The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn question

3 is the maximum I can go at a time.

I tend to get into different genre reads. So, I'll devour one certain genre with 2 or 3 different authors' at a time and finish those up while still hopping back and forth to another favorite genre and author from it to finish that said book. Yes, it can be done! I enjoy it...keeps things interesting.

No... all Geminis do it!

I usually obsess on one book at a time and it has to pertain to what I am currently writing. If you would like to make literary history without going to the trouble of writing your own book, check out http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1...

I LAUGHED when I saw this discussion title! I once thought I was a little bit crazy when I realized I was generally reading 4 books at a time. One upstairs, one downstairs, one in bed, and often one or two more. Then life got busy and now I find it best to read just one at a time, and to carry it everywhere - even to the sink when I brush my teeth. I still will occasionally have an additional one or two, especially nonfiction or audio books.

As for confusion, it's no more confusing then having a crew of friends, or six subjects back in school, or the many interesting children I know through work and ministry. Which isn't confusing at all. Just delightful.

10 at a time? Holy cow. I'd say three is my average. You must be quite the juggler.

I usually have several going at once. I'll have a library book, several on my nooks, a paperback....whatever I feel like reading. Currently reading The Day of Battle on my nook, but I get tired of the war and I'll take a break and read some fantasy, scifi or mysteries. Sometimes a memoir for awhile and then go back to the war. Then I"ll take another break - it keeps life interesting and keeps me from getting bored. If I feel I HAVE to finish a book before I can start another I get really impatient with the one I'm reading. I love to mix in favorite rereads, too. It keeps reading fun.

Good question. I read 4 books once and found it to be too many. Try not to exceed two at any given time, not including magazines.

One audiobook, a few on the computer and at least five paper books at a time. I usually have separate books for different functions, for example:
- boring lectures (something light and easy to carry)
- books to savour for months a few pages at a time
- travelling (mostly audiobooks)
- science/popular science books to read a chapter or two when I feel intellectual
- home books (usually hardcover and too heavy to carry around, to be read in a comfy chair while drinking tea)
etc. :)

Wow, 10 books at once is amazing. I have three going at a time. I have one on my e-reader, one audiobook that I listen to instead of watch TV, and one that my husband and I read together.

I have 37 going right now. sometimes I lose track of the books. only library books do I read one at a time.

Nope. I always read between 10-15 books at once NOT counting various comic books, joke books and short stories and the like. This also does not count text books or books in other languages. And I always have read this way.

People ask me, how do you keep up with them? and i say, how do you watch several telly shows each week?

What I really love is when I have concurrent themes running between books, say, when I was first starting War and Peace and reading Birdsong and there were some similarities in the young mens' apprehension toward their first battle. In fact I am STILL reading War and Peace and this morning it touched on that story of David and Goliath, and I got an email about David and Goliath today and it made me smile.

I'm also reading Posthumous and The Book Thief and it's Hitler's birthday in both of them right now.

PS it is kind of disappointing though that GoodReads only keeps track of your first 10 books on the home page.

I would have answered that Yes, you are the only person that does this and would have been so wrong. The answers amaze me. I read one at a time and give each book my 100% undivided attention. Maybe, I'm the only person left that does this. Lol.

Gregsamsa, yes, that is very much like what I do. I always have about 20 books in line. And there are too many on my To Be Read list to read a whole book when the first chapter or so does not grab me. Even if they are authors whose work I have enjoyed before.

I enjoy being a member of this forum because there are so many others that do the same as me and love reading.

I do tend to move around from genre to genre. Just seems more interesting that way.

Same with me Claude. My patience is thinner. I used to read all the book whether it seemed good at the start or not. But now I just don't see I have the time. And while I waste time reading what I don't like, there are thousands of books out there that I would enjoy, and as they say "so little time."

The paying me to read deal; yeah that would be pretty neat. During my entire career there were times they were paying me to do what I loved, and times I felt I was in hell with no "get out of jail free" card.

I read 3/4 at the same time. It depends on my mood and the topic. It also depends on the time I have to read. I like history, so I like some time between to digest the topic.

