great entry…really liked it :D
true words!

Around 5% of books I have (maybe 15) I have never read and 5% only partially. The key is that the time one spends and what one gains is more than important that utilizing what one has brought.
It is actually a suggestion from the book “Who will cry when you die”, do not finish every book you start. Not all are worth going through, little or end to end.
Kind of like eating just cause the food will go bad.

My inclination, I will read what is most appropriate right now. Wherever I get it from.

is to buy only books you believe you will read this week.
Thanks to Amazon and neighborhood stores you can always get them later.

Amit,

I agree with your second comment—it is easy enough to acquire books these days that you can postpone buying them until you plan to read them. (On the other hand, having a book on your shelf, beckoning you each time you walk by, can also be a motivating force! :)

Regarding your first comment, that is true for books that you read to achieve a certain goal - say to learn something or gain insight into a certain subject - and those are the kind of books you mean when you talk about “what one gains”. But there are other books which you read only for the pleasure of reading them. The reading of the book is the goal in itself. Of course there is the transient enjoyment you get while reading them (mystery thrillers, for instance), but often the book will leave you with something lasting, something that changes your outlook on life. Surely, one cannot equate what one gains out of such books with the time spent reading them. The downside is, you never know whether a book is going to be worthwhile until after you have read it (at least partially), so you run the risk that you are wasting your time.

-K