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After being a book reading monogamist my entire life, I’ve moved into a jazzy new era where I’m flipping between a few different books depending on my mood. I now have two or three going at any given time.
How many books are you reading at the moment? Are you a one-at-a-timer or do you have several going at the same time?
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Currently, I’m reading just one book, but about 50% of the time I’ll read 2-3 at once. It’s pretty much dependent on my mood.
I always have two books going. One of them is what I call my Bathroom Book, which I read exclusively while in the bathroom (mostly while taking long, luxurious baths). This is usually fiction and usually on the lightish side. I always have a second book going, either memoir or literary fiction. I’ve been doing this most of my life and it feels totally natural. The downside is that I spend an extraordinary amount of time in the bathroom and often find myself sitting on the bathroom rug reading for hours. Right now I’m reading “And She Was” by Cindy Dyson in the bathroom and “House of Sticks” by Ly Tran as my “regular” book.
Oh this is such a good question!
I think you could say I read four books at a time, but maybe two of them don’t count.
There’s the one by my bed, usually fiction (I just finished a book of Du Maurier short stories last night).
Then there’s the one on my phone, so I always have a book with me no matter where I go, and that’s also my “bathroom book.”
I’m an audiobook narrator, so I’ve usually got two books going for work: the one I’m narrating and the one I’m prepping for narration. Do those count?
I read mysteries and thrillers and will try out as many as four at a time, but if after fifty pages, they don’t hold my interest or I can’t figure out where the author is going, I drop all but the best and read one to the end.
Still a book reading monogamist, after all these years.
no more than 4
I love the phrase “jazzy new era”
I try to keep it to two (one e-book, one paper). I find when I have three going that I start to feel stressed.
I usually have several on the go. A main one, usually fiction that I read throughout the day or I’m going for an appt. I have another one I’ve started, but it hasn’t grabbed me like the first. Then I have a non-fiction book I am reading a chapter or so a day and then one usually online on kindle or at hoopla when I want a change.
Usually two books. One is an eBook which I read on my Kindle and iPhone. Fiction, recently “James.”. Though I just finished an actual paper book biography (“Chasing Beauty” bio of Isabella Stewart Gardner) but that’s an outlier. Then, I have an audiobook that I fall asleep to. Listen on my iPhone with a sleep mask with ear buds in it. Usually Sci Fi or something lighter. Listen for 30-45 min. The kind of book that if I fall asleep it doesn’t matter if I miss a little. Easy to back up if necessary.
I always have at least three on the go. Currently I have four – unusually none of these is a re-read. A handbag book which is with me when out and about something light (currently John Connolly’s “Land of Lost Things”), a downstairs book for dipping in and out of (Collected Letters of Nancy Mitford and Evelyn Waugh edited by Charlotte Mosley – letters and diaries are always good for this – volume 2 of Chips Chandon’s diaries are going to take up this spot when I’m finished with NM and EW), a bedside book (“A Place of Greater Safety” by Hilary Mantel which is too heavy to carry anywhere). Reading Emily St John Mandel’s “Station Eleven” for bookclub as well.
I love this question! I like to read several at one time and disregard the others if one hooks me until the end.
I’m reading about 40 books right now. Some, like Infinite Jest, I put down years ago but plan to finish. Others, like the Feynman lectures, or Kevin Kelly’s “Excellent Advice for Living”, are like snack food when I’m in the mood. I got the 40th anniv. ediiton of “Little Big” by Crowley, and have started a delicious re-read, but I have to make uninterrupted serenity for that one and that’s pretty rare. Several I’m reading aloud to my wife (The Immortal King Rao, The LIncoln Highway,..) so our free time needs to overlap. And so on. And some I do as audiobooks when I’m out walking, e.g. Jemisin’s “The Fifth Season” right now.
One book, two books,
Three books a day,
I like to read,
What can I say?
One is for joy,
A thrill or surprise,
One is for driving,
It frees up my eyes.
The last is for book club,
A mysterious endeavor,
I don’t pick the titles,
I read whatever.
Love your lyrical response, Sonja.
I usually have two books going at a time: One non-fiction and one fiction. And usually have a magazine on the ready for lunchtime reading (Writer’s Digest and Poets & Writers).
“Jazzy new era” made me laugh out loud. I fluctuate between book monogamy and casually dating 2-3 depending on the content of the books. If it’s dense, complex, or so gripping I can’t put it down, then I’m a one book kinda girl. If it’s emotionally fraught, I might need a light comfort book in parallel to keep from spiraling. And typically, if I’m consuming nonfiction or memoir—especially for research—I’ll have 2-3 in rotation.
I don’t really know, but I count one audiobook, one e-book, one Spanish language print book and one English language print book, but it could be two or three audiobooks and there could be two more print books and at least one more e-book, so somewhere between a few and several. The problem is that sometimes I explicitly declare that I’ve given up on a book and then find myself reading it again while other books I might only read a few pages a month when the living room is quiet and the sun is shining in a particular way.
I’m usually reading 3 to 4 at once. I host an online book club. We read one book each month, with weekly discussions. I also regularly host or participate in separate read-alongs as well.
I used to read several on the go which was unsatisfying. Now, my concentration is so broken by my phone, I stick to one , even if it means it takes months to finish. Also have started using a timer as I thought I was reading for much longer than I actually was, as my phone use has wrecked my perception of focus!
Three or four. Usually one print or e-fiction, one or two nonfiction, one audiobook.