It's not true!!
I'm blaming the digital age... among other things.
Right now I've got one book on the go on my Kindle (these are usually books by my blog buddies - right now? Life, Liberty & Pursuit by Susan Kaye Quinn). Another on my iPod (I'm rereading some classics here - right now? Sherlock Holmes). Another on my desk at school (usually MG or YA - right now? Linger by Maggie Stiefvater). Another in my packsack (usually another MG or YA - right now? Ranger's Apprentice #2 Burning Bridge by John Flanagan). And another on my nightstand (usually steampunk, mystery, romantic suspense, mystery, sci fi or anything else I'm in the mood for - right now? Kindred in Death by JD Robb)
Do you read one book at a time, or have you succumbed to the multi-tasking digital age as well?
122 comments:
I might do two at the same time, tops, and one of them is usually audio.
Anita - I haven't tried audio books - my brain just can't concentrate on them for some reason. But maybe I should try it on my iPod when I'm walking instead of music :)
I only read on fiction book at a time.
Holly - that's what I used to do! I think my brain is becoming a permanent multi-tasker!
Nope, I'm still one book at a time.
Alex - seems like the only crazy one! *sigh* Why am I not surprised? :)
I find myself doing the same thing. But I don't seem to enjoy the reading as much when I am jumping about.
Shelley
Shelley - That's true - it sometimes takes me a moment or 2 to get back in the story. But I like having a book with me at all times too - and I'm not good at bringing things with me :)
I used to be a one book at time person too. Now I have one on my Kobo, one by the bathtub, one at school and one hanging around near my favorite recliner.
I usually have 2-3 going at a time unless it's a real page-turner, which I will read exclusively until done. I love a book I can't put down. It just doesn't seem to happen all that often.
Susan - Exactly! It's just convenient to have them in the places I know I'll be reading! Therefore a bunch of books wait for me :)
Yvonne - I do that sometimes too - when I'm near the end of the book, it follows me everywhere! :)
I can NEVER just read one book at time! :)
Right now, I have three books on my Kindle and 4 books on my nightstand.
Totally ridiculous! But this is how I roll...
Karen - lol - I used to be able to read just one, but not any more! Maybe there are just too many good books for us out there! :)
I have three books that I am reading now. I switch between them when I feel the need for change. If I really love a book, I will read it exclusively until it's done. Very interesting post!
Yeah. I've succumbed, too. I am into more than one, like you, several by bloggers on my Nook, and two paperback books, one by a blogger, one by a national author. There ARE too many good books out there!
Ann @ Long Journey Home
Roxy - thanks! I'm so glad I'm not alone in reading more than one book at a time! I get drawn to so many stories :)
Ann - yay! I'm not alone! There really are so many books I want to read!! We need more hours :)
That's a lot! But more power to you. :)
Usually the only way I do more than one is if I've got a novel and a non-fic title going at once.
That is quite the array of books! Wow.
I might have 2 going max, but I'm a one-at-a-time kind of reader. Slow mind, I guess. :)
Janna - It is a lot - but it's fun! There are just so many good books out there! :)
Janet - It is! I couldn't believe it when I realized how many I had going on! I don't think it's slow/fast as much as these are left in convenient places for me :)
I never read just one book at a time. I usually have two print books going, one fiction, one NF. Then I have a Kindle book underway (those seem to get the least attention), and I have an audiobook. You're right about audiobooks, I have to be doing something else: cooking, treadmill, sudoku... something.
I used to read multiple books at the same time. Now I read one book at a time, unless you count a book I'm editing and my own book that I'm working on, in addition to the one I'm reading for pleasure.
VR - I tend to tune out noise pretty easily - comes in handy as a teacher :) - so I think I would get lost with an audiobook. I wish I could do them!
I try to read one at a time, though I will sometimes have a fiction and a few nonfictions going at once--and that has nothing to do with the digital, they're just regular books sitting around in different places.
