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seamus2389

1 books at a time or multiple

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I was talking with a friend recently about reading and she reads one book at a time while I read 4. I read 2 fiction (try and have a mix between old and new, literary and genre), 2 non-fiction along with whatever comics/manga I pick. I like read this way cause (1) I can read some of one books then go to another if I still want to read but maybe not that particular book (2) I like when I am reading different books and I notice a connection between, it's a really nice feeling. She on the other hand just likes being able to tear through a particular book without any interruptions (like reading another books).

Which way do you prefer and why? Also if you do read multiple books how many and do you ever end up leaving one book neglected as you tear through others (I am currently doing that with Ulysses, been at 28% for about 6 months as I read shorter/easier literary fiction)

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Well, it depends. I mostly read one at a time, to give each book the concentration and respect I think I can only give by reading it as such.

But occasionally, I'll be reading a long, dry piece of non-fiction that I find absorbing, but that I need a break from, say every four hundred pages. When that happens, I wash it down with sporadic readings from something pulpy, a good paperback thriller or a children's novel or what-have-you.

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I read best when I'm only reading one book at a time, but I also have a nasty habit of reading more than one regardless. Generally I'll get to a part I grow tired of in one book, so I take a break and start up a new book with the intention of finishing the first book afterward. Sometimes it works well and sometimes I start an unending Matryoshka of unfinished books.

...With the top book of that Matryoshka being Fellowship of the Ring, which I started something like six years ago and had to stop before I bored myself to death.

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The moment I start reading a new book the old one is dead to me. The only way I can go back is by starting from the beginning. Short fiction circumvents the problem for me. I've got Neil Gaiman's Fragile Things on standby now as fiction that I can dip into without resetting my brain entirely.

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Also depends on the book. The reason I've currently been almost non-existent in the Idle Book Club is that I'm fighting through Le Comte de Monte-Cristo, yeah, in French. That takes a while, I generally read 10 pages a day before having my fill. I will read shorter books in between though, but they really shouldn't be too hefty themselves.

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I definitely go for the 1 book at a time approach. I like the sense of completion after you finish the final few sentences of a book. And I feel like that would be difficult to get when I've got several books on the go.

If I had the mental capacity to do so I'd probably read a few at a time, but like Kroms said I feel I need to give 1 book a heap of attention to fully enjoy it.

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The moment I start reading a new book the old one is dead to me. The only way I can go back is by starting from the beginning.

This. I have so many books that I don't finish that end up in limbo because I want to finish them, but then I have to start from the beginning, and I'll plan on doing that and then decide to read something else and it just becomes a mess and I never actually do end up reading them.

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If possible, I like to have two books to read, but when I do that I'll have distinct places to read each of them. Like for one I'll take baths every day and read it in the tub, and the other I'll read over lunch. Sometimes, especially on vacation, I'll dedicate the whole time to reading one book whenever I have the chance (Dune was that book for me one week, the Foundation Trilogy another time), or if I'm going to be travelling I'll find something appropriate to read on the long trips (Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance was a big one for me when I used to travel the bus between home and Louisiana a lot). I guess it depends on how my time is divided--am I living in a cyclical routine, or through a particular event in my life? Day-to-day I might just want to keep my mind active with different thoughts and material, but when it comes to a cohesive event I think it's valuable and even kind of romantic to have a single defining theme throughout.

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I can only do one at the time but I might read a graphic novel on the side. I had a friend once question how many stories I was following at once as he took into account video games, comics, books and television series he said that the amount of stories I was following at once wasn't even something he wanted to consider.

Since then I've really been a one at a time type other than comics but I generally only follow about 5 or so monthly titles and its been a while since I've followed a long form story television show.

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I'm almost exclusively a one book at a time person, but there has been an exception recently, when my wife and I both got into reading A Song of Ice and Fire. As these were all bought on the Kindle, we had to share, which sometimes forced me to be reading a physical book and a bit of whichever particular ASoIaF book I was on at the same time. Even then I'd try and exclusively read one or the other if I could, never both in the same day.

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I tend to read two books at a time, one work of fiction and then I generally am reading something like history or philosophy. If one text is more interesting I end up focusing on that one a bit more.

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I always just read one book at a time. I've tried to read more then one, but I get so sucked into a book I usually can't put it down until I'm done with it.

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I'm currently writing a thesis, so it is one fun book, one hard critical theory book. As the thesis ramps up, fun book time diminishes, but I try to make time for it in some capacity.

 

I will say that it is weird to spend hours writing and reading about the social aspects of environmental packaging, then flipping over to Sabbath's Theatre, where the main character jerks off on his dead lover's grave.

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I usually have several books on the go, between 2 - 5 at a time.

It used to be that I would simply have one in each of my commonly visited rooms in the house (one in the washroom, one in my bedroom, one in the living room, etc) and just pick that one up if I had time to read in that room.

Now I've moved and haven't been reading as much as I should, with the exception of some public domain books I have on my iPod, so I'm usually only reading 2: Whichever public domain book I am currently reading on my iPod, and "A Feast for Crows" by George RR Martin. It's currently sitting beside me, half finished and taunting me.

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There is typically one I focus on, but at present I'm going through A Brief History of Time and I just started Evidence of Things Unseen. Oddly finding some harmony there, but that wasn't my intention. I have been intermittently engaging with Hawking's book when I feel I'm up for some dense (for me, a layman in all science-related fields) mind expansion instead of a narrative. I don't think I'd read two or more novels concurrently, seems akin to having multiple TVs in the room with different shows on. Couldn't digest anything properly that way. 

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I've been in college for the past four years (just finished my last essay tonight woo), so most of my reading has been forced upon me. Really cool stuff, but I never get to read for fun anymore. When I do read it's typically a bunch at once, and I only finish the ones that really grab me. Sometimes I get a weird guilt for not finishing things (and makes me feel like a bad person).

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