2 books again except this time I'm casually reading some hunter s Thompson stuff. I bought a few 2nd hand books the other day as I wanted to actually have a book in my hands. HST is also weird enough that it breaks the usual style of writing that I read. In fact because of this I want to delve more into gonzo style literature. So I kinda just go on feeling with most of this stuff.

I read entirely by feel. Not braille - but in choosing my next book. If I've not read scifi in a while, I start getting an itch to read about other worlds and new species. If I've been reading too much "light" content, I start to crave something more intellectual, to make me think. I try to keep enough books available that I always have something that fits my mood when starting something new.

Usually if I'm reading a series, I'll stick with it. I tend to be very forgetful, and need that continuity to hold onto the deeper stories. For that reason I often hold off on starting series until they're already completed, or nearing completion. For example, as much as I know I'll enjoy James S. A. Corey's new The Mercy of Gods, I'm holding off for at least a few more years before I jump into it.

I typically read just one book at a time, though currently I have a short story collection (Dangerous Women) I've been slowly working through. I will sometimes dip into it when I need a small breather from other reading, and when I'm not ready for something larger yet. I might carry this pattern forward into the future and choose another short story collection for brief respites.

I generally prefer audio over text when it's available. I read at night, and it allows me to close my eyes and start drifting off to sleep. Sometimes this means I don't make much progress. Other days, if I can't sleep, I might get through two weeks of reading in one burst. So my rate is very inconsistent.

I find that with audiobooks, the narrator is very important. I've begun to develop favourites and least-favourites. In some cases, I've even slotted them into theme. For example, George Guidall with his gravelly voice was a perfect fit for the dusty gunslinger in The Dark Tower. However, it did not work so well in The Left Hand of Darkness, which explores gender norms and their role in society.

I don't often re-read books, though I would like to. There's some titles I loved the first time through and I'd like to experience again. However, there's so much left to read, I guess I feel a bit guilty about "wasting" my reading time. Perhaps I should give it a go, and see if it really does feel wasted.

I use Goodreads to track books I've read, and those I'm interested in. I don't leave ratings, post updates, or use any of the social features, really. It's just a database for me that somebody else has to curate. I've added a couple people as friends on the site though, and I've realized that doing so has made me feel slightly judged in my reading choices. I don't think I've changed my patterns in response, but it is interesting to me!

I read less than I would like to, and very slowly at that, so my general guideline is pretty simple, and has worked for the last decade and a half...

I read Peter F Hamilton’s sci-fi books in approximately the order they were published, usually trying to focus on one “universe” at a time (e.g. if multiple books come out that jump back and forth between different universes, I try to follow one at a time through to completion before picking up books in the next universe)

I always buy paperbacks and then laminate the covers so they hopefully last longer, and I like getting matching cover art styles which means carefully looking up ISBN numbers for reprint batches that all got done at around the same time

He’s still alive and publishing, and I’m still a really slow reader, so this will likely continue working for me for maybe another decade?

• I let myself read a book in whatever order I want, meaning I can start in the middle of the book if I desire. I also allow myself to jump around in the book at leisure.
• I let myself read as many books as I want simultaneously.
• I let myself read books from any genre, age group, format, etc. without judgement.
• I let myself "quit" and "re-start" or "stop" books as I feel.

The hardest one for me to implement right now is allowing myself to read without full comprehension if that makes sense? I am a chronic re-read the same sentence or paragraph over and over type person. It would often lead me to quit reading books out of frustration, and then secondary shame. If anyone has tips of how to break out of this, I would love to hear.

Autism and ADHD here.

"Rules"? Where we're going we don't need "rules".

But, seriously, my reading is utter chaos.

I keep a folder of browser bookmarks called "Art," which functions as a bit of a cross-media watchlist for books, games, movies, TV, exhibits, whatever I've seen mentioned or alluded to across the internet that looks interesting. I have a physical TBR shelf in my bedside table, and whenever it starts looking a bit empty, I open up the Art folder and look for books to fill it back up. Trying to get a variety of genres and such.

As far as actual reading goes, every evening around eight I'll have a hot beverage (usually hot cocoa; sometimes coffee) and sit down with a book and read for at least an hour. I read pretty fast -- 100pgs/hr, +/-20 depending on the book, so I can get through books pretty quickly this way. I have ADHD, so what usually happens is that the first night with a new book I'm struggling to pay attention and get through the hour, but by maybe the third night I'm usually obsessed and reading for multiple additional hours to get to the ending. I try to think a lot about a finished book before starting the next one, getting my feelings about it in order. Sometimes I'll type a little analysis into a throwaway Google doc if it's hard to get my thoughts together. Then in a couple of days I'll pick the next book off the shelf -- usually something of a different genre from what I've just read, you know, variety being the sauce of joy and such. It's very rare for me to DNF a book -- I think I'm pretty good at picking them so that even the ones I don't like are at least interesting.