Lee
Tossing It Out
Helen - it's funny how many of us have changed our patterns. I think for me, it's more a question of convenience and my busy life than of choice. :)
Lee - I can throw in my nonfiction books quite easily. They're not as hard to re-enter as fiction (for me anyway!), so I can have several of them too. I imagine I'll have fewer books going on in the summer time when life is slightly slower :)
I just realized we have the same last name (ours is spelled with a "z" not an "s"). I can only manage one *real* book at a time.
I read one book at a time. I do realize I have enough books in my TBR pile (and add more weekly) that I'll never finish them all in a lifetime.
The way I look at it is, I've only got room in my head for one extra storyline besides the numerous one's I'm creating myself. (Hugs)Indigo
Heidi - cool! We must share a family tree somewhere ... at least a tree of poor spellers! :)
Indigo - I'm the same!! There's no way I'll ever be able to read all of the books I want to read! I wish someone would pay me to be a professional reader :)
You're right - I'm so limited in my time right now, everything comes in 15 minute chunks it seems. So I don't have as much time to write ... and when I do write, I definitely read fewer books!
I read a bunch of books at one time. I usually have a non-fiction or two going (Howard Zinn's A People's History of America and a book on Greek myth right now) and a couple of novels (Right now, Dead Is the New Black and Shanghai Girls).
But I am all over the place, all the time, with everything I do. lol. Somehow the books still get read, the projects still get written, and I make it to work every day, so that's all that matters...
Guinevere - I'm all over the place with a lot of things as well. I'm definitely not a linear learner!! But you're right - everyone survives & I get everything done anyway :)
I tend to read more than one book at a time. I usually have a print book I carry with me (since I don't have an e-reader), one I'm listening to either in the car or on my MP3 (way behind in the times I know), one I'm reading on the computer and sometimes even a second print book.
Mason
Thoughts in Progress
I try to stick to two at a time- one fiction and one non-fiction. Over Christmas I had five books going at a time- that was way too much!
I read one at a time. Altho that may change with the Kindle. Right now I have a couple on my Kindle I''ve started, as well as the perennial print book on my bedstand I read at night.
I am guilty of reading multiple books at a time. Sometimes one book rises to the top and I toss the other book or two to the side. But yeah, usually I have two or three books going at a time.
You are a superstar! I'm still only reading one at a time, but that could change! :)
Awe wow!! Lots of goings on with all your books, with your bad self! I'm a one booker at a time gal, but only because I tried the several at a time and ended up not finishing either...still...=/
I don't have an e-reader but I've always been in the midst of five different books at any given moment, lol.
I'm feeling like an under achiever now. :( I usually hae two books going and a non fiction writing book at once. I don't have an ereader. I wouldn't mind one for my purse though.
haha... I usually only read one fiction book at a time - at the moment I'm reading 4... 5 if you count the bible!
I sometimes have four or five on the go at one time. Usually three or four are books I am trying to get read for background research.
Usually if I put a book down and start another, I never pick the first one back up again.
I've totally turned into a multi-tasker too, and yes, I blame the digital age for making it so dang easy to switch back and forth between multiple books. Right now I'm reading three different books. I wonder if I'll finish any of them?
Yep, I'm multitasking my reading, too! Reading a heavy-themed book for book club and reading 2 other books for fun. :)
Mason - I'm impressed you can put a book on your MP3! :)
I do like having different books for my different moods too!
Stephanie - It's a lot for me right now - but I think they're all for convenience. Usually one or two get more priority :)
Karen - the Kindle is part of my reason for having more books. I do like to have one on my nightstand always too!
Stephen - That's true - some books really do rise to the top and demand to get finished!
Writing Nut - lol - hardly! I'm mostly guilty of reading the closest book at the time! :)
Colene - I do have lots going on ... in all aspects of my life! :)
Aisha - it is fun having so many different reads to choose from, isn't it? :) Thanks for dropping by!
