Reading multiple books?

[Catlady]

When reading for pleasure, I never read more than one book at a time. I don't see the point.

[ClairePMR]

Originally Posted by FanciFreez

You are a very fast reader indeed.. do your eyes ever burn or start blurring?

Not typically, and unlike many others, I'm fortunate to never be bothered by back-lit screens. That allows me to read in bed without disturbing hubby (and when a book is so good that I'd rather give up sleep than put it down)!

[jersysman]

Before ebooks, I never read more than one. As I have obtained more devices, the number that I read simultaneously has also gone up. Right now I have 5 going at the same time (I have to make sure the device is being used!).

[Apache]

I too am usually a one book at a time guy. I am a voracious reader so it does not take long to get through most books quickly.
Apache

[Lady Blue]

I have read 2 books in conjunction before (a few times) but don't really like to read that way. To me it's like watching 10 minutes of one DVD movie and then switching to another for 15 minutes, then another for 5, then back to the first to pick up where I left off. If it's worth reading (or watching) I want to read (or watch) it all the way through to the end.

I would much rather spend 2 days reading one book before moving on to another, than to spend a week jumping around from one to another to another and back again. The one exception to this preference these days would be to read an ebook or paper book under normal everyday circumstances, but listen to an audiobook when I can't, like when I'm driving or when my hands and eyes are otherwise employed.

[JSWolf]

Sometimes I do start a book and find it's not what I want to read at the moment. So I go for another book or maybe back to one I've not yet finished reading. But, I do have at least two books on the go. One on my 650 and one on my iPhone/iPad. I always have my phone with me when I go out. That's why I have books on my iPhone. I don't always have my 650 with me.

[usuallee]

Originally Posted by jersysman

Before ebooks, I never read more than one. As I have obtained more devices, the number that I read simultaneously has also gone up. Right now I have 5 going at the same time (I have to make sure the device is being used!).

This. I wouldn't want to carry around multiple books, but obviously an ereader makes reading multiple books easier. As does audiobooks. I'll often have a history book going, an audiobook, and then perhaps one other fiction book. I usually have no more than 3 total books going at once, any more than that and I'll lose track of what's happening in one or more of them.

[sakura-panda]

I don't carry books around; I read whatever book I have at hand.

I have a book by my bed at home, a book for the rest of the house (that I also take with me to the kids' practices), a book that I read at work during lunch, and a book on my phone (when I am away from all the other devices; it is my least favorite way to read). Sometimes I have an audiobook that I listen to on my drive home from work.

So, yes, I read multiple books at once. I think I have five going right now.

[HomeInMyShoes]

Reading more than one only happens with me when it's non-fiction (like a parenting book) and fiction or if the book club votes in a must read prior to the deadline. Otherwise, I'm pretty diligent on one book at a time.

[Freeshadow]

Originally Posted by CWatkinsNash

I don't. I practice book monogamy. I am the same way with games. Some people play multiple simultaneous characters in Skyrim whereas I can only play one at a time. Not surprisingly, it turns out that many of those people are also multi-readers.

It's odd - I can easily keep track of 10 different TV show storylines, but I can't do it with books and games. Hmmm...

Me too, books and games the same.

[Bricorn]

One on my "lives at the office" Kindle for lunchtimes, one on my home Kindle.

[MissMaple]

I read about 100 pages per hour, no need for me to read multiple books at the same time. I am always done with a book before I know it ;-)

I'll only read two books at once if only one of those is a novel -- for instance, I'm currently reading China Miéville's Railsea, and I'm also making my way through the Warhammer Fantasy rulebook. The closest I come to reading two books at once is if I start a book, decide ~100 pages in that it's not what I'm in the mood for, and then pick up something different. I'll read that something different from cover to cover before going back to the original book.

[Victoria]

Usually a fiction, and a non- fiction. I read the non-fiction at bedtime - fiction is too interesting, and keeps me awake, so I don't trust myself to take it upstairs. However, I never read more than one novel at a time.

[Katsunami]

Originally Posted by FanciFreez

New here, but just curious.. I start a book and then see another I like.. I buy it and now I am reading two books, maybe three.... I put one down and then read the other and switch back and forth.. does anyone else here do that?

Previously I didn't, but I'm about to start doing that.

There are some books I want to read, but they're very long; like 1400+ pages. Many of those are composed of different parts, or books, like a series that make up one story.

In the fantasy genre it's quite normal for an author to write three seperate books of 500 pages that form one story. Later, it happens that these three books are melded into an omnibus with three parts, creating a huge book of 1500 pages.

I've noticed that I often like long stories, but not THAT long; they're too much to read in one go. I get disinterested with the world and the characters if I read too much of it all the time, and a 1500 page book (or three of 500) will take me about three weeks to finish, if I don't get distracted by other hobbies (and I have a lot o them).

Therefore I'm thinking about starting two or three of those books at the same time and read each part as a seperate book, "pretending" that the later parts are not yet released. So, read a part of this one, read a part of that one, and maybe throw a completely unrelated book in between the parts, then switch back to the first book, part two.