How do you choose what to read next?

This applies to more than just books, but on iOS you can divide your reminders into lists, so I have different lists for various types of media like books, video games, movies, etc. Whenever I come across something IRL or online that I think I might like, I quickly make a reminder for it in the right list. Then whenever I'm looking for a new anime or video game or book or whatever, I just pull up the appropriate list and have a curated selection of stuff that seems interesting to me.

As for the medium, I've never been much of a reader of fiction, but I do enjoy comic books and manga on my pc and tablet, as well as various non-fiction history audio books and podcasts while driving or doing chores. There's so much interesting shit that happened throughout history that makes for great reading/listening.

I track with storygraph.

I only do audiobooks and physical books. Audiobooks for me come in spurts (often when I'm overly caught up on podcasts) and I tend to do certain clumps of things. Like recently I listened to a bunch of old canon star wars novels and before that did a bunch of christmas stories. I similarly like listening to King novels. There's not much reason to it besides I tend to do audiobooks for things that I'm ok if I don't pay as much attention to.

I tend to be an impulse purchaser for books but I tend to stick to older/cheaper/used for the most part so I'm usually paying under $10 max. Like if I run across mention of something online and it seems amusing I'll grab it. Or I'll go to my local bookstore's basement where they have $2 used books and grab random crap that seems ok based on a quick scan of covers and reading some random paragraphs. I try to be a bit more intentional with non-fiction and buy things that seem intellectually interesting and not too dry since those are more of a commitment of focus. I recently decided to do the "reads the world" challenge so been mostly trying to knock out books for the countries in that (and repeatedly discovering midway that the book I picked from the {apparently unmoderated} list didn't actually have anything to do with that country)

After buying a book it goes on the to-read in storygraph (as well as my physical to-read pile). I track reading in there and enjoy the stats it gives. I rate almost everything relative to the other items I've rated so I get a nice bell-curve and a better sense for what I actually like.

I usually switch between reading what seems most appealing in the moment and trying to alternate the type of book I'm reading. Like if I've just read a few fiction, will pick a non-fiction. Sometimes I'll pick something that seems like an "easy win" if I've been bogged down on a larger book (or vice versa if I haven't read something substantial recently).

I try not to fully give up on books unless I just literally can't keep going. But I do sometimes lose interest and it might be a year or two before I get back to it. I only have maybe a half dozen books on that list. For books I'm actively reading I usually do one at a time but sometimes will do two, with one at bedtime and a different one during the day. I really only read at home so reading two at a time will mean one book sits next to my bed and the other in the spot I tend to read at during the day -- usually either my couch or hammock depending on season/weather (well I keep the book inside, but near the door).

Once I finish a book it goes on my book case in the far right side of the current year's "have read" section.

I've also got a small bit of a collection bug going. Have several older (couple hundred years) books and there's this publisher's series of classics I like and I'm trying to get a full set of. I also try to get a signed copy of books I especially like (4.75+ rating) if possible.

Two books at the same time. One audio, one ebook on my Kobo. I can keep them separate that way.

I almost always finish a series before moving on to a new one. If a A tier book is released I might drop the book I’m reading and switch to that.

My “to read” is in Goodreads and I’m trying to de-Kindle my life slowly, but I still have a few I bought on sale from Amazon and need to finish up before dropping it completely.

Trying to move from Goodreads to Storygraph and my own book list in Obsidian, but the network effect of Goodreads is hard to beat.

I am a rather go-with-the-flow kind of reader, and I've been very influenced by social media in choosing my reads. I have a huge TBR tag on my library app that i treat like a mini curated library of things I'll probably like, gathered from social media and library suggestions. Impulse reads are being tempered recently by being in 5 book clubs... two online with the library, one at work, one with discord friends, and Tildes book club! So I expect my reading this year to be more structured. The book clubs do have me exploring some genres I don't generally select on my own.

I read multiple books at a time, but my "cheat code" for this is multiple formats. I listen to audiobooks during work. If I have longer books i want to read, i try to get those on audiobook of i can. I have a gigantic selection of Kindle books that I picked up for free or cheap, which probably needs to be trimmed... but I take my Kindle on the bus. I've been trying to read more physical books because I gather that that can be easier on a library's budget. I'm also trying to take my eyes into consideration - listening to audiobooks and reading large print has been making a big difference to me in general eye comfort. I spend at least 10 hours on screens for work each day, and the eye discomfort is becoming more pronounced. So I've been making an effort to not read stuff on my phone, and I'm bringing my Kindle places because the e-ink display feels like it helps.

