I’m expanding on a question from someone else: for the people who do read more than one book at a time. Why do you? Very curious.
I’m expanding on a question from someone else: for the people who do read more than one book at a time. Why do you? Very curious.
You know that feeling when you start getting sleepy but you still want to read… switching books eliminates that. Plus some days I just feel like a different genre. I have also been know to start a new one hat comes in from the library even though I haven’t finished a previous book.
I like an audiobook when I’m walking or doing housework, my Kindle most of the rest of the time, and a regular book when I’m at the beach or someplace I don’t want to risk my Kindle getting stolen or wrecked. Sometimes that means I have to have more than one book going. It isn’t super often though.
Sometimes I’m not in the mood to read the book I’m reading, so I’ll read another one and go between the two
Same reason I don’t eat turkey dinner every night for a week when I cook a turkey, or the same thing for breakfast/lunch/dinner, I’m just not in the mood for that book right now.
Sometimes I want to read something for fun and other times for intellectual stimulation. Depends on my mood at the time.
I never read more than one at a time. I want total immersion.
Me too. But wonder why people especially the ones who say over 3 books at a time. Don’t they want closure on a book and move on?
@Beth I don’t know how they do it but I do know people who read that way.
@Beth if it’s a book i love, i might not want closure!
Also I will say I’m a process person, not a finished product person, in most aspects of my life so reading is no surprise. With knitting I like picking out the pattern, the yarn, casting on, getting the pattern down. I don’t much care if I actually have a finished product ta the end.
I enjoy the story while reading, but i dont necessarily need a conclusion the way some do.
@Liz I do. Its the reason I waited over 2 decades to read Stephen Kings The Dark Tower Series. I had to be sure there was an ending. I hate continuations. Won’t touch them.
haha as long as we both find what we love, right?
I love the possibilities that a continuation or avandoned series offers! its so funny how we all work.
@Liz It is.
@Beth you do get closure… not in the timeframe you’re talking about I guess. I wonder how people read a book in a day…
Carmel Geromoschos-Sheil I could read a book in a day if it was 100 pages! I guess I need closure before starting a new one.
Mood, availability, environment. Just different reasons.
Read heavier stuff during the day, mostly younger, nice stuff on my kindle in bed and then I have an audio book on the go when I’m walking the dog
If I do read more than one book at a time, they’re always a different genre. Maybe a mystery/thriller and a biography that I’ll read a bit of in bed before I fall asleep.
I read my kindle on my phone in the dark; prefer a book (preferably paperback for a bath); and I like something trashy for just in case…. this does not count the various books my 3 year old chooses to read at nap/bed tone and firing the day… I sometimes just grab a book to reread if I can’t find my book/ focus at the time but want to read..
These don’t even count the ones I’m part way through and go back to from time to time,..
Not sure why. It’s just something I do.
A friend said to me when l asked why she did it, was you watch more than one TV programme so why not read more than one book. I must admit l struggle a bit but l’ve started to leave a book in my bag for reading on the bus to work and another by my bedside.
Yeah. You can keep more than one story in your head. I did find it harder to read a book for fun if I had school reading to do though.
If I have more than one book going, they’re different genres and/or different forms of media. I may want a break from a more difficult book and start reading a more lighthearted book. I also generally have one physical, audio, and digital book going. Physical is my favorite, but I have a long commute and do audiobooks during the drive. I have a digital going for when I need a 5 minute brain break at work and need to focus on something else. I also use the digital one when I’m sitting somewhere with an unexpected wait (traveling, car wash, etc) and want a distraction.
Because there are so many books. And you can read more if you read multiple at the same time. Especially if you read good stories faster than boring ones. Don’t let a slow paced book slow down your reading quotas. And mostly because I had to do it as a kid in high school and it’s a very hard habit to break once you pick it up.
Great Question, I was wondering the same thing!
Only if the first book isn’t ~that~ interesting.
I HAVE to finish a book if I start it, but if it’s boring I’ll pick up another book and alternate between the two.
If I found a book boring I’d just stop the book and pick a new one. Not add to it since it will make not want to go back to it.
I can read a non fiction during the day and a fiction at night. That’s the only way though
It all depends on le mood. Sometimes I am reading a sadistic thriller and simply need a break, so I go for a more relaxed, poetic book. Also, sometimes it’s because the book I am reading at home is too hefty to be brought around on public transportation, so then I pick up a lighter one : )
Normally no I do not. With the exception that I have an ‘at work’ book and an ‘at home’ book. lol. No reason to slog one back and forth, just leave it at work and read during the day as time permits. Go home and read the other book in the evening.
I read one on my kindle while on public transport/waiting about etc and a book book in the house, they are usually completely different types of books ?
I only do if I don’t have my hard copy or my PW not charged.
I read print books at home. And when I’m out n about…stores, in line, in the car waiting etc etc, I read Kindle from my iPhone.
I usually read 3-4 books at a time. I have one book in the bathroom, one in my purse, one by my bedside and my general read from my TBR pile. Currently, my “purse read” is an ARC book that I am reading on my Kindle app on my phone.
Usually because I have a nonfiction, a classic novel, and a modern fiction on the go at the same time…so can switch according to environment, mood etc! Works for me…
I normally have 3 or 4 on the go at any one time … I think my reason is because I’m greedy ! I see all of these marvellous books and just cannot wait to read them
I never understand people who say they ‘can’t’ read more than one book at a time.
‘Dont’ is a preference, fine – to each their own… but can’t?? Why not? Are you unable to sustain an ongoing conversation with your other half in the morning and continue it in the evening, while having a chat with a neighbour about a regular topic, while discussing work topics in your job, while talking to you children about their days at school?? ?
Other than people who sadly may have dementia, most people manage to do that easily and daily! Reading multiple books is exactly the same. Just compartmentalising events and conversations ?
I think it may be focus… I clearly am very unfocused!
@Carmel – ooh good point ? P’raps I hadn’t thought of that ?
If I’m reading a book that’s a bit scary or could happen ( over active imagination here)I have two on the go so I can read the non scary before bed ??
I couldn’t bare it! I’m always so desperate to get to the end of the story to then stop and start another one!
My heads so full of stress and crap in my life that I struggle to focus on a book. I’m on holiday right now and just finished a fab book. I loved it. I started a new one today but I can’t get previous characters and plots out my head so I’m rather confused lol. Maybe I’m not normal after all ha ha xx
I have one I read at home and one I keep in my car. My kids play a lot of sports so I spend a lot of time in parking lots waiting for them! If I didn’t keep a different one there I would forget to bring it to and from the car.
Sometimes I have downtime at work and don’t have a book with me so I will start a book on my phone even tho I’m reading a paper book at home. I can only keep the story lines straight if the books are different genres.
For me it could be be pure laziness, I have one in sitting room and one in my bedroom. I also need to have one in car if I’m waiting for someone.
I like to sit and read downstairs and upstairs. If I take my book with me, I’ll forget where I’ve put it. So I have a book by the sofa, a book by my bed, the book I’m reading on my kindle which also stays upstairs and sometimes an extra book on the side if it snagged my attention while at the library. I can pick up where I’ve left off easily with any book I’m reading.
Same here
I have books for specific times or emotional states. I have one I listen to at work when doing things I need no attention for and am alone. I have one for my art room and sewing room. I have one to read in bed. I have one to read on a trip or waiting for things when we do errands and other in travel times. There may be one or 2 others for specific emotions, like one old friend to go to when I just want to relax and a specific type of book for another time that keeps coming up. I try not to have more than 3 running at a time and have rarely had issue keeping track or getting engrossed into them each individually.
One paper / hardback for reading in the garden. Another fiction on my Kindle for taking on the go and a non fiction to expand my knowledge. Depends on mood and convenience ?
Yep! And an audiobook to listen to while I’m driving.
Because I hate to start a book.. it’s like I do not even like reading.. I’m dyslectic and it takes a while to get into a story, often I have to reread a (couple of) chapter(s).
By reading 2-6 books at the same time I can take my time getting into a new book and after that still enjoy an hour of reading in a familiar story. Got to keep the river flowing!
Sometimes something comes up in a book that I want to look up, so I end up reading about that while still reading the original book.
because life is a mess so my narratives can be too
in case one isnt doin it i csn abandon it and keep on goin anyways
learn to fly fish while learning if frodo makes it to mordor
I usually have a nonfiction, my Bible and a couple fiction books for different moods.
I’m the same. a non fiction, the bible, a fiction, and a comic/manga for when I just need a quick light read.
I can’t resist starting a new one hence leaving others half read then select which one i fancy reading that day…some get left half read for months!
I can’t!! I have to finish one before the other! I think it’s because when I was younger, I read nothing but book of series so it kinda became a habit lol
It is rare I do but reasons are – left my book at home by accident. Struggling with a book (I very rarely give up on a book) so al pick up another to break it up a bit xxx
I usually read 2-3 books and listen to an audio book. Just like I watch several tv shows at a time I enjoy having different genres and characters to jump back into.
Because I am too lazy to chase after where I last laid down my book so I keep one in the car, in living room, in bedroom
I listen to audio books in the car, read a print book for an hour when I wake up, and an ebook on my Kindle fire before I go to sleep (so I don’t wake my husband with the light on!) Because they’re all different formats, I don’t get them mixed up
I do because I can. I liken it to watching two different TV shows. Easily followed for me.
Also, different books pique my interest at different times.
I am reading two at the moment. But one is a dog training book. Both on my kindle. The training is taking a back seat to bones to ashes. I will have to get back into it
I read one book by myself. My husband and I listen to another in the car. My 4 year old and I sometimes read chapter books together.
I always have a couple of books on the go at the same time. Sometimes it is because they are different – physical book, audio book and ebook, or romance or thriller.
I am rereading “The Letterbox” by Layton Green and continuing on with rereading the Hamish Macbeth series.
I am reading 3 at the moment. To me its normal. When I watch TV I don’t just 1 programme nonstop. I am currently reading a book about war, a Stephen King and a chick lit. I pick up whichever suits what I fancy at that time.
I alternate between a fiction and non-fiction book.
I get bored so change it up
Usually because I start one, can’t resist starting another, and then like that one better, finish it or get bored, then go back to the original, rinse and repeat…or just bc I feel like different genres. Sometimes will have one mystery, one sci-fi/fantasy, one comedy/chick lit, one non-fiction and one elitist literature going at a time lol
I read a thriller or something for pure enjoyent and I also read a classic. I need a break from the classic, took me 2 weeks to get through ‘A Doll’s House’…
To break things up.
Different genres, different kinds of stories. Just like following different tv series at the same time.
I’m not always in the same mood as I was when I started the book. So I may feel fictiony tonight but tomorrow I think I’ll have a go at that biography. And at work I like an ebook option to read on my phone during breaks.
E-book while I eat lunch at work, audio book for the car, actual book for my son’s sports practices or bedtime.
Different ways of reading.
I usually have one I’m reading on iPad and one I’m reading in print and sometimes the odd fan fiction also cause they are entertaining or sometimes just because I get bored of one I will start a new book and go back to the other later.
audiobook in car, nonfiction book in living room and book on kindle at night. why? i’m a librarian and love reading. puts my mind at ease and a great escape.
If I am getting tired of a book, I start another one and go back to the first one. Keeps my brain sharp
One at home, one at work or just for a bit of a change, sometimes because one is hard going
I always have, at least since my teen years. I get kind of restless with a book and want to read something different, but not enough to want to quit reading the other book. If I can contain it to about 3-5 books, it works out ok. If not, a few books wind up on the back burner.
Audio for car and walking. Print for other times. ?
I keep one hardback going and one in my kindle. Then I usually have a couple nonfiction types going…..like right now I’m reading one one canine nutrition and one on cancer nutrition (for people)
I tend to have one fiction and one non fiction book on the go at once but I don’t know why!
I do the exact same thing! I see it as flipping back and forth from reality to escape, depending on mood.
Same here
Because its hard to just pick one book to read. I’m currently reading 6 books at a time