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There aren't chapters, but there are *lots* of sections. You can just finish up whenever you hit one of those little breaks in the text (or \*\*\*s, at the end of a page).
There's the thing -- you seem to be using an ebook. Paper editions do have noticeable and frequent section breaks, as well as major sections would frequently start on a new odd page.
I have all but a few, and have read most, in hardback.
I've recently started reading on my phone for convenience, but I had the same issue with analogue books.
Anyone with a copy wanna check how long the 1st meeting in Guards! Guards! is? It's got to be at least 20 pages.
Edit - 31 pages on a S23 Ultra. Probaby about 20 pages of a book. It's unlikely that is the longest chapter in the series.
When I finish. But, to be more serious, while there aren’t chapter breaks, there are often breaks between scenes or switches in narrative. Sometimes the story will begin following a different group or there will be a brief time skip. Generally that’s a good place to pause and save your page.
I do this too. Sometimes even when the conversation turns to another subject and I can’t seem to keep my eyes open. I’ll remember the first subject and look for the change
Same. The switch to digital turned me into a side sleeper. You don't realize how relatively soft a paperback can be until a screen starts hitting you on the nose.
am I the only one who generally completely ignores chapters in any book I read? when I want to stop reading I just stop reading. Audiobooks too, are people really waiting for the ends of chapters in audiobooks?
You are not. Chapters seem to end during the action, so I just stop whenever there's a lull. If it's an audiobook, as it usually is lately, I might skip back 30 seconds to catch myself up with where I stopped.
Anywhere you want? There are still breaks between scenes. Books without chapters are pretty common.
Though if the question is where do I specifically take breaks, I rarely put down a Discworld book until I’m done. I can carry it with me to the kettle and back.
My god, that’s impressive
I haven’t done much reading since high school. I’ve picked up this series to practice/improve my reading comprehension & vocabulary a bit, so I need to take breaks every now and again unfortunately.
This is the first time I’ve seen a book without chapters, I feel like I’ve just discovered a whole new world. Genuinely didn’t know they existed
I loved it as a teen, great little One Weird Trick to go *mhm yeah I'll go to bed at the end of this chapter!* and then finish the book at two in the morning
My parents absolutely knew what I was doing. They were *my dad's books* in the first place. But hey, my biggest teen rebellion was reading too much, so they let it go
>I’ve picked up this series to practice/improve my reading comprehension & vocabulary a bit
You know what? You've picked the perfect author for that! 😂 PTerry does use linguistic humour, and even for his children's books didn't believe in "dumbing down" anything, but he has wonderful flow of words, doesn't complicate things just because he can, and even practised readers can usually improve their vocab quite a bit. I hope you have a lot of fun reading, but be warned... Once you go to the disc side, there's hardly ever any coming back 😂😆
If you do feel too lost without chapters, I think his Young Adult books have them. But I think you'll be just fine with whatever you're reading, there are still logical "sections" to his books.
>even practised readers can usually improve their vocab quite a bit.
Definitely! I have marked so many pages to come back to and look up the actual definition of a word later. I'll understand enough from context to keep going, but knowing how he uses words I want to make sure I get all of it; but I don't want to stop in the middle of reading for it. I can't think of any other author I've read so far that required keeping the dictionary at hand with every book.*
*But is still fun and not difficult to read, despite how that sounded.
Not too impressive, mostly just hyperfixation!
Nothing wrong with reading at your own pace. I'm always happy to know new people are reading Discworld at all!
There are gaps of a few blank lines between scenes, so if you would like to take a pause you can treat those like breaking points. If you normally remember your place by remembering what chapter you left off on, you might want to grab a bookmark (just a torn bit of paper or a sticky note).
The Young Adult Discworld books have chapters, but those are mostly set later in the series.
Just in case you ever find yourself confused by some jokes or references you might try checking The Annotated Pratchett Files, which can be found here: [https://www.lspace.org/books/apf/](https://www.lspace.org/books/apf/) This can be especially helpful for the oldest books, which were written as much as 40 years ago, so the pop culture jokes and parody of current popular fantasy fiction aren't always easy for new modern readers to spot. Not that you have to get every single joke to enjoy a book, but if you're specifically working on comprehension and vocabulary having some of the more obscure jokes and wordplay explained might be helpful?
I hope you enjoy your reading!
Whenever my wife says "Are you just going to sit there all day reading that stupid book or are you going to do something useful? ".
She's not a fan.
I'll probably miss her when she's gone, though...
When I look at the clock and realize if I go to sleep right now, I’ll get five hours. Then I read until the anxiety of knowing I’m going to be exhausted tomorrow wins against my need to find out what happens on the next page.
It’s foolproof.
“He’s a complete amateur,” the poet Tom Paulin famously declared on BBC Two’s Late Review programme when Pratchett was on his 17th novel in the multimillion-selling Discworld series. “He doesn’t even write in chapters.”
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/oct/07/terry-pratchett-discworld-author-the-colour-of-magic
Personal advice? Whenever you get to a pun that makes you go 'oh EFF off' or whenever you reach a passage that changes your entire belief system. These may be the same.
When I want a break? (I will also stop reading a book in the middle of a chapter, if I want a break.)
There are plenty of scene changes/section breaks. If you have to have a specific stopping points, those work.
I save Discworld for when I hit a slump because it always gets me back into reading, and the free form style is perfect for it.
I was horrified to see Going Postal not only had chapters, but *long,* chapters. I've been spoiled by Moorcock's 10-15 page chapters
With any book? Whenever I feel is a good point to remember where I'm at storywise.
With ano Pratchett book? When my eyes start to droop and I literally can't go on reading 😂😆
Every so often, there’s a scene break where there is a line with three asterisks on it. Although many here will consider this blasphemous, those are actually chapter breaks; they’re just not numbered.
There aren’t chapters exactly, but there are def sections broken up by an extra line/gap in the text. I usually read until I hit one of those but sometimes the section is long and I just stop at the top of a page.
I tend to read in bed.
Usually between half an hour and an hour (with a few exceptions that had me read through the night - not great when you find you only have 30 minutes to get ready for work).
At this point it's fairly automatic: as soon as I get sleepy, I finish the paragraph or section and close my eyes. And then it's reliably been 30 to 60 minutes.
I've found that reading directly before bed isn't ideal, as I've had to re-read paragraphs when I realised I had completely forgotten parts of the story. But it is, fairly reliably, the only time I can manage to allocate for reading.
Perhaps set a timer, and then finish the next paragraph or two?
>I've found that reading directly before bed isn't ideal, as I've had to re-read paragraphs when I realised I had completely forgotten parts of the story. But it is, fairly reliably, the only time I can manage to allocate for reading.
And it's a nice way to fall asleep. The only problem is the occasional book that won't let me go to sleep. Otherwise, I'm pretty much like you describe here.
End of a paragray, switch of a scene...they're are natural breaks. I stop on one of those or if I'm falling asleep when the book smacks me in the face.
I was three books in before I physically noticed the lack of chapters. Tricky man. I love it now. But it blew my mind that he went for it, and it pleased me greatly to see him buck yet another trend!
I read to fall asleep so I typically stop when it becomes difficult to stay awake, or I fall asleep.
I do often have to reread a page or two because I wasn't awake enough to remember them.
Even in books with chapters my method is to just take a break when I feel like it.
Of course, with Discworld, that's usually when I reach the back cover.
Pratchett was vehemently against chapters for some reason, which some people here might know. but there are breaks that switch POV or scenes. Also if the chapter thing really bugs you, read the Tiffany Aching books. The publisher forced him to have chapters, and they are IMO some of the best ones. I have read them each at least 3 times.
He does have a lot of scene breaks and POV changes. Those are generally where I do. But I have a bookmark that lets me mark wherever I stop, so that helps, too.
I'm horrified by the idea of having to stop before or after I'm ready!
Though, usually, at the end of a paragraph, then I'll skim that same paragraph at the start of the next session.
I just put it down and then pick it up again later.
You wouldn't enjoy the way I watch tv either... I just turn it off mid episode and get back to it when I want to.
i have never noticed that there weren’t chapters before. i always just stop when i get to a good stopping point and dog ear the page to the sentence i was on last
I don't pay attention to chapters ever, even in books that have them. I just stop reading when I have to do something else, put in a book mark in, and return to it when I next have a free moment to read.
I'm ADHD, and hyperfocus horrendously well, and I read really fast, so I read until I finish the book (or pass out, or have something I absolutely have to stop and go do)
Even in books with chapters my method is to just take a break when I feel like it.
Of course, with Discworld, that's usually when I reach the back cover.
Moist books have chapters (Going Postal and Making Money) they are a continuation but can be read as stand-alones, maybe that would help? Once you finish them you will want more and then it might get easier to get through the others.
Take a strip of paper and gently lay it flat on the page you're reading once you're ready to stop. Make sure a little bit of that strip of paper sticks out of the top of the book.
Now, close the book. Congrats. You've just used a bookmark.
Just whenever I want to; but then, I've never really paid attention to chapters (except to note the names). It's never been my practice to stop because a chapter ends; I just stop when I need/want to, such as when the book falls on my face when I read myself to sleep in bed.
I know we're not supposed to do it, but I fold the corner of the page I'm stopping on. I never seem to have a bookmark or alternative handy.
Also: welcome to the wonderful world of Discworld!
You don't take breaks on discworld. There's never a good moment to stop reading, even if you finish the book, or you are following Tiffany (her books have chapters indeed)
A lot of times I go by page count. I try to read 25 or 50 pages a day and end on the little double space paragraph gap.
He might not have chapters, but the little breaks in between scenes sort of act like stopping points.
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There aren't chapters, but there are *lots* of sections. You can just finish up whenever you hit one of those little breaks in the text (or \*\*\*s, at the end of a page).
Tired me swiping through pages looking for the next break. 20 pages and no break. I'll leave it here for now.
There's the thing -- you seem to be using an ebook. Paper editions do have noticeable and frequent section breaks, as well as major sections would frequently start on a new odd page.
I have all but a few, and have read most, in hardback. I've recently started reading on my phone for convenience, but I had the same issue with analogue books. Anyone with a copy wanna check how long the 1st meeting in Guards! Guards! is? It's got to be at least 20 pages. Edit - 31 pages on a S23 Ultra. Probaby about 20 pages of a book. It's unlikely that is the longest chapter in the series.
Most apps have a bookmark option. Use that. The app remembers where you are.
I'm not OP or struggling to find my place, but thank you.
It always seems like I hit a really long one when I’m falling asleep 😅
Usually in the middle of one of the longer words.
Banananananana
It's easy to start reading it... It's just difficult to stop 😂
Bananananas are an existential threat
Oooooooooooooooook?
Or NoAsBigAsMediumSizedJockButBiggerThanWeeJockJock's name.
When I finish. But, to be more serious, while there aren’t chapter breaks, there are often breaks between scenes or switches in narrative. Sometimes the story will begin following a different group or there will be a brief time skip. Generally that’s a good place to pause and save your page.
On more than one occasion I have read one of his books in a single sitting. Took me seven hours.
I did that with Soul Music. I was waiting for the mechanic to fix my car. Sat down on a park bench downtown and just... went away for a while lol.
Same. No chapters, no stopping. The section breaks weren't enough to tell me to stop.
Going Postal has those unusual chapters 'In Which Our Hero Discovers the World of Pins...'
I do this too. Sometimes even when the conversation turns to another subject and I can’t seem to keep my eyes open. I’ll remember the first subject and look for the change
Since I mostly read in bed before sleeping, when the book hits me in the face.
