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30-day Challenge! - Day 21 - second!: How many books open at once?
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I usually read 2-3 books at a time - I started doing it while reading some 'heavier'/longer books which were hard to get through, and found reading something else inbetween gave me the breathing space I needed to finish off that 'heavy' book
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However, to be able to do many books -- they have to be very different and there are always a couple that are for study and not a story line that I need to follow. And I am always reading a history and/or science book too.
Why? Well because my mood differs and sometimes I just need a different book.
I usually only read one at a time, unless I am having trouble getting into a book. Then, I will read something else for a while, and go back to the other book later.
Sometimes 2-3 books at once.One of the books will be an eBook (kindle or library overdrive book) that I can "take" anywhere. For example reading in a long line at the groc store etc., on breaks at work, while riding the subway.
The second book might be an "at home" book, something that I don't want to be bogged down with by carrying in my bag.
Just one at a time:-).I've tried reading two at a time in the past, and it doesn't work for me. I end up putting one of them down and never picking it up again.
I like having 5-8 going at once. I can move them through a chapter at a time until one "takes off" and I can't put it down. I agree that they need to be different books - not a problem since I started with Goodreads :)
I used to read just one at a time, but this month I started reading 2 at a time. I just wanted to try it. But I guess it's easy for me now because one of them was a short stories collection and one of them a regular novel, so there were never actually two stories going on at the same time. I think I still don't like that idea, haha! I just finished the short stories today and now I'm just reading the novel... And I really don't feel like adding another one. So I think I'll just stick to one at a time for novels.
At least 2 at a time - 1 audio, 1 print. The last year or so I've had a long-term group read that I read just a few pages a month on, so that makes 3 minimum. Sometimes it creeps up to 9 or 10 books in progress.I get frustrated with characters that act like morons, so if someone does something particularly stupid, I will often put it down until my curiosity about what happens next outweighs my irritation. I might put it down for a couple of days or a couple of weeks, but I do generally go back and finish eventually.
Other than that, sometimes the book I start in the morning is not the kind of book I'm in the mood to read that afternoon, or I'll get distracted by some new and shiny acquisition so I'll jump ship.
As long as the books are different from each other - different genres/sub-genres, etc - I don't get confused. I wouldn't read two mysteries at once for instance but I might read an epic fantasy, an urban fantasy and some random classic all at the same time.
I think my Kindle is to blame. Back when I read paper books, I just did two at a time. Now that I have half my library with me at any given moment, it's much easier to swap between books without having to carry a huge bag full every day
Seems like alot of people have the same experience with kindle, I do too. Don't think it's all bad though, reading several different kinds of books, and read whatever I'm in the mood for, letting the brain make interesting connections between different topics.. or become schizophrenic, idk..Anyway, I do try to keep it around 1-3 though sometimes I get up to 5-6.
I prefer reading 1 at a time. I have tried 2 at a time but just doesn't work for me.
I always read one book at a time, but with getting my tablet it´s 2 at least, one paper book and one ebook! Works fine for me! :) And sometimes it´s good to change a bit!
Usually I read 3-4 books at once, but they're often different genres. Right now I'm reading an 18th century classic, modern fiction, non-fiction and listening to an audiobook.
E-reader + book + audiobook = 10-12 different books at a time. If I find that a book I have on audiobook isn't working on audiobook (like Dickens. His many characters just make it confusing for me), I have to wait until I have them in another medium. Then it's due to book clubs, interest, mood or the book is boring I will pick up another book. But I will finish in the end, it just might take awhile ;)
I think as a kid I used to read one book at the time. Then at some point I got into starting one, then picking another and third and never finishing any of them. They just felt boring. I am now trying to learn to finish books that I have started and I try to keep only three books open at once. Three because the GR Currently Reading shows three at the time. I noticed earlier that when I had four, the one hidden was easier to forget.
I think I once counted that I had started about half the books that I owned then and read quite a lot of some of them... But I knew I had to start again, because I had forgotten what had happened in them. I still might try a few pages of a new book without "committing" to it in GR.
I now have only two open because I just finished one and I am trying to decide what to read next... and I am trying to make myself finish that Austen. And of course when one of them is Anna Karenina I know it will probably be there for a while. After I finish the Austen book I have room for a contemporary novel and a detective story, or maybe some historical fiction, perhaps a bit lighter one. Though actually many of my TBR detective stories ARE also historical fiction.
i used to read one book at a time. But these last month i started reading 3 books together: one on the bus during the trip to where i work, another one to read before i go to sleep and a last one on my smartphone to read during my breaks at work :Di try to choose different styles and languages (usually frensh and english) so i don't get confused ;)
Day 21 part 2: I am always reading at least one book, and listening to one audiobook while I am driving. If I have too many books going at the same time, it is way too easy for me to forget the story.
Strictly one at a time except when I had required reading for my classes. :)I like to really absorb the story, and appreciate every aspect. I find that when I am into two or three at once, I sometimes get the plots mixed up!
Too many! I keep taking on book club reads and then I can't keep up because I have taken on too many!
MK wrote: "Day 21 - second!: How many books open at once?Today's question(s) are related to yesterday's, but so very closely related to each other (I suspect ;-)), that I made today a two-question day :D.
..."
MK, I am just the same. Ebooks seem to change things. I couldn't imagine reading more than one at a time before but now usually have one going on ereader and one paper book.
Always more the one. Sometimes as many as 5 or 6--all being read at once.
Usually more than one. Generally 2- 8.Of these 1-3 maybe ebooks and the rest treebooks.
And they are from different genre, It helps when your mood varies and when the story frustrates you or till one book gets much more in7interesting than the rest.
Siriusedward, it's like we are twins. I completely agree with what you stated above.
For me it's two books at once, although, I do usually concentrate on just one. :)
Sometimes as many as 5. I usually always have an audio book, one on e-reader, and a print book going at the same time. But if I get too many (I don't tend to get characters or stories confused), I get frustrated that I'm not finishing any of them fast enough. So I have to hone in on one of the print books & finish them up one after the other.
Currently I have five. One's in the car, one's in my backpack, one's in the RV, one's in my bedroom, one's in the loving room- I read the one I'm closest to.
Usually quite a few. Every beginning of the month I start all the books from my Goodreads groups. I read the forewords, first chapter, last page, get a feel for it and move to the next. I return when I feel like I would like that particular type of book. Since I'm currently following closely some 5 groups, there are usually 10+ books open at the same time.
Usually four. I borrow from multiple libraries, and try to have one from each on the go throughout the house.
Typically 2: One reading and one audiobook. Right now I have 3: One audiobook, one reading fiction and one reading non-fiction.
I always have a print/ebook and an audiobook. But I also belong to a couple of groups on GR who read books over 1-3 months so I might be partway through one of those. Before I retired, I would have one book at work, one at home, and one on audio. I tried to make them different genres and styles so I didn't get them mixed up, but sometimes a plot element would sneak in. Like once, 2 print books and the audio all had a woman giving birth and I started getting confused about which was which!
I tend to have four works going at any given moment as a remnant of undergrad, where taking four classes meant a minimum of four ongoing reads throughout the semester. All physical, as I don't use eBooks/audiobooks.
I also read physical books, with the rare exception of needing to read an ebook/audio version when print isn't available.I struggle with this question constantly. Sometimes I hit on a perfect balance, like:
One engrossing fiction
One non-fiction or poetry or essays
One unusual/difficult/fast read/slow read
It's tricky, because I like to always have an "engrossing fiction" book going, but having more than one causes problems. I'm very happy with my current balance, but give me a few days and I'm sure to mess it up. :-/
Too many! Always physical books and audiobooks going at once, but often several of each.
Oh, my god!!! =D I have also completely changed my reading habits the last years. Before I used to read two - one fictional and one fact book.Now, I am almost ashamed of telling you all - I have actually 22 books on my "Currently Reading List"!
Well, it may not be as bad as it sounds, there is for example a poetry book and I can read a poem or two and then put the book down again, there are books with short stories, there are fact books that are too heavy to digest all at once. There are actually two books I'm reading aloud to family members. It's kind of cozy to have reading sessions for adults. And then there are some novels that I find myself reading att different times of the day, for example the chunky "Buddenbrooks" by Thomas Mann - I don't find that a book to go to bed with. I read a few chapters during daytime. I often read a criminal novel late at night before going to sleep but earlier in the evening I read a classic novel that is not as chunky as the one by Mann.
But I want to bring it down to maybe six or seven books simultaneously, I really don't understand how the stack could reach to 22! But yes, I do believe that e-books play some part in this.
Before GR, I used to read 1 book at a time. Now I read anywhere from 3-6 books at once. It actually works for me though because my reading mood changes frequently even inside of one day.
Usually just one on my currently reading shelf, and this might be TMI but you asked!......I always have a book in the bathroom for, well, you know. It's usually non-fiction.
eta: anyone getting a Seinfeld flashback? LOL
If a book is dark or features war and trauma, I don't read that one before going to bed, I read something lighter then, like a romance or cozy mystery.
Usually only one novel or nonfiction in print or ebook at a time, but the last few years I’ve also had 5-6 short story collections going simultaneously, alternating between them depending on my mood. I finished one 1900-page anthology earlier this month (100 Classic Short Stories) that took two years to work through, reading one or two between longer works. I know I won’t finish all those in progress this year, but hope to finish a couple of them at very least.
Five right now. I tried having only one open at a time but I am just not that type of person. so now I just give into it and start as many as I like.
Mod
Hehe…my TBR for novels alone is over 2,000. I only read one novel at a time, but occasionally also read a biography or other non-fiction at the same time, and then I have a continuous Bible reading schedule.
A minimum of three. Always reading my Bible, a book of fiction, and a nonfiction book.
Sometimes also poetry and a play.
Up to maybe six or seven at a time.
Usually I try to have one fiction and one nonfiction going, one book/ebook and one audiobook (that's two total). This year I got caught up in a bunch of group reads and the number swelled to four or five. As a result, I'm currently trying to finish one boon I started in Juky and another I started in May?!
Mod
Two novels open with short stories that I finish in one sitting as interludes = 3.
I will try out a book to see if it grabs me. I might read the first few paragraphs then put it down, because it is not the right books at the right time. I do not count these either, nor do I consider them DNFs.
I always read at least two books now, often one hardcopy and one on the ereader but i can do multiple on the reader too. I can increase the count if the books are different enough or different forms. Short stories, comic or even audiobook can increase my read count to 4 or 5 sometimes but usually two.
Reading two is great as i never have a reading free zone. I've been reading continuously now since 2008 :) .
I do best with two. One tree book and one audio. Occasionally I will do three, but I have found that it is hard for me to juggle more than two. The exception might be a short story thrown in for a break.
Today's question(s) are related to yesterday's, but so very closely related to each other (I suspect ;-)), that I made today a two-question day :D.
Before I got my first kindle, I was strictly a 'one book at a time' reader. After I got my kindle, for some reason, the way I read books completely changed, and I started reading more than one book at a time. I saw this very much like following more than one tv series at a time - I had no trouble keeping episodes of one show separate and discreet in my mind from another show. And, such became the pattern with books.
Joining goodreads only amplified this. Now I'm reading many books at one time, it seems like, rather than just a couple/few.
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