Growing up, I hit the maximum number of books allowed out at a time, and I had them all finished before they were due… I think it was 15 at a time, for 3 weeks. And most were 200-700 pages each. Big difference then versus now; internet was dial-up, and no netflix, youtube, or various social media sites…
only reason why they’d take off that way is if they’re driving way too fast… gotta stick the landing before it counts, though :-)