@MrPushwood has "read" (in my sense) many books. And he has "NM" before his title,which I assume means "national master."
Perhaps that's not a coincidence. Although it also presents a bit of a chicken-or-an-egg problem. Do people become unusually skilled by reading .... or is it that unusually skilled people manage to completely read.
I'm going to gamble upon the former interpretation (secretly fearing, all the while, that the latter interpretation is likely more accurate), and I'm going to become determined. I WILL finish a damned chess book, starting today. This minute. Or, rather, starting about three minutes from now,
I will be the "little engine that could" even though I'm actually somewhat large. I think I can! I think I can! I think I can! etc.
Despite the many good suggestions furnished above, I'm going to stick with the combined "My System & Chess Praxis: His Landmark Classics In One Edition" book which I own electronically (which apparently uses Robert Sherwood's valued translation from the German). Why? Because I've tried this one so many times that it feels like its sticking its tongue out at me at this point: plus, I can't help agreeing with the marketing blurb that if I don't read it my "chess education cannot be complete."
When I read through Nimzowitsch I will try to be mindful of, and to revisit, what I've read ABOUT advances since Nimzowitsh discussed in Watson's famous "Secrets of Modern Chess Strategy." Indeed, I'll probably end up trying to "read" that, too. Which means I've got a lot of work to do. Probably more than a year's worth (although I've already read parts of both books, sometimes repeatedly, in the past).
Can I exercise the discipline to actually do this? Well, I won't live forever so I guess it's now or never. Perhaps at some point I'll make another post in this string, and then edit it from time to time to declare progress, as a way to hold myself accountable.
I wonder if this string of posts will inspire anybody else to resolve to actually "read" (in the comprehensive sense) their first chess book. If so, I hope they, too, make note of their newfound resolve. Misery loves company, after all.