Don't Eat the Book Please

It's been a long time, but life got in the way.  Shouldn't let it, I know, but there it is.  So why not eat the book?  Charlie the cat believes the best way to get the most out of a book is to eat it.  Not exactly healthy for the book in question, and he's not necessarily choosy in what kind of book it is, though he does tend to prefer non-fiction to fiction.
I have no idea why he thinks eating a book is the best way to absorb the contents, but metaphorically I can see where he is going with this.  I, too, consume books, though not his way.  I have no problem sitting down and in a day reading a book cover to cover, consuming its contents the same way I'd consume a bowl of popcorn or a bag of chips.  If it's fiction and a short book it will take less than a day to read.  Longer books, if they are truly engage me can take up to two or three days, depending on how thick they are and how easy it is to read them.  Non-fiction can take up to a week, depending on the topic and why I'm reading it.  Academic books can take two or more weeks because it takes me a long to to absorb and digest the contents (again with the eating metaphor).  Which may be why Charlie avoids eating this particular type of book - too dry to enjoy, not enough flavour. 
The question then is, how do others read?  Do they also consume books or do they slowly sample and savour?  What about "have to" reading, like textbooks or writing that is imposed on a person because of a course or school requirement?  Do these readers simply pick away at said book, much like picking at a vegetable they really don't like to eat?  How does one enjoy that kind of reading?  I read such books because they are a course requirement, but because they are directly connected to what I am learning, I will choke down academese in order to digest the nuggets (not to be confused with McDonald's nuggets, which may be equally hard to digest but are at least not dry) of information.  In the mean time, I'll try to keep Charlie from eating his way through all my books while I try to read them.  Until next time, I need to choke down a little more academese.