Reading more than one book at a time

[Sarah]

I was wondering how many of you read more than one book at a time and how you find it. Do you think having more than one on the go can confuse you or change how absorbed you are in the story at all? I don't think I have ever read more than one fiction book at a time although I do generally have a non-fiction on the go at the same time. I was thinking of trying it. Would be good to hear your thoughts.

[[deleted user]]

I will have up to 3 books on the go at once. Usually an audio book in the car, and 2 other books. One lives in the handbag, the other by the bed. I find it works OK if they are all suffciently different OR if they mesh well. So currently I have a history of Henry VIII by the bed and am listening to Innocent Traitor in the car. That there is some overlap between the two has worked quite well.

[Sarah]

I hadn't thought about the audio book option - I can see how the different formats could help to keep you focused on the individual stories - it might also be a way of me "reading the classics" which I have struggled with on occassions. I catch the bus to work and I cannot read on there as it makes me feel sick so an audiobook would be perfect - why have I not thought of that before?!?

[Chrissie]

I dislike reading two books at the same time, but I do it when necessary because paper books I can only read at home while audiobooks I can have with me where ever I go. I have thought a lot about this. It is not that I mix up the different books, which is what I worried about at first. The real problem is that jumping around between different places and times, ie the different books, prevents one from escaping into the world of one book. I find you appreciate a book more if yo stick to one at a time! I am sure of this for me. There is always one I prefer to read; the other one gets less attention. Even the one you are enjoying most is less appreciated. Sure, if the second book is a cookbook, short poems or something like that, it is nothing you try to escape into. Non-fiction or fiction has nothing to do with the question. If I want to escape into another world, it is easier with one book at at a time. This is how it works for me.

[Ann]

I used to read up to 3 books a time very frequently. One for in bed, one downstairs in the living room and sometimes one at my office for lunch time. It works for me best when the genres are different, but I don't always make sure of that and it still works. It does tend to clear books off your TBR shelves a little quicker and also one of those books can be really thick!

[Janice, Moderator]

I will often read up to 3 at a time. Lately, it's been 2 at a time.

I can switch between tv shows, why not books?

[Sarah]

You're right Janice - switching between TV shows is easy. Right, well you've all convinced me to give it a go!

[Kat]

I also have different 'formats' on the go - an audio, a paperback and an ebook. The only thing I try to do to stop confusion is pick very different books - e.g. I'm in the middle of an adult audio, a contemporary YA ebook and a paranormal paperback. Otherwise I tend to get confused :)

[Travis]

While I work its audiobook on phone, in the house kindle and nezt to the "throne" a paperback. I avoid things like reading 3 fantasies at a time or books that are similar enough to confuse

[Pragya]

I read anything from 5 to 11 books at a time. I am a self declared ADD and can't stick to a book unless it grabs my attention, so I keep flitting between books until one catches my attention and I finish it and then onto the next and so on.

[Lynn]

I've always been a one book girl (not that I'm a girl anymore but ... ) until this recent toppler, which I added an audiobook to the equation for times when I couldn't physically read.

It worked well.

[Roz]

I've never done the audiobook way. Sometimes I wish I had one at work to drown out some of the surrounding chatter. I often have more than one book going at once. I get a little bored with one, so I go on to another, then switch back. Sometimes it can be a bit confusing but I may be a bit like Pragya "flitting until one catches my attention". It a book really grabs me I'll stick with it until the end. Right now I have 3 going and there's a pile beside my bed begging for a peek.

[Rusalka, Moderator]

I hate it. I have recently done a couple of audiobooks at work so I can file and listen to Douglas Adams at the same time.

And I did do two at the same time this toppler as one book wouldn't fit in my handbag. But I kept on getting confuselled.

I'm just a one book kinda girl, unless special circumstances entice me to look around.

[Roz]

I know what you mean, Rusalka. The I hate it part. I just can't help myself. I'm fickle :(

[Sarah]

Just come back from the library with the audio book Lord of the Flies so here goes my first attempt at reading two fiction books at the same time!

[Cherie]

I have tried to have more than one book going at a time, but I have found that I will leave one to linger while I finish the other. If the other still calls to me, I will finish it, but I have found that the reason I started another was because I did not like the one I was currently reading and never went back to it. I like to have a book of poetry on my night stand when I need a break from novels or only have a small amount of time to read. I used to read a lot of magazines, but cannot seem to keep any interest in reading them.

I have never really gotten into audio. I am not real "techy" and I have a hard time sitting still to listen to a book on CD. My 20 yeard old truck does not have a CD player and I only have a 1GB iPod. I know that these are all excuses for now. Maybe when the weather clears up and I can convince myself that I can listen to an audio book if I walk to work I will get more serious about it.

[Laura]

i read 5 or 6 books at once. for a few years my reading lagged, and i realized this was because i would get stuck in a book. i got stuck, wouldn't pick up another til i had finished the first, and went months without reading. i started reading (at least) 10 pages of 5 books at a time. i read 3 fiction and 2 non fiction every cycle--usually a couple of ebooks and 3 book books. often i will love a book and finish it quickly; but if i hate it, i can still get through 10 pages.

[Lynn]

I'm all for giving a book a go even if it's not really sitting well with you, but why not give up on it, if you hate it?

[Kimberly]

I often have multiple books on the go so I can pick up whatever fits my mood best since I'm very much a mood reader.

[AmyK]

Sometimes I listen to one and read another, but it all depends on the book. If I'm reading 2 at a time usually one is non fiction and one fiction.

[Sam]

I'm a regular multi book reader, especially if I have an e-book on the go as I miss the feel of a proper book in my hands ;-)

I love having a few books on the go at once as it gives me a choice on what to read depending on my mood too :-)

[Julia]

I usually have anywhere from 2 - 5 books going at a time, one on my nook and 2-3 paperbacks.

[[deleted user]]

I used to focus on one at a time, but recently got into reading two or three at once. If I don't go above that, I can keep track of everything easily, but anymore, and I start to mix up plot lines.