THE JAMES MASON COMMUNITY BOOK CLUB discussion
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ARE YOU A ONE BOOK AT A TIME READER?
Mod
On a different note -- and in the spirit of Passover -- here's this:
Then came the Holy One, Blessed be He,
and smote the angel of death, who slew the slaughterer,..."
wonderful!!!
I used to read one at a time but things have changed in the past year. For one, I read on an iPad now so I can have hundreds of books with me at all times. I usually have at least two going. I read the one I'm in the mood to read. :)
I always alternate my reading between five books at a time, and here's why:http://www.graspingforthewind.com/201...
Uvi wrote: "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 char..."Hi Uvi,
I don't know if what I'm about to tell you will be of much help to you.
It's easy for me to dissociate myself from any books I'm reading quasi-concurrently once I've set them aside, be it for dinner or bed. Once I take up a book and have read a paragraph or two, I'm back inside the story and my thoughts are refocussed on the characters.
I have done the two at a time approach, but generally stick to just one at a time now.
KOMET wrote: "Uvi wrote: "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 ..."Ditto. As an artist I can work on multiple pieces at the same time, when I leave one and work on another I automatically remember what that piece needs and what I did with it last. It's the same with books, I automatically know at what point I left off and what happened leading up to that point. I don't even really need bookmarks but then where would I stick my straw paper?
Mod
well put- books can be a true escape- in the best sense of the word- while I am going through a very stressful time now (enough said about that! will stick to topic!) once I pick up a book, I am transported to another world- one of the reasons I treasure books so much- and read alot!!!
Still: don't you find it intriguing, the idea that when you go into the twilight zone, the place where you can no longer direct your thoughts at will, you find yourself visited by several unrelated characters who emerge from each of the books you left open on your night stand, and who now take you on a wild ride? Don't you think it's a great idea for writing?
i can only read one book at a time other wise i feel guilty of neglecting a book, but i usually read about two book a day.
Mod
wow!!!! two books a day!!!!
To succeed in reading 2 books a day. Sigh! I've just begun reading Brothers, Rivals, Victors: Eisenhower, Patton, Bradley and the Partnership that Drove the Allied Conquest in Europe by Jonathan W. Jordan to add to the 2 other books I'm already reading.
Mod
I've just begun reading Brothers, Rivals, Victors: Eisenhower, Patton, Bradley and the Partnership that Drove the Allied Conquest in Europe by Jonat..."
KOMET- Always facinated with Gen Omar Bradley- and recommendations for a good biography?
Hi Rick,You may want to check out the latest Omar Bradley biography, which is the following ---
Omar Bradley: General at War by Jim DeFelice
Patton I'm more partial to because my Dad served under him in the Third Army during 1944-45.
Mod
You may want to check out the latest Omar Bradley biography, which is the following ---
Omar Bradley: General at War by Jim DeFelice
[bookcover:Omar Bradley: General at War]
Much appreciated!!! does look like a great bio- Loved the Patton bio
Pa..."
There are so many great books out there and I always have a stack sitting on my nightstand....so, usually 3-4 at a time. They are divided between audio, digital and good old fashioned book. I keep an audio in my car and in the kitchen. Cleaning the kitchen is much more palatable with a book to keep me company. One on my iPad Kindle that I can take everywhere with me and one real deal book on my night stand for before bed relaxing.
Although it is impossible to read more than a book at a time...since I have started reviewing books I often find myself with 2 and sometimes 3 going at a time. I am usually able to read a book in a day or two. The better it is, the faster it goes...or so it seems because when they're bad they seem to never end.
I will read anything that's lying around. So I may well dip into five or more books in a day. I won't usually read more than one new book at a time, but I will always have a whole host of books on the go at any one time.If I have read a book a few times I may simply pick it up read an excerpt and then put it back. I don't feel the need to finish what I've started necessarily - although it is rare for me to leave a new book unfinished - it would have to be a real stinker for that to happen.
Rick wrote: "Tilly wrote: "i can only read one book at a time other wise i feel guilty of neglecting a book, but i usually read about two book a day."wow!!!! two books a day!!!!"
I second that Rick...WoW!!
Would that I only read one book at a time. There is a pile on the floor next to the full nightstand. There are books on the corner of my desk and books on the end tables. My kindle is buried under books. Admittedly, some are reference that I'm not going to read cover to cover but I'll jump around until I get captured by a story, then I'll stick to the one.Maybe I'm just a hoarder and will be found one day with my feet sticking out from under a collapsed column of books, all with bookmarks.
I usually read 2 at once, one fiction and one non-fiction, and read a bit of each every day. Now and then I'll read two fiction at once but I find that much less immersive.
Mod
Rick wrote: "I find that readers can be divided into several group' Genre being the most obvious. I, like so many on here, love many types of books- and also have a TBR list longer then the Nile River!! I am a..."Yes, Rick. It allows me to see where we were and how far we've come in life in general. Also some specific areas like Slavery and slavery now.
No. Sometimes I'll put everything aside to read a book--as when I read The Hobbit and found The Lord of the Ring, or with the "Girl Who" series. But I am currently on page 801 of War and Peace and find that 20 or 30 pages at a sitting is all I like to do.
Hock wrote: "I am currently on page 801 of War and Peace"There's a challenge I'm not willing to undertake. I've read Dr. Zhivago, Cancer Ward, and The Gulag but all the Russian patronymics and familiar forms of address make the works too much for me. If I want Russians I'll read Martin Cruz Smith's Arkady series, though the last felt a bit contrived.
I usually read 3 or 4 books at a time. One book usually a crime or horror I carry with me in the car and to work just in case I can sneak a few pages during the day. One is for the chunkster group and I read the chapters on a Sunday morning for the week. One book is for a reading group I go to each month. And sometimes I get tempted by other books that get added to my bedtime reading.
I'm a one book at a time person. It's strange, I know, but if I read more than one I feel like I'm neglecting the other book when I read the first.
Mod
I read 3 or 4 at a time as well, but usually in different formats: on my Kindle, an audio book and a "regular" book. So far this has worked out ok. The audio books I listen to in bed on my iPhone. It helps me to relax and really focus in on the story.
Sometimes two. It usually happens when I put a book down because another has caught my eye. I almost always go back and finish the first book : )
Mod
still working on Mary Tudor and reading greatbook- THE LAST JUSTICE
Usually one book at a time, but for the couple weeks i've been reading two, almost three books at a time! I like that!
Not! Agree with you, Lady Danielle...but I also get asked to do a lot of reviews, so I have to always think that way. Taking the summer off, though, so I can catch up with stuff I chose.
I keep several going at the same time--fiction, nonfiction, poetry. My attention darts around too much to stay on a single book for long, like an addled mouse running back and forth between bits of cheese.
I usually read two books at a time. If one is non fiction or political, I may read three at once, but usually, two.
I prefer reading one book at a time. I try to read books in the same series or by the same author in sequence.
I'm definitely a one book at a time reader. That's what works for me.
Mod
I had a book due back in a few days so had to concentrate on finishing it- back to 2 books now!
I usually have two or three books going at any one point in time.
I am a multi-tasker but when it comes to reading, I just have to read one book at a time.
Typically I will read one book at a time. Occasionally I'll add in a second one but it's rare.
Hi all. I have the complication of trying to read and write at the same time. I can read two or more books as research while writing but only if they are fuel for the writing.
I have a big back log of books to read and find I can't read them while I'm writing. Even visiting here gets neglected.
Before I was writing I'd often read a book a day and could read non-fiction and fiction at the same time but not two fiction at once.
I have a big back log of books to read and find I can't read them while I'm writing. Even visiting here gets neglected.
Before I was writing I'd often read a book a day and could read non-fiction and fiction at the same time but not two fiction at once.
If you have a few minutes, Morgen Bailey (from across the pond) revisited an interview she did of me some time ago. You can see it at http://morgensauthorinterviews.blogsp... . It was a pleasant surprise.
I used to be under the VERY false impression that as a writer, I didn't have any time for reading. How very UNTRUE that statement is. So I eventually made time for myself to read, only one book at a time, and very slowly. But lately I have found myself being in 2-3 books at once.
Heck no. I am always reading anywhere from 4-8 books at a time. Always depends on the mood I am in, the time I have and the overall interest I have in the books I am reading. My son is exactly like me in that regard, where as my wife and daughter are one-book-at-a-time readers.
I try to read one book at a time but I usually wind up reading two or three. I also read portions of previous reads for research or inspiration--that can up the number to four or five. Sheesh! No wonder it takes me so long to finish a book.
Partially because I do it professionally and partially because of a character flaw, I one read one book at a time. Once I start it, I stick with the book that I'm reading to the very end. If I don't, I simply never get back around to finishing it.When I used to read multiple books at the same time, I started to finish only the ones I thought was good. This is a problem because I always wondered how the bad book ended, even though the book was bad by my standards.
For many years I read several books at a time. The only exception was if a novel was tremendous. Also like Joey, if I didn't finish a book I rarely ever went back to finish it due to the fact that so many books needed to be read by me.However when I started writing, I pretty much stopped reading altogether and focused on my own voice and stories. I do miss it occasionally but am too distracted by writing my own novels to concentrate on anything else.
I wish I were a one-book-at-a-time person, but I have about eight more or less on the go, and that's just in fiction. Only once this year has a novel nailed me to itself until I'd finished.
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THE JAMES MASON COMMUNITY BOOK CLUB
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Authors mentioned in this topic
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On a different note -- and in the spirit of Passover -- here's this:
Then came the Holy One, Blessed be He,
and smote the angel of death, who slew the slaughterer,
who killed the ox, that drank the water,
that extinguished the fire, that burned the stick,
that beat the dog, that bit the cat, that ate the goat,
Which my father bought for two zuzim.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chad_Gadya