I actively read three at a time each a chapter at a time I can keep up with each. I have a long train commute 1 and half hours each way so plenty of time to read.

I'm usually reading to four books at a time as well as listening to one.

While teaching or taking courses, I have dabbled in perhaps 5-6 books at a time. For my personal pleasure reading, I generally read 2-3 books simultaneously, representing diverse genres (nonfiction, young adult, classics, science fiction, history, etc.). I additionally read "trash" fiction on my NOOK -- or occasionally history or young adult "freebies." I do prefer reading books in almost all cases.

Depending on how you define "read", but yes I do. I use to start reading a lot of books, but it can take a long time before I finish them all. Some are easier to read, and some (like non-fiction books) I don't need or want to read the whole book.

I'm that kind of person who can't walk into a library without coming out with at least one book. Usually more.

I thought I was mad, reading so many books at once and when I tell others about it they think me the same. I've read up to 12 books at once. Even though I currently am reading 3, i'm always reading comic books.. always. My pull list is up to 23 a week. It's easier for me to get more done if I read a few chapters of each book and alternate. At the moment I'm invested in 8 T.V. shows so I've limited myself to 3 books. I also tend to take a lot of book heavy classes. Last semester I read more than I ever have in my life. three book/4 textbook and 5 personal, plus comic books and T.V. show viewing and two jobs!

me too!be sure!!!!

I have multiple reading streams where I am reading one book from each stream at the same time. Right now I am actively reading 9 different books.

I can do 2-3 at a time. If I have a book that is a slower read I will pair it with something that moves a little faster. If I'm reading fiction, I will also read non-fiction.

I'm glad to see so many people has the same habitude. I usually have at least 2 or 3 books at the same time (one or two novels and a collection of short stories). However sometimes I go up to 7-8 "serious" books (including some history and science books, usually) plus several comic books or children books.

Once did seven but found it was like doing the washing up, dancing and holding an intelligent conversation all at the same time.

I have 'em going all over the place. I started to stack the ones with bookmarks sticking out, got to about 24 and just gave up.

You're hooked. Accept it.

I read three at a time one chapter from each and I can get track of all story lines.

Not at all. I have 18 on my list of books I am currently reading, and that doesn't include the ones I haven't yet added.

You guys are way smarter than me. I usually only have one book at time. The only exception is when I get bogged down in a book I am struggling with.Sometimes then I will pick up a second book... As I have gotten older I have less patience and quit if I don't like it. I average one book a week. Would read more if I did not have to work....darn!!! I wish I could find someone to pay me to read.

I usually read 3-4 at a time. Sometimes, depending on the depth of the books, I could go to 5 or 6, but they have to be pretty light.

When I read something really involved, I do have to cut it back to 2 or 3.

I take whenever I go books: I just can't live without them! I can't imagine a world without books!!

I usually read at least 7 books a day. Read a book with 500 pages in 25 minutes! If a book attracts me, I will read it faster than one that doesn't attract me much. I remember that, last year, I found a book that attracted me so much, that I read it in 15 minutes only: and it had 400 pages! I can read 10 books at the same time! It might sound confusing (I mean for those that haven't been used to this), but when you "grow up with books", you know how to handle it!

I usually check out about 7-9 books from the library per trip, but read 2-4 at the most at a time. I like to be stocked on what to read next, so I always have more than I can read at a time. It's quite a dilemma if I run out of books to read!

It all depends on what kind of book though. I could probably read 10 or more plays at a time, but not 10 long novels at a time unless I was really on a roll at that time.

I also find that I can keep up with more books if I'm on a break (like summer break) because I don't have anything else getting in the way.

It's not difficult to read multiple books at the same time, but only if the genre differs. I tend to get bored by the same genre if I continue reading in it. So, I find it best to read different sort of books at a time.

Yesterday I had 13 going. I managed to get that down to 11 today. I'm hoping to get that down to 7-8 by this weekend, but if something else catches my eye ...

For me it's no different than following several television shows or series, which many people can do, no problem.

I usually have between three and six books going at once. Whatever my mood is - mystery? horror? heavy non-fiction? That's what I pick up and read.

I eventually get through them all, but when I finish one, I start another.

I'm a Gemini and do 3 max at a time, lol.

Lately I've been reading 3-4 at a time, because the length of those books are long and I often don't like to mix up the plots.

Some books really take the cake, though. Even when I was obsessed with Les Miserables I was still juggling a few other books. Some book plots are confusing, others not so much. I tend to read real books by going through a few pages or a couple of chapters at a time. Same goes for my ereader. It makes me feel more accomplished..... in a way. The type of book I read depends on my mood.

I always have 4-6 books going at a time. I switch depending on my mood. If there is a book I really like I tend to stop and switch to another one because I don't want it to end! I bought a kobo because I used to carry 2-3 books around wherever I went. I love that I don't have to carry such big handbags around anymore!

Usually about 5 at a time for me, sometimes more. I like to have one in each of my reading locations so there's always a book at hand. Dining table, living room, purse, work bag, back of toilet, bedroom, etc. But if I get really interested in one of them, then I end up carrying it around everywhere until I finish it.

I have 10 to 20 books out of the library at any time, and a handful of tbr books I own in the running, but out of all these maybe only half will get finished.

I have a sort of "triage" system where I start a bunch of them and then they sort of have to compete for my attention. Some I abandon for fair reasons (just badly written) and sometimes it's unfair but the titles in my "to read" stack are just too tempting, long-awaited, or otherwise more competitive. This raises my standards for the book in hand. I had T.C. Boyle, Toni Morisson, and Umberto Eco waiting in the wings and when Barbara Kingsolver misused a word on the second page..."Nope!" Cover snapped shut. Next!

I usually don`t have more than two going at the same time, but occasionally the number balloons to five but never more than that. I will read a history book, an anthology of short stories, 2 novels, and a biology/environmental book simultaneously when at my uppermost level, and wander back and forth according to mood and taste. If it`s a murder mystery, however, I will race straight to the end. Just did that to COVER HER FACE by P.D. James, one of my fav writers. Currently I am reading John Keegan`s THE SECOND WORLD WAR and the Mentor book, "the secret sharer" and other Great Stories, edited by Abraham Lass as well as a T.C. Boyle short story anthology. So for the moment it is two short story anthologies, and the huge tome of war.

I often have a couple of books going at the same time, tho' I'm not sure it's a good thing. I'm pretty lousy at multi-tasking but I suppose a lot of books are good books, not great ones. When I really get hooked, then I don't put the book down. I'm usually reading a paper book, one on the kindle, and then something more difficult, say, non-fiction, so I vary depending on place and mental energy.

I have 2-3 going but prefer to finish one before starting another.

I often have five or more books going on at a time. I have a book at work, one in the car and several in different rooms in the house. I usually keep the lighter books for wait times at car repair places & doctors offices to pass the time. The more intense books, I have at home in the family room where I can dedicate a longer period of attention to them.

I also try to have a mix of non-fiction and fiction, intense topics ad light ones, so that I can choose based upon my mood.

I read from 3 to about 8 books at once.

I usually have 4-6 books going at the same time, but lately it's gotten so out of control I've lost count! I, too, utilize multiple medias for my reading, depending on the situation. To me, each medium is perfect for specific situations, so it's really easy for me to be reading 4 or more books at once.

Once I pick up a book I haven't read in a while, I usually remember where I left off. But sometimes I put books aside for long periods of time (Game of Thrones). Actually, I've had to restart Game of Thrones twice already because it's just been too long!

I read from 5-12 books at a time. I read one book until I get to a slow part and then I pick up another book. I can't remember the last time I picked up one book and read it through without picking up another book.

I usually have at least 3 going-unless it's Stephen King. I'm a dedicated King reader. If I read several it keeps me from getting bored with any one. I guess it takes multi tasking to a whole new level. :)

Typically only 2 or 3, because I get too engrossed to switch away from one or another. I understand the tendency but I force myself to hold off. Instead, I have a large 'to read' pile. Drives my wife a little crazy.