Episode 61; Juggling With Books

[Elizabeth☮]

i am a monogomous reader (one book at a time for me), but i can certainly understand the temptation of dipping into another book even if you have a great book right before you. i find it compels me to read faster when i have another book tempting me on the nightstand.

i think some pros of reading more than one book at time might be that you won't easily get bored with what you are reading. most people i know that juggle books (not in the circus) read a fiction, non-fiction, audio, and the like. that makes it easier to follow each book rather than reading three from the same genre.

i have to follow one thread all the way through to the end before i can start another.

[Donna]

I am trying to juggle 7 books at the moment. I am reading Making History by Stephen Fry, which I started today because a friend lent it to me yesterday and I don't want to hang onto it too long.
But I had just started Under the Snow by Kerstin Ekman so that will probably now go on the back burner.
I have 2 short story collections, a self help book and The Moonstone on my Kindle.
And finally I am dipping in and out of Eating for England: The Delights and Eccentricities of the British at the Table by Nigel Slater. Not a book to read when you are hungry!!

[pam]

i definitely read more than one at a time. i love a crime thriller, but can't read something too exciting too close to bedtime or i won't sleep (one more chapter!). so just before bed i usually read something like non-fiction or travel or perhaps dip into a short story collection. i'm also reading "the stand" by stephen king right now, which is 1100+ pgs and so of course i'm taking a break from every so often. i like to have a good chunk of time to get started on a novel, say at least an hour - two is better. i need that compressed time to really get into the story. once i'm well hooked, i can pick it up and set it down, switching from one to another. like you, i can't do too many similar books at the same time. i also give every book at least 50 pages, and then if i'm just setting it down because i don't care what happens next (as opposed to wanting to come back to it later after a bit of a break) i will just go ahead and send it along to the charity shop.

[Salliewt]

I used to read only one book at a time but now I usually have two or three going. I'm reading more non-fiction these days and some subjects, while interesting, you just need to take a break from. Plus, there are some books where you feel like you've been reading for ages but don't seem to be making any progress as far as finishing. So then I switch to something else that's a lighter read so that I can see how far I've gotten and feel like I'm getting somewhere. Then I'll go back to the other book and read some more until I need another mental break.

[Louise]

I usually read 5-8 books at a time.
One e-book that I read on my computer while at work - in slow periods and breaks :-) -
One Audible audiobook I listen to at home
One mp3 audiobook that I listen to in my car - as I can't get Audible to work on my car stereo
2-4 regular books, usually something literary, a short story collection/biography, some new book that I can't wait to start and next monts book club book :-)

[Kate]

I used to always multi-read, but I find now that my opportunities to read are so dispersed anyway that trying to keep up with two books just doesn't work and I end up abandoning one or just not enjoying both.

[Rita]

I always have two books going at once. Usually an e-book on the nook or iPad that I read when I am on the go and a bigger physical book on my nightstand for when I am home. And I am like you Simon, my books have to be completely different. Sometimes I'll start a third non-fiction book

[Adam]

I tend to read one at a time but on the odd occasion I do like to have more than one on the go but it does depend on the book I would say.

[PJ]

I always have a few books on the go at the same time. I read both fiction and non-fiction so there is a minimum of two. Currently, I have four non-fiction titles and two fiction titles. For me, each title needs to be a different topic/genre so that I don't get them confused. But I have found that reading two similar books back-to-back can be confusing so I tend to vary my reading enough that each book gets its own unadulterated space in my head. I tend to choose the book of the moment based on the mood I'm in: if I've had a stressful day, I pick something light; if I'm feeling upbeat, I might pick something more technical/informative. If I'm reading a non-fiction book and the technical jargon and description get a bit too over-my-head, I'll pick up something else for a little while. I'm currently reading A Tree Grows in Brooklyn because I need a short break from Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain.

[Tiffani]

I have been book juggling lately too, partly out of necessity. There are a few big books that I've been wanting to tackle. By big, I mean oversized books that are too big to carry with me from place to place. So I've been reading two books at a time. One I read when I'm home, and the other (more portable) book I read everywhere. I find this works best if the books are very different from each other. As an example, I was reading an oversized collection of Sherlock Holmes story for awhile and reading non-fiction and modern day mysteries at the same time.

[Whitney]

I do this quite a lot too. Sometimes I find a book that is so captivating that it consumes me wholely until I've finished it (A Song of Ice and Fire series being one), but often I find I need a few different books to meet my needs and reading moods. I often have 3-4 books on the go at once. Not because any of them are boring but usually because I feel like a certain genre over another one at times. For this reason I usually read something non-fiction, something fantasy or sci-fi, something classic and usually some cheap chick-lit that I read when I'm just in the mood for something light and fluffy. They all have a very different feel, so I never get the stories mixed up.

[Esther]

I'm a monogamous reader but I do juggle knitting projects which leaves me with a lot of unfinished projects and a frustrating lack of achievement.
I have tried to combine a dead-tree book with a e-book and an audio-book but I always love the one I'm with (which is invariably the dead-tree variety) and the others are left abandoned by the wayside.