Sharon - lol :) That ereader in the purse is exactly how it started! Then I found I could read books on my iPod.... :)
Michelle - I love how the books kind of sneak up on you! It's fun :)
Al - I'm glad I not alone! I do the research thing too :)
India - it started for me when I didn't have 'my' book nearby - and I started another ... and another! :)
Jennifer - yay - I'm not alone! :) The electronic equipment does make it easier, doesn't it?
I almost always finish the books - habit from my mom :)
Elizabeth - I read most of my books for fun - but I also read a lot for my classroom - I like to keep up with what's new! :)
I read one book at a time when I do read. If I had 2 or 3 on the go I wouldn't finish any.
Yvonne,
I'm afraid I'm another 'one book at a time' reader. I don't know how you manage without mixing all the characters up in your mind.
ah, sister, you don't know what real hell is :) Try translating three books at the same time when the deadlines hit you. I repeat - translating not reading :)
You know I'm a book translator :) I did that this year, and I'm surprised I survived it :)
I tend to do two: one on my NOOKcolor, and another in a print version. I also have the Kindle app on my phone, so if I'm stuck somewhere without a book, I'll work on that one.
Terry
Terry's Place
Romance with a Twist--of Mystery
I'm trying really, REALLY hard to just read one at a time :-) (my max is 2 at a time though. Don't know how you concentrate on all those simultaneous storylines!)
Sadly, I have succumbed a bit, though not as much as you! I usually have one (or two) going on my Kindle and a paperback one, too.
One fiction book at a time.
Though I usually have books on research and/or craft going on the side.
Hugs,
Lola
When I read, I tend to do nothing but that until it's finished. The exceptions are, oh gee a bad book and a book on writing or art. Those I study and use my handy yellow highlighter. I can read a craft book on writing or art or another topic at the same time that I read something else.
Nancy
N. R. Williams, The Treasures of Carmelidrium
I'm working on a couple right now myself. :)
Lisa ~ YA Literature Lover
It take me 6 months minimum to read a book.
:-) I kid you not! LOL!!!
I think the digital age has passed me by! LOL! Take care
x
I only read one fiction book at a time, but while reading it I might also read a poetry anthology and a non-fiction book. Something else that isn't so involved.
Yvonne - I used to be like that. Now I'm attached to whatever book is nearby! :)
Rosalind - maybe it's because I've always had a bouncy brain that likes to do a bunch of stuff :)
Dez - LOL!! :) I'm kind of surprised you survived it too! Translating is hard - not only do you need to do the words, but the 'feel' of the work! Tough stuff!
Terry - I just downloaded the Kindle app to my iPod, so I'll probably share the same book between the 2 of those from now on :)
Rachel - I've always had a brain that likes to jump from task to task so I guess I'm not too surprised I can do this :)
Shannon - it's bizarre isn't it? I've just added more and more lately! Not really sure why :)
Lola - I do throw in a research book or two - and I didn't count those :)
Nancy - that sounds like a good way to go. I've just taken the easy road out b using the book/device that's closest! :)
Lisa - I think you're always working on a couple, aren't you? :)
Old Kitty - lol :) I've always been a fairly speedy reader. I rarely take more than a couple of weeks to read a book. When I read one at a time, I usually read a couple a week. Just lucky I guess.
Jessica - that's exactly how I used to read. Strangely that's changed - it's weird, but I'm getting used to it :)
OMG--that's just what I do. Never thought I'd be a multi-reader but I am. Blogs, Kindle, Adobe Reader on my computer AND a dead tree book. All at once. Now, as a matter of fact. It's almost too much for me.
And, btw--82 comments?!? Holy cow, girl! You are a comment queen! *bows in awe* :)
Mary - yay! another multi-tasking reader!!
You're so funny! I do have a lot of awesome bloggy friends :)
I've currently got my nose in 2 books, and I've been known to read up to around 5 or so. :P
whoa! that's a lot of books at once! I was always a one-book reader until I got my KOBO. Now I'm reading two or three at a time.
Like this list of yours! You are such a great supporter of the writing community!
