THE JAMES MASON COMMUNITY BOOK CLUB discussion
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ARE YOU A ONE BOOK AT A TIME READER?
I'm almost always reading two ... or more ... at a time, but they are also typically very different. I usually have one non-fiction going for self-reflection or personal education and one fiction for relaxation and enjoyment. Frequently I also have one of my kids historical fictions going (homeschooler -- have to stay ahead of my oldest so I can discuss the book and make sure she read it!).
I used to be a one at a time reader, but now I have a Kindle. When I'm reading a weighty tome of a print book, I leave it at home and take my Kindle with me for my bus commute. I also take my Kindle with me when I'm returning a bunch of books to the library because the Kindle adds very little weight in addition to what I'm already carrying.
When I was younger, I really couldn't understand how people could read more than one book at a time. Now, though, I always have several on the go. Partly I think it's because I can so rarely completely inhabit a book as I did when I was a kid, partly because I lose focus and concentration. I tend to have at least one fiction and one non-fiction on the go, along with an audiobook which could be either, as well as a book or three of short stories I dip into.
As a writer, I feel it is extra important to be a reader as well. I never seem to have enough time, so I read at night before bed and I also listen to a book on tape, while I go to the gym and walk the dog. I love being a part of two books as the same time. I make sure they are different genres so it doesn't get confusing.
I used to be a multi book reader. Then a year ago I started to write and then I was a no book reader. It's funny but I thought I would start to steal ideas! Now I read about a quarter of what I used to.
I used to be a one at a time reader, but as I got older and lost free time I usually have a book in my car, one at the office, one by the couch, one by the bed, and one on an e-reader.
Definitely one at a time for me... I'd get confused otherwise.
Mod
SOUNDS LIKE A GREAT PLAN!!
Mod
Ken, Itry my best to keep books quite different- so as I am reading Robin Cook's new medical thriller alongside a biography of King Edward VI- easy to differenciate!
I'm always reading at least 4 books at a time, along with writing. http://www.amazon.com/Legion-Bats-Sha...
Depends entirely what type of book I'm reading. If a book demands careful attention and holds my interest I find I can't read more than one at a time as I'm so absorbed in the story. I'll only read a second when the first just doesn't grab me but I'm not yet ready to abandon it. Actually, it is more like I've paused one while going to the second.
I used to only read one at a time, but since I joined this site, I'm finding myself double and triple fisted!! It's like a cornucopia of great books here and so many that are by new, indie writers, which I love!! I can't not peak into the ones I have, then a peak turns to a chapter...next thing you know it's a menage of 'Angel Evolution', 'Jailbirds' and 'Percy Jackson'. Weird combo I know. This is what GoodReads is doing to me. And I LoVe it! How fun ;-)
Mod
Super! works well for me!
I read one book at a time. I am in awe of people who can read more than one book at a time (unless one is for work or school). If a book is slow, i jump the slow parts, and continue reading.
Multiple books at a time; what I choose to read depends upon the mood I am in, and whether or not I'm on a deadline to place a review.
Mod
pretty much to the point :>)))
I have around three books listed as reading,but I usually get bored with one and start reading another.
I almost always finish every book unless it bores me so much, but I have to be in the mood for it to finish it, so you could say i`m a one book reader
Mod
but I usually get bored with one and start reading another.
I almost always finish every book unless it bores me so much, but I have to be in the moo..."
I love having my Bio of Edward VI
to turn to when I want to leave the current book I am enjoying and journey back to 16th Century England!
Usually one fiction and one non-fiction at a time.
I'm generally a one-book-at-a-time reader, but try to read a short story every day just to stay in the loop. Lately I have read a few longer works, and am trying to read more of these. My problem is that there's so much choice book-wise, that it's sometimes hard to make a decision as the books are all so tempting, but I get there in the end!
I find that I am faster reading multiple books than I would if I read just one at a time. I think it’s because of perception, “The Canterbury Tales” being a lot different in tone and pace than “Winnie the Pooh”. Switching helps when one of them gets too monotonous and I can keep switching until I am finished reading.
I am a one-book-at-a-time reader and I need to focus and concentrate and sometimes reread a passage to make sure I've got the point. It makes me slow but thorough! I remember details from books and have a good memory for facts and figures, I read for research as well as for pleasure.However I do read magazines and my favourite part is book reviews, so I'm often reading a couple of lifestyle/literary mags at the same time, but in a different context, a relaxing, light read.
I also listen to audio books and find I can do this whilst driving, it doesn't distract me. When I look at a book, having listened to the audio version, it feels as if I've read it and I recognise it.
Julie
I tend to go back and forth. For a long time, I read more than one at a time. It kind of kept books fresh and let me choose what I was in the mood for each day. Lately, though, I've been reading just one. Part of that might be because I'm in the middle of my junior year in college and I've got too much to do aside from read for fun! :(But, spring break starts tomorrow, so I'll be getting caught up!
Rainy wrote: "Usually one fiction and one non-fiction at a time."I often do that too, Rainy! Good variety! Forgot to mention that in my post.
I've always been a "one at a time" reader. Lately, however, I've been reading two books simultaneously: 100 Unfortunate Days and Silence of the Lambs. Honestly, I can't seem to get into either story this way. I prefer to lose myself in one book before starting another.
Mod
I understand completely Kaamil- most books I read at same time are so very different in genre that I can keep track!
Multiple books keeps you interested and exercises your brain. You have to remember the story arc for each of the books so not only are you entertaining yourself but also exercisining your brain,. HOORAH for your Brain !!!
Yes I am! Why am I like that!? Right now I'm reading The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling but I promised my son I would read mocking jay which is due back at the library :(
Mod
I am reading a bunch of books- and just got a notice that
is due back in 10 days- so rushing to finish it- odd that I like taking books out of library even though I have over 5,000 books in my personal collection!! (and that is not counting the two Kindles!)
One at a time, definitely. When I get engrossed in a book I have to stay in that world until I'm done with it.
I used to read one book in work and another at home. Though at the moment I've stopped reading one. Not because it's boring or anything, I just started reading the current book because I saw the movie of it and it intrigued me. I will concentrate on one for the time being, and then finish the other. I change from time to time. Most of the time I'm a one book kind a guy and the next, I'm reading two or three.
Though I burn through books like most people go through toilet paper, I am a one book at a time type of gal. Though I do have my currently reading stack already prearranged :D. I go through 1-2 books a day and then I work on my book "Shredded" for a spell http://www.goodreads.com/story/show/2....LOL come to think of it, that is what takes up my day. Read, write, eat, sleep, repeat.
I always have several going. I'm usually focused on one novel but I always have one classic, one non-fiction and one back-up!
I use to read one at a time. However, now I have a book in my purse, truck, by my bed, and an audio on the iPod. Sometimes I have an audio on my laptop as well.
Mod
SUPERB WRITING STYLE AMBER! Short excerpt- yet very well done indeed!
Thanks Rick, I really appreciate that comment.
There is a quote from the old M*A*S*H TV series. Charles Emerson Winchester says(pompously), "I do one thing at a time. I do it well and then I move on." That's pretty much how I approach most things (although hopefully less pompously). I read one work of fiction at a time, give it my full attention, and then read another.
On average I read two books at a time, of different genre, for example a poetry book and a mystery, or two books of the same genre--one an old favorite, the other brand new to me.
Mod
do you find it difficult to read poetry at same time as a novel? When i read poetry so much concentration must be used- as word meanings and images can be quite complicated in the older poems I love by Donne and Blake
I love the overloading of meanings in the language of poems--it makes for a heightened state of emotions, and I can fully understand that can tax the brain. When I read a poem I take it as a stylized cry--a cry because of the emotional overloading, and stylized because of the intricacies of rhythm and rhyme. I love blake, and Edgar Allan Poe.
Mod
My favorite is Death be not Proud by Donne
That title sound rad Rick...I'll have to check that one out, thanks 4 sharing
Kate wrote: "I always have several going. I'm usually focused on one novel but I always have one classic, one non-fiction and one back-up!"Sound strategy!!
No. I usually have about 5 or 6 going at the same time, but never in the same genre. Sometimes I am not the mood to read the same book every time I get a chance to read. I have had as many as 8 books going at one time. My son does the same thing, but my wife and daughter are one book at a time readers.
I am a biblio-gourmand, reading from 4 to 7 books at any one time. Further, whenever I go to work on the subway, I always carry 2 books with me. One to read on the way to work. The other to read during lunch hour.
I am amazed by everybody's capability here to keep up with several books at once. The question, then, becomes: how do you keep the plots apart? And in your dreams, are you visited by a host of characters from all the books at once? Are they interacting with each other in unexpected ways? I'm tempted to write a story about that... Give me some material, guys!
Mod
Thanks Paige- here is the Poem from John Donne- it was later used as a title for a magnificent MEMOIR by John Gunther about his teen son's courageous battle with cancer- which was made into a film starring the late Arthur Hill and the still with us! Robby Benson
DEATH BE NOT PROUD
Death, be not proud, though some have called thee
Mighty and dreadful, for thou art not so;
For those whom thou think'st thou dost overthrow,
Die not, poor Death, nor yet canst thou kill me.
From rest and sleep, which but thy pictures be,
Much pleasure; then from thee much more must flow,
And soonest our best men with thee do go,
Rest of their bones, and soul's delivery.
Thou art slave to fate, chance, kings, and desperate men,
And dost with poison, war, and sickness dwell;
And poppy or charms can make us sleep as well
And better than thy stroke; why swell'st thou then?
One short sleep past, we wake eternally,
And death shall be no more; Death, thou shalt die.
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THE JAMES MASON COMMUNITY BOOK CLUB
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Raymond wrote: "I'm always in the middle of a handful of books, but I'm tied down to generally one main novel. The rest, I merely peck at until either they're gone, or I've finished my main read.
- Raymond"
same here- I have been reading this excellent biography for about 2 months now! a few pages a day!