I use TheStoryGraph and rigorously track my reading. I'm probably going to buy a Plus membership once I hit the year mark and can start to compare reading trends over months and years. I just find it fun. Plus, I like keeping track of the pages and minutes I've read. It makes me feel productive. (I grew up being told that reading is something that only lazy people have time for. Trying to break that internalized stigma.) Their feature where you can have different graphics generated for each month of reading is really neat; I love having a visual representation of my progress. I track my reading because my volume is really high right now - I've read 43 books so far this year and am currently reading 5. I listen to audiobooks at 1.5x - 3x speed.

I tend to DNF books where I find that I struggle to suspend my disbelief, or I scoff at the main characters enough that I can't deal with it anymore.

My goal for this year is to finish some of the series I've started (I think there are roughly 25 I'm working on). I grew up generally not having immediate access to the next book in a series, so I tend to spread series out, rather than binge-reading. I'm hoping to let my holds dwindle and start going through the many books I own but haven't read, to read them and decide if I want to keep them.

The books I have been buying lately have been bought for the purposes of future rereads or sharing with my partner, rather than purchasing books unread, unless the book I'm buying is the next one in a series I am already enjoying.

I've bought some Kindle accessories and can read while I exercise with the help of a stand and a page-turning remote. I'm hoping to get a similar set up to read in bed once my second stand thing arrives. Trying to be kind to my neck.

• How do you choose what to read next? - I have an RSS feed of all the latest chapters of the webnovels I'm reading. If I want something to read and there's nothing new, I look at what's currently popular on RoyalRoad. (Yes, authors who have the same user name multiple places, I see you. I just don't want to bug you in your "personal" capacity.)
• Do you read one book at a time or jump between multiple titles? - I don't think of it as jumping between multiple titles, but I guess I kind of am. I'm "reading" 40+ novels at one or two chapters a week.
• How/why do you choose between physical/ebook/audiobook for a given title? - Electronic reading only for me these days. It's much easier to carry a book on my phone than alongside it.
• How do you decide to stop reading a book you don't like (if at all)? - If I stop getting a tiny boost of excitement from seeing the latest chapter show up in my RSS feed, I give it a week or two to improve, and if it's not keeping my interest I'll just remove it from the feed. If it's not staying interesting, there's plenty of other stories out there. An author who has built up a reputation for good writing can build up a few months of grace if I don't see where it's going or where the payoff will be, but for an unknown they get weeks, if that.
• Do you have a specific "spot" for reading? - No. Everywhere is for reading. At my computer, on the couch, walking down the street, on the bus or train, anywhere I have a few minutes.
• Do you have any particular reading rituals? - No. Open phone, start reading.
• When do you decide whether a book is worth a re-read? - When it really inspired feelings in me, and I want to revisit the person I was when I read it before. Often those feelings aren't the same on a reread, but it'll evoke nostalgia for who I was and why I felt that way about the book.
• Do you track/rate your books? - A lot of my reading is on Royal Road, and so I rate/review the books I like so that other people can find them. Ones I don't care for just get an "ignore" and I move on.
• How much do you learn about a book before you read it? - Almost none. Blurb or a shoutout is enough to start a book, because I'm reading things posted online for free and thus there's no sunk cost but my time. Since the only cost is time, and I can cut that off anytime I want, I can start a dozen books in an hour if I'm looking for something new.
• How do you manage your "TBR" (to be read) list (if at all)? - I have a "read later" list for everything that looks interesting without having time to start it now. When I'm looking for something new, I'll review the list and look for a thing that matches my mood.

• How do you choose what to read next?

If I'm enjoying a series I may immediately jump in and start reading the next book, but for the last few years I've been more likely to read other books in between books in longer series. It helps to prevent me from burning out and gives me some variety in what I'm reading.

If I'm undecided or the next book in a series doesn't seem interesting, I'll do one of two things:

For physical books, I'll just go get something off my bookshelf, since I have a good number of books I have to read still. If I had actually read everything on my shelf, I'd go down to the local used book store and start exploring. After moving here, I've been supporting a group of local used book stores near the market we go to as they've been around for decades and I want to ensure they stay around. They're also not as organized as most used book stores I would go to in the US (I'm looking at you Powell's City of Books) with piles of books and overflowing shelves which can make it feel like a treasure hunt.

For e-books, I'll do a quick scroll through my Goodreads want to read list and see if anything sticks out to me. I have way too many books I want to read, so it usually doesn't take long before I land on something and get going on it.

• Do you read one book at a time or jump between multiple titles?

I used to be someone who would read a book cover to cover before starting the next one. Now I jump around a lot and have many books that I'm concurrently reading. My Good Reads shows I have over 30 books marked as currently reading.

I do tend to not read multiples of one type of book, so no multiple sweeping space opera series or epic fantasy series. Not a hard rule, but I find that with me becoming more of a "mood read" it makes it easier to jump to another book that is not the same style as the one I'm reading.