Golden Eagle - I'm learning to do that - although 5 is pushing my limits :) It takes me a minute or 2 to catch up sometimes!
Terry - thanks! :)
It is a lot, but so far it's workiing. I'm hoping to cut it down to maybe 3 - I think that will be easier!
I TRY to read only one book at a time. But sometimes I get too anxious to start another. I'm finishing my book club selection "Sarah's Key," but I've got Beth Revis's book just staring at me...
I read Dr. Q's book--good one; and Shiver. I wonder how you like Linger...? :o) <3
Leigh - That's exactly what happens to me :)
I've got Beth's book on my Kindle too! I'm liking Linger so far, but I'm not far into it yet!
I try to only read one book at a time.
Susanne - I probably should do that. :) Might help my brain slow down a bit!
This blog is SO amazing! Ah.....just stretching back and enjoying ALL YOUR READERS!!
Fun! Fun.
I LOVE to juggle books!!!!
LOVE IT!!!
Blessings,
Patti
Patti - thanks! I do have so many amazing bloggy friends - I know how lucky I am :)
Juggling books is the perfect description - it's so much fun to decide which book will be in the air for the time being!
I don't know how I missed following you Jemi. I've rectified that. I have at least 5 books going right now. Probably more. All on my kindle. I created a Current folder so I know which ones they are. I never know what I'm in the mood to read.
They all look like great books, no wonder you are reading so many at once!
My reading is about as scattered as my brain--one in each room of the house and in each of my bags. I sometimes will jump ahead with one, but I have so many interests that my reading throughout the day reflects it as well.
Great to back here, Jemi--I've been gone far too long!
Hugs,
Jackee
I have always read more than one at a time.
And I work on more than one story at a time when I'm writing.
Think they are connected?
I tried, but I just can't multi-task with books! I'm a one-book woman. :)
Kari - love that idea - didn't know you could make folders! I'll have to check that out. Thanks for the tip!
And welcome aboard :)
Jackee - welcome back! I've missed you :) I'm glad you had a chance to get some stuff organized though!
The amount of awesome books around is one of the reasons I've always got so many on the go too :)
Anne - good point! I bet they are connected - I'm getting better at working on more than one story at a time too :)
Talli - you're loyal! Not a surprise :)
OMG Jemi, you are a woman of many talents! I have a few writing books going at the same time (terrible habit - not finishing one at a time). When it comes to fiction, I only read one at a time. I like immersing myself in one story at a time.
Julie - I can't seem to stick to one any more. I think it's because I keep hearing about great new books - and my blog buddies keep on publishing! :)
I used to read a loooot more than one at a time, but it got to the point where I was never actually finishing anything. Now I've got my Kindle, I'm finding I'm reading books more quickly, so I tend to just stick to one or two at a time.
Amie - it's interesting how technology has changed our reading styles. I'm trying to cut back a bit - 5 is a bit much :)
I really can't read more than one - heck, I struggle with reading and writing fiction at the same time! Although I may get part way through and then put something aside (for a long time) while I read something else.
BTW, seeing my book listed in the same paragraph with those others totally gives me goosebumps. Thanks for the thrill! :)
I used to read only one at the time, even when the reading wouldn't flow. I've changed that now, and it feels more comfortable this way.
I was also stubborn as to go through a book to the end even when I didn't like it. Changed this too. :P
Susan - You're welcome! I just finished your book last night and thoroughly enjoyed it! Great characters :)
Mari - my mom wouldn't let us quit a book - ever! It's a personal rule she has. I let it go once I was older - but, shhhh! I haven't told her yet :)
I read a few at a time, usually because I'm editing a couple of them LOL!
-Elisa
Elizabeth - yup! I do that too! :) It's funny how they can all mount up on us! :)
I used to think I was a one-book-at-a-time kind of girl, but now I'm not so sure. I have the same thing going on as you do! I have one book on my desk at school, one on my kindle, one on my nightstand, and one in my bag. I like the multi-tasking though!
Katie - I do like to multi-task - maybe it's a teacher thