Book readers sort into two main groups: the first looks at each volume as a challenge to be surmounted. Starting on page one, this group reads page by page until they are done, stopping for other activities but only reading one book at a time. Other readers are more casual about reading, often reading many books simultaneously, alternating between fiction and non fiction as the mood hits and as time allows.

Stamps collectors too fall into these broad categories. Many are one one country or one specialty collectors and they spend significant time and money creating fine collections of their area. The rewards for this kind of collecting temperament is the sense of accomplishment that comes from devoting all your energies to one goal and attaining that goal to the best of your abilities. But the other model for collecting, where you have multiple areas of interest, and move back and forth depending on mood works well too. And collectors of many differing areas find that that don't get bored and boxed into spending more than they want to acquire each item. If you are a collector of one area who is stymied by the difficulties of completion, perhaps you should consider expanding you specialty interests. After all War and Peace makes great reading but most of us like the sports page once in a while too.