• How/why do you choose between physical/ebook/audiobook for a given title?

I prefer physical whenever I can, I enjoy collecting books (but I did make a deal with my wife that I wouldn't buy more books until I read the ones I own unless I'm filling out a series where I'm missing a book or two). E-Books are the fallback/convenience option.

I actually do the majority of my reading on my phone nowadays since I have it with me, and it's better than scrolling through social media. I first started e-reading towards the end of college and saw my use of Reddit and other platforms plummet as a result.

I enjoy audiobooks, but have given my listening time over to the way too many podcasts I want to listen to.

• How do you decide to stop reading a book you don't like (if at all)?

If I don't enjoy it I tend to stop reading it, though I've usually found if I come back to a book later or in a different mood I will get back into it and finish it.

The most recent book I dropped was Zomblog II. I enjoyed the first book for the first 3/4 of the first book, as I enjoyed the main character and his struggle (I'm a sucker for zombie apocalypse stories). There was a switch to a new narrator and I didn't enjoy their arc as much, but I thought I'd see if they grew on me in the second book. They did not, and realized that even after taking very long breaks, I just wasn't interested in seeing what happened to them.

• Do you have a specific "spot" for reading?

I used to read before I went to sleep every day in bed, but now that I have kids and put them to sleep then try to get housework/other stuff done in the evenings, I can't do that as regularly. Now I read wherever/whenever I can.

• Do you have any particular reading rituals?

When I'm reading a physical book, I like to put my phone on the charger out of reach. Helps to keep me from getting distracted.

• When do you decide whether a book is worth a re-read?

When I was a kid, I would reread books more often because I wanted to spend more time in that world.
As an adult, the only books I consistently reread are The Hobbit and and The Lord of the Rings. They're not consistent rereads, but I just tend to a have a bookmark in them and when the mood strikes me, I jump back in to them. The Hobbit specifically has been a comfort read pretty much my entire life (the first time I had it read to me, I was ~5 years old) and is the book I've read the most times.

Other books series I may reread when a new book comes out if I enjoyed them enough. If Winds of Winter ever comes out, I'll probably reread A Song of Ice and Fire before I read it.

• Do you track/rate your books?

I started tracking all of my books on Goodreads when I started reading again in earnest during the end of my college career. It's fun seeing how many books I read in a year. I have thought about using other services, but this one takes relatively little time, and the app I use on my phone tracks more detailed information about how much I time I spend reading and how fast I read specific books.

I am thinking about getting a new phone soon, and I'd like to see if I can transfer that historical read data over to the new device, as I forgot to do that when I got my current phone ~5 years ago.

• How much do you learn about a book before you read it?

I don't learn too much about a book before diving in. Usually the blurb on the back, interesting cover art, or an author who I know, or I've heard of before is enough to get me to pick up a book and start reading it. A recommendation from a friend helps as well.

I used to spend time on the fantasy or printsf Subreddits looking at book recommendation threads and just throwing books on to my to read list, but most of those threads are along the lines of "recommend me book me sweeping space operas/books about pirates/books with x, y, or z plot elements".

• How do you manage your "TBR" (to be read) list (if at all)?

I don't manage it, it is an ever-growing mountain of books and I will not finish everything I want to read during my lifetime.

• etc.

I hope to share my love of reading with my kids, and while I read a lot of children's books with them, I'm also making more of an effort to read my own physical books in front of my kids. I want them to see me reading a physical book and not just me reading on my phone, which looks no different to them compared to me using my phone for other things.

I enjoy watching nerdy YouTube content before bed, but unless my eyes are bothering me too much from looking at close things all day, it's book o'clock when I first snuggle under the covers. About half the time I'll be engrossed enough in what I'm reading for that to see me to sleepytime. And if I'm not feeling it, a chapter or two, followed by some videos. I like to re-read books that left an impression if it's been more than a couple of years, as part of the fun is seeing how my interpretations change as I mature. So in that sense, it almost feels like a fresh read regardless.

I have only one rule when it comes to books. In my bookcase I have a shelf for unread books. Whenever a new book comes it, it will be appended to the right. If I am ready for a new book (I only read one at the time), I pick the one at the front on the left. I decide there and then whether I am actually going to read that one or not.

If I decide yes, all is fine and I start. If not, I must get rid of it, by giving it away, donating, whatever. It is not allowed to put it back and the end of the row again, nor is it allowed to skip the first and pick the second, (third, etc.) one from the row.

This is all to control my Tsundoku and it works really well. It forces me to make a decision about a book. Also, having a physical row helps me be aware of how many unread books I already own. If it gets very long it subcounsiously pressures me to acquire less. If it becomes shorter, I feel more freedom to splurge without remorse.