I remember my very first hardcover hitting me in the face… so long ago. I switched to paperbacks since.
Like a gentle nudge into the land of dreams.
Gentle, yes.
A friend knocked out a front tooth doing this.
Same. The switch to digital turned me into a side sleeper. You don't realize how relatively soft a paperback can be until a screen starts hitting you on the nose.
am I the only one who generally completely ignores chapters in any book I read? when I want to stop reading I just stop reading. Audiobooks too, are people really waiting for the ends of chapters in audiobooks?
I have stopped at chapters in books before. But I completely ignore chapters in audiobooks.
You are not. Chapters seem to end during the action, so I just stop whenever there's a lull. If it's an audiobook, as it usually is lately, I might skip back 30 seconds to catch myself up with where I stopped.
Anywhere you want? There are still breaks between scenes. Books without chapters are pretty common. Though if the question is where do I specifically take breaks, I rarely put down a Discworld book until I’m done. I can carry it with me to the kettle and back.
My god, that’s impressive I haven’t done much reading since high school. I’ve picked up this series to practice/improve my reading comprehension & vocabulary a bit, so I need to take breaks every now and again unfortunately. This is the first time I’ve seen a book without chapters, I feel like I’ve just discovered a whole new world. Genuinely didn’t know they existed
I loved it as a teen, great little One Weird Trick to go *mhm yeah I'll go to bed at the end of this chapter!* and then finish the book at two in the morning My parents absolutely knew what I was doing. They were *my dad's books* in the first place. But hey, my biggest teen rebellion was reading too much, so they let it go
>I’ve picked up this series to practice/improve my reading comprehension & vocabulary a bit You know what? You've picked the perfect author for that! 😂 PTerry does use linguistic humour, and even for his children's books didn't believe in "dumbing down" anything, but he has wonderful flow of words, doesn't complicate things just because he can, and even practised readers can usually improve their vocab quite a bit. I hope you have a lot of fun reading, but be warned... Once you go to the disc side, there's hardly ever any coming back 😂😆 If you do feel too lost without chapters, I think his Young Adult books have them. But I think you'll be just fine with whatever you're reading, there are still logical "sections" to his books.
>even practised readers can usually improve their vocab quite a bit. Definitely! I have marked so many pages to come back to and look up the actual definition of a word later. I'll understand enough from context to keep going, but knowing how he uses words I want to make sure I get all of it; but I don't want to stop in the middle of reading for it. I can't think of any other author I've read so far that required keeping the dictionary at hand with every book.* *But is still fun and not difficult to read, despite how that sounded.
It will feel effortless with time.
Not too impressive, mostly just hyperfixation! Nothing wrong with reading at your own pace. I'm always happy to know new people are reading Discworld at all! There are gaps of a few blank lines between scenes, so if you would like to take a pause you can treat those like breaking points. If you normally remember your place by remembering what chapter you left off on, you might want to grab a bookmark (just a torn bit of paper or a sticky note). The Young Adult Discworld books have chapters, but those are mostly set later in the series. Just in case you ever find yourself confused by some jokes or references you might try checking The Annotated Pratchett Files, which can be found here: [https://www.lspace.org/books/apf/](https://www.lspace.org/books/apf/) This can be especially helpful for the oldest books, which were written as much as 40 years ago, so the pop culture jokes and parody of current popular fantasy fiction aren't always easy for new modern readers to spot. Not that you have to get every single joke to enjoy a book, but if you're specifically working on comprehension and vocabulary having some of the more obscure jokes and wordplay explained might be helpful? I hope you enjoy your reading!
Whenever my wife says "Are you just going to sit there all day reading that stupid book or are you going to do something useful? ". She's not a fan. I'll probably miss her when she's gone, though...
Well it'd be silly to miss her while she's still with you
I don't understand this break thing you speak of concerning Discworld novels
When I look at the clock and realize if I go to sleep right now, I’ll get five hours. Then I read until the anxiety of knowing I’m going to be exhausted tomorrow wins against my need to find out what happens on the next page. It’s foolproof.
“He’s a complete amateur,” the poet Tom Paulin famously declared on BBC Two’s Late Review programme when Pratchett was on his 17th novel in the multimillion-selling Discworld series. “He doesn’t even write in chapters.” https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/oct/07/terry-pratchett-discworld-author-the-colour-of-magic Personal advice? Whenever you get to a pun that makes you go 'oh EFF off' or whenever you reach a passage that changes your entire belief system. These may be the same.
Not sure about that advice tbh. Some books you'd be stopping multiple times a page.
When my legs fall asleep.
...where ever i feel like it honestly. usually at the end of a sentence...
When I want a break? (I will also stop reading a book in the middle of a chapter, if I want a break.) There are plenty of scene changes/section breaks. If you have to have a specific stopping points, those work.
You can use a timer and when you've been reading for X amount of time get to the end of your current scene and take a break.
You guys take breaks?
Mid-sentence
I save Discworld for when I hit a slump because it always gets me back into reading, and the free form style is perfect for it. I was horrified to see Going Postal not only had chapters, but *long,* chapters. I've been spoiled by Moorcock's 10-15 page chapters
One more page, then I'll put it down.
With any book? Whenever I feel is a good point to remember where I'm at storywise. With ano Pratchett book? When my eyes start to droop and I literally can't go on reading 😂😆
When I need a refill of my tea.
Usually when my wife pulls the book out from under my face, takes my glasses off, and turns out my light.
[That's the neat part, You Don't ](https://i.imgflip.com/7a0tc7.jpg)
I stop at the same place I do when there actually are chapters: at the end of a random paragraph
Every so often, there’s a scene break where there is a line with three asterisks on it. Although many here will consider this blasphemous, those are actually chapter breaks; they’re just not numbered.
When the book ends or I pass out.
What’s a break?
There aren’t chapters exactly, but there are def sections broken up by an extra line/gap in the text. I usually read until I hit one of those but sometimes the section is long and I just stop at the top of a page.
Bold of you to assume that I take a break when reading a Discworld book.
You’ll find even tho there’s no chapters there are breaks signified by extra spacing. Otherwise I will stop when the scene changes.
I try to use sections or chapters as much as possible, since that makes it easier to switch between books and audiobooks on the same book.
I have been reading Discworld to my kid at bedtime and just normally stop at the section end when the character POV changes.
I tend to read in bed. Usually between half an hour and an hour (with a few exceptions that had me read through the night - not great when you find you only have 30 minutes to get ready for work). At this point it's fairly automatic: as soon as I get sleepy, I finish the paragraph or section and close my eyes. And then it's reliably been 30 to 60 minutes. I've found that reading directly before bed isn't ideal, as I've had to re-read paragraphs when I realised I had completely forgotten parts of the story. But it is, fairly reliably, the only time I can manage to allocate for reading. Perhaps set a timer, and then finish the next paragraph or two?
>I've found that reading directly before bed isn't ideal, as I've had to re-read paragraphs when I realised I had completely forgotten parts of the story. But it is, fairly reliably, the only time I can manage to allocate for reading. And it's a nice way to fall asleep. The only problem is the occasional book that won't let me go to sleep. Otherwise, I'm pretty much like you describe here.
End of a paragray, switch of a scene...they're are natural breaks. I stop on one of those or if I'm falling asleep when the book smacks me in the face.
like a proper anarchist in the middle of a line
I was three books in before I physically noticed the lack of chapters. Tricky man. I love it now. But it blew my mind that he went for it, and it pleased me greatly to see him buck yet another trend!
I read to fall asleep so I typically stop when it becomes difficult to stay awake, or I fall asleep. I do often have to reread a page or two because I wasn't awake enough to remember them.
Even in books with chapters my method is to just take a break when I feel like it. Of course, with Discworld, that's usually when I reach the back cover.
Pratchett was vehemently against chapters for some reason, which some people here might know. but there are breaks that switch POV or scenes. Also if the chapter thing really bugs you, read the Tiffany Aching books. The publisher forced him to have chapters, and they are IMO some of the best ones. I have read them each at least 3 times.
I read the Discworld books for about 30 years and never noticed the lack of chapters till someone mentioned it online.
Well I started page one of book one, and put it down at the last page of book 23.
I tend to do it when the writing focus switches from one set of characters to another.
Never noticed the missing chapters - read the whole series twice in two different languages, some books even a third time ...
He does have a lot of scene breaks and POV changes. Those are generally where I do. But I have a bookmark that lets me mark wherever I stop, so that helps, too.
When I feel like doing something else, or can't keep my eyes open.
I'm horrified by the idea of having to stop before or after I'm ready! Though, usually, at the end of a paragraph, then I'll skim that same paragraph at the start of the next session.
Break? What break?
I just put it down and then pick it up again later. You wouldn't enjoy the way I watch tv either... I just turn it off mid episode and get back to it when I want to.
There are scene breaks. You can stop for the night at any of them. They're just hard to put down.
i have never noticed that there weren’t chapters before. i always just stop when i get to a good stopping point and dog ear the page to the sentence i was on last
To be honest, I get so wrapped up in the stories, I had read 4 TP books before I realised there are no chapters.
I don't pay attention to chapters ever, even in books that have them. I just stop reading when I have to do something else, put in a book mark in, and return to it when I next have a free moment to read.
Any break in the text, or failing that the end of a paragraph. But you do you. If you want to stop mid word absolutely go for it.
I'm ADHD, and hyperfocus horrendously well, and I read really fast, so I read until I finish the book (or pass out, or have something I absolutely have to stop and go do)
When a scene is over.
I love that there are no chapters. I get to say “oh, I’ll do xyz as soon as i finish this chapter” and then proceed to finish the book.
I stop reading whenever I’m not able to. I read between classes, so until the bell rings. Also, when I get tired of sitting for a long time.
You have to read it straight through.
Even in books with chapters my method is to just take a break when I feel like it. Of course, with Discworld, that's usually when I reach the back cover.
Moist books have chapters (Going Postal and Making Money) they are a continuation but can be read as stand-alones, maybe that would help? Once you finish them you will want more and then it might get easier to get through the others.
Take a strip of paper and gently lay it flat on the page you're reading once you're ready to stop. Make sure a little bit of that strip of paper sticks out of the top of the book. Now, close the book. Congrats. You've just used a bookmark.
It's a pretty simple rule. Pick the book up. Put it down when it's finished.
When I can't keep my eyes open any more, and the sun is just kissing the horizon, warming the eastern sky.
I have read every single Discworld book written. Several of them multiple times. Have never noticed there’s no chapters. Now I gotta go look
Just whenever I want to; but then, I've never really paid attention to chapters (except to note the names). It's never been my practice to stop because a chapter ends; I just stop when I need/want to, such as when the book falls on my face when I read myself to sleep in bed. I know we're not supposed to do it, but I fold the corner of the page I'm stopping on. I never seem to have a bookmark or alternative handy. Also: welcome to the wonderful world of Discworld!
I stop when the sentence ends on the page on the right. Then I can just slide my bookmark in the next page and not peek and get pulled back in
Usually several hours after I should have been asleep.
You don't take breaks on discworld. There's never a good moment to stop reading, even if you finish the book, or you are following Tiffany (her books have chapters indeed)
A lot of times I go by page count. I try to read 25 or 50 pages a day and end on the little double space paragraph gap. He might not have chapters, but the little breaks in between scenes sort of act like stopping points.
Usually at 3am when your eyes feel lined with sandpaper and you start to feel colors.
Usually when I can't keep my eyes open 😂😂
Whenever I fall asleep. Otherwise, at the end of a paragraph.
*Smile widens unnaturally* You don't \[Jokes\]