The Half-Read Habit

By all accounts, I am a lifetime learner. I read a lot. I study and research a lot. I even give myself homework. Most of my reading is technical throughout the year (about computing, security, algorithms, and systems engineering) because most of it applies directly to my career/work.

But I am also interested in religion, philosophy and general science, so I diverge into these topics from time to time. The emerging trend is that I never finish the books I start reading, a bad habit that irks my wife; why would anyone start reading new books with so many others unfinished? How do you even maintain continuity in a jumble like that? You don't even want to know what my wish list looks like on Amazon.

So my summer pledge is to finish the books I already have (paperbacks first, then electronic) before I buy another book. And the trend is towards electronic books and less paperbacks.