A Game of Thrones
discussion
How Many Books Do You Read At Once?
I usually have at least 3 going, and I am the same way with taking breaks or moving from book to book! Interestingly, my books are usually all from different genres, and I do this subconsciously. Do you find that you read all the same type of books or mix it up?
I go through phases. I listen to audiobooks on my commute and then I usually have 2-3 other books that I read in the evenings before bed. So usually I have three or four different books going at once until one grabs me and I can't put it down.
Usually I mix it up. If I'm reading anything in the Game of Thrones series, I'm probably also reading a real piece of historical fiction, and something contemporary. Or a young adult novel, so that I have something stupidly simple to fall back on when I get tired.
Usually I read one at a time, but lately I have been reading more then one, which was common when I was a lot younger too. I found myself taking a while to get through the Game of Thrones books (I have only read 1 and 2) so I couldn't have another going while reading them, it would be too distracting. But there is one book I started last summer, put down for a while, picked up again, put down and haven't picked it up again yet. I'm having trouble getting into the story :( I don't know if I will finish, but I know I have finished a lot of other books in that time instead! When I was a kid, I would read two or three, because if I was reading something scary, I could only read it during the day! So it was just a habit that continued, though I don't normally have more then one on the go now that I'm older.
Three to four. One in the bathroom, one on my kindle for work, one at the bedside. Sometimes, I read one to my wife.
It depends on what I have going on. I usually have at least 2 books going and sometimes as many as 7. They range from YA to detective to fantasy to thriller to romance, (not very often but it has happened). I can put a book down and pick it up weeks, m onths maybe years later and within a few pages remember what's going on in the book. I usually have a book at work, a book at home and a book in the car. Each will have a back up ready in case I finish it.
Ha! I still do that with scary books, even as an adult. I generally read more than one because I like to pick up a different genre depending on my mood. And sometimes I just like to feel something familiar so I might read the eighth book in a book series I've been reading for years while also reading something I've never tried before.I also tend to take out too many library books at once, so I have to assign myself a certain number of pages from each to read every day so that I can finish them in time.
I used to read more than one book at once, but found that there would always be one book that I prefered over the others, so the others would get read less and less often until I finished the prefered book. These days, I just stick to one at a time. I also deliberately do not read books from the same series back to back, in an effort to stretch out the series' that I enjoy. Nothing better/worse than coming to the end of a beloved series!
Several: One in the audio player on my phone; Another, suitable for text-to-speech in FBReader on the same device; One or more visual-only (heavy graphical element, and/or non-TTS-able language) on the iPad.
Usually 5 or 6 at the same time
I usually read 2-3 books at the same time, though sometimes it can be as high as 5. I consciously choose books of different genres to read simultaneously - so I have one non-fiction book and one novel going at the same time. But I can read novels far faster than non-fiction books, so I usually wind up reading 3-4 novels for every non-fiction book I complete.I also try not to read books from the same series in succession. If I like the series, I want to try to stretch out the experience, and if I dislike the series, I simply don't feel like reading more of the same! In case of A Song of Ice and Fire series, though, I'm close to breaking this rule: I have completed books 2-4 in the past 3 months, and though I've been trying to stop myself from reading book 5 immediately, I don't think I'll be able to hold out against the temptation much longer. (I love win-win dilemmas like this: either I give in and read a book in a series I love, or I resist and feel good about my willpower!)
Usually 3-4. One "main" book, a palate cleanser that's usually nonfiction, and for days that I need larger print (like migraine days) or when I'm not home, a couple of ebooks loaded onto my phone.
I usually have 3-6 books going at any particular time. I try to read something literary, something fun, something "educational" (sociology, psychology, etc.) and something historical at any given time. Plus, I usually have a few "miscellaneous" things that I read that have really nothing to do with anything.I used to read books in that four genre sequence one after another rather than all at once--or maybe two at a time--with the actual books stacked up next to the bed, or next to me on the bed. Now that I'm reading more things on a tablet of one sort or another, I tend to flip around more casually since one text is just a couple taps away from the other.
Usually 3-4.
I always only read one book a time...Unless you include all the stuff I have to read for school...
Just one book at a time for me. Two, if one of them isn't long and I can read it in a couple of days.
Three books at the most, not including grammar books. I'm trying not to spread my reading time thin. There's always a book in my phone, one besides my bed and one in the bathroom. Besides that, many hours are invested in Skyrim.
I try to only read one book at a time. However, I seem to be unable to do so. I have identified a few reasons for this. The first is that my wife has recently discovered that she enjoys when I read to her at night. Since she would also get upset if I read ahead, I also need something to read on my own. The next reason I am unable to stick to one book is that I always have something on my nightstand, but I often find myself needing to read when I am not at home and start reading a Kindle book on my phone. Finally, my wife is a librarian, and I volunteer at the library to help her out. Regardless of how many books I may had going at a given time, I always seem to come across something that I want to read and end up checking out and need to start right away. Additionally, I am usually listening to a Harry Potter audiobook in my car, but I never count this as currently reading.TL;DR: It's all my wife's fault.
I carry a book with me at all times. I have one on the nightstand for evening reading (right now I have two) and I have an audiobook in the car at all times. There's always something that catches my eye or ear.
It depends on the book. If its ok, but not that gripping I will be reading about 5 books at the same time to keep me from getting bored. But if its an amazing read then I will only read that one book. It also depends on what mood I'm in. I read different books based on how I feel at that point so I might a few going at the same time ready for a mood swing or something like that.
I try to limit it to two, one audio and one physical, but it never seems to end up that way. (Currently reading three; one novel, one book of short pieces, and one book online.)
It can be up to two dozen. I have an audio book always in my car's CD player (Moby Dick by Herman Melville now). One to two on the nightstand;at present, Catherine the Great by Robert K. Massie and The Fall of Giants by Ken Follett. Then there are various and sundry on my ereader; historical fiction, non-fiction, biography, mystery, classic, fantasy, and sci-fi.I know it sounds like a lot, but at least half a dozen books are read and enjoyed every month.
I was going to lie and say I only read one book at a time, but everyone else has been honest so I will. I tend to read three or four books at one time, and I have to say I am happy I'm not the only person that does.
I usually try to limit myself to one book that I read every day, but I also have a couple of photography books going. I've fallen down on that recently, because my every day book was a monster and I needed something to read while I was waiting for an appointment. For that I have picked up a book I've read multiple times before, so I'm never going to get confused!
I have read 3 or 4 at a time before, but I actually prefer to read one at a time. I want to live in one place in my imagination and savor it as long as I can.
I read 3 at a time. An ebook, a physical book and an ebook at work for when I have nothing to do.
I tend toward literary fiction and big, fat tomes, so when my kids were young and my book was an escape, I tended to read only one book at a time, since I could fall back into it easily.Now that they are grown and I am at work all day instead of at home, I tend to have about three - four books going -- the book-on-CD in the car for my commute, the book on my desk for my lunch hour, the coffee table book of pictures, and the book on my bedside table for an evening read.
Sometimes, however, I just need something I consider light and easy -- like a good paperback mystery -- and will start one on a Sunday morning and finish by Sunday evening.
I switch between actual books and my kindle frequently -- it just depends on where I found the book. I sort books for an enormous used book sale and we are permitted to borrow books, so I always have a huge stack of books in my to-read pile. but i generally order my book group books for my kindle, since my small-town library has a limited collection.
When the kids were young I usually had one book that was my escape. Now I have 3 to 5 going at any one time: the one on my bedside table, the audio book for my daily commute, the lunch hour book on my desk, and the browsing book next to the cozy chair by the fireplace.
I do find, as others have mentioned, that sometimes I am caught without a book while waiting somewhere and I will start another on my phone.
so it's starting to sound like most of you who read three or so books read them in different formats. Personally, I've never found a single audio-book that I could listen to for longer than a chapter, so I never have one of those going. If I'm reading two books and one is on my e-reader, then so is the other. If I am reading a physical book from the library, then the other is probably also from the library.
ATM I have six on the go at once, four of them I am struggling with so pick up every now and again and the other two I am actively reading one or the other daily.When I am away from home I usually add more to the ongoing list as well becuase I have a Kindle so can read different things on the train etcetera without lugging around really heavy books!
When I was younger I would have more on the go but as I now read more complex books that is a lot harder to do.
1 to 2, with one audio book in my car from the library. If I start a 3rd book before going back to the first, the first book is most likly done for me. It use to be 2 to 3 books, but with a kid running around my reading time has dropped at home.
When I was working in a sheet metal factory, the work was very mindless. Meaning, it didn't take a lot of brainpower to do my job. I was able to listen to an ipod, and I would listen to an audiobook while at work, and then read a different book at night before bed. So 2 books at a time. But now that I'm not working there anymore, I only read one at a time. I just like to be engrossed in ONE story until I finish it.
i read one book at a time, but i go through about 800 pages a day, so i can read 2 or 3 books a day, depending on length
I usually have 2 on the go, one for reading during the day and the second for in bed at night.
Only 1. I have a hard enough time finding the time to read one book and keeping all of the characters in my head straight. As I only get to read for about 1 hour a day on average it really doesn't make much sense to attempt reading more than one. I'm amazed by the responses of some people reading so many books at a time, I'm jealous!
Even if I spent 8 hours a day, every day reading books, I don't think I could read more than one book at a time. Maybe if a book was incredibly deep and complex, and part of a very expansive series, maybe I would have a second book that was more a light read. But even then I don't know.
When I was reading the game of thrones series I was studying Shakespeare. Macbeth and King Lear combined with GOT made me very morose for a summer! I had to put a five book break between each book of the saga except for the two parts of book three because it was near impossible not to go straight to part two! I generally have four on the go at any time but they're not all fiction. I only ever have two fiction on the go if one was not interesting enough (I move on because otherwise I'd stop reading,) I usually go back to the first after a break when the second ends.
Here are my usual four:
1) The bible-ongoing permanent fixture.
2) A spiritual or self help book-usually read in short chunks or chapters over several months-rarely will I work through a whole one in a short time.
3) A novel with my 10 year old daughter-we share the reading. We read things like Astrid lindgren or Neil Gaiman. They are normally just at the top of her ability so she works through a page and then I read for a while to her.
4)A fiction book or non fiction.
I'll occasionaly combine a fiction and non fiction at the same time if the non fiction is hard going.
Extra: I work with year 5-6 children and do guided reading so I'll usually read through the group's book before they do or I'll read the class book (I'm part time so it's nice to know what they're talking about when I'm in.)
I tend to think of myself as a one book at a time person because all the other things are just permanent daily extras. I could never have several fictions going. I do break up series by reading other things in between though. Except Twilight-I rad the whole thing in a week. It was light reading and quite gripping. (to me anyway lol Guilty pleasure.)
2 to 10 because sometimes I am not in the frame of mind to read the same book, I need to be in the mood for certain things. Most of my books are non-fiction and they can be autobiographies of people I like, certain historical events, scientific or self help. But I do like a fantasy and a horror on the go too! I also read to my toddler a lot, so his books get in there too!
Usually reading 4-6 at a time- one audiobook over the weekend
- one lite read on my phone when I'm stuck in a queue
- a few on my kindle, in different genres, when the mood takes me.
If I'm not disturbed and have gotten into the swing, then I might focus on one and devour it. Otherwise it's a case of a few chapters between meetings, or over lunch.
Lately it's 3 books at a time. One is a an audio book, another is something usually not fiction to keep stories separate and a third book is one i read with/for my oldest son. Currently going through audiobook of "A Storm of Swords" and physically reading "The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo" and for "Skylanders: The machine of Doom" for my son.
I normally have one non fiction that I read chapter at time, one fiction that I dip in and out of and one fiction that I read more quickly. I also sometimes have an audio book on the go too.
I usually am actively reading 3 audible books, 1 kindle, and at least 3 print books at one time, with others that I've started but allowed to repeatedly slip to the bottom of the reading pile. My goal is to clean up a few of the started not finished (at least those on my goodreads currently reading list) this year. A couple, however, may just go to the "gave up" shelf!
I usually have at least one major book I am reading, recently I have gotten into graphic novels so I have been picking a few of them up to kinda of breeze through and then I have usually another. Until one grabs me than I read that one everywhere. I'm not too strict when it comes to my reading./
have you read my friend dahmer? it has such a buzz.
I usually read one or two simultaneously. That's maximum. But I don't count audiobooks here.
I listen to only one a-book in the same time. When I finish it, I start another one.
I listen to only one a-book in the same time. When I finish it, I start another one.
It depends, on average about seven.
Never will it ever be only one book at a time for this girl. I have two that I'm reading right now, for pleasure that is. While I also have 7 books going right now for my coursework. It will be more than 8 by next month I'm sure. More often than not, I have little time left for pleasure reading. I've been figuring out how to sneak it in ie, reading on the bus, now I have some time for books of my own choice.
I used to read one at a time. Since I got my kindle I started reading about 3 books at a time. Usually they are different genres and I will take breaks and in between read a whole shorter and easier book start to finish and quickly while taking my time with a classic or more dense read. I will also read a little from each book in the same day.
Since getting the kindle I usually have 2 on the go. My book from the library for normal reading. then one on my kindle that i can prop up while i do the ironing or link with my phone to read while waiting for the bus or appointments.
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A Game of Thrones (other topics)
Oscar Wilde (other topics)
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Do you read just one book at a time? Two, several, a lot? Why do you feel the need to read more, if you do?