One at a time, beginning to end, always.
If I had three going, while reading one I would worry that the other two were feeling neglected.
mmm
I’ve been meaning to ask the same question for some time now. I have two non-fiction books going now, depending on the mood, and several novels that I’ve started but never finished. Some of these are just so good that I never want to finish them.
I tend to read multiple books, especially when I’m re-reading them. Often multiple books by the same author or in the same series if I’m re-reading.
Interesting that you ask, as I was just thinking the other day how much the Kindle has changed my reading habits. My answer in the past with print books would have been “almost always one at a time”, and now I tend to be all over the place – with maybe 6 or 8 on the go at any one time, and maybe a few that got pushed down to such low priority that I may never get back to them.
Part of the reason is that with the rise of Amazon and ebooks, books are cheaper and more accessible than they used to be – no trips to the bookstore (with no certainty that they’ll necessarily have what I want), no standing in line, and the price is lower. So now I tend to have more new books than I used to, and most of them are all right there in one place, accessible with just a few taps on the screen. It tends to encourage a smorgasbord approach to reading.
I only really read one book at a time. I may have a a few that I found a bit of a slog that I gave up on and may return to eventually, but I only pay attention to one at a time. I suppose I may read something dull, dry and important then relax with a bit of something lighter, but I won’t have two books for pleasure on the go.
I normally devour books anyway, reading the whole thing in a day or a weekend, and I’m in that world until I’m done. I’m not popping between the 1800’s and the distant future via Discworld every few hours, I’m sure I’d get jetlag.
Sometimes just one book, sometimes two or three. Three seems to be the max for me. I’m not sure I’ve ever gotten to four, and five is right out.
That’s an interesting point. It’s easier to get distracted by something new and everything you could possibly be interested in reading is right there at your fingertips (which is one of the greatest miracles of technology, IMO.) I’m at the point where 95% of the books I read are on Kindle. Can you imagine if my 86 ‘‘Unread’’ books were actually taking up space in my house?
I’ve never read one at a time.
Reading this thread, I was was first thinking “maybe one or two”. Then by the time I started adding it up, I realized it’s closer to five at a time on a regular basis. I have my main book that I read before bed on the Kindle. Then I have a generic paperback I read if my husband isn’t at home for dinner. I’ve got the Kindle app on the laptop where I read a favorite series while I’m working on knitting projects. I also use the Kindle app on my phone to read a ultra “light reading” book (usually a many times reread book or favorite children’s/young adult book) for when I cover our reception desk at work. Finally, when I’m in the habit of riding our exercise bike, I usually read a book on the tablet via the Kindle app if there’s nothing on Netflix or other streaming media that I want to watch for the next forty five minutes or so. So yeah, up to five separate books at one time depending on what’s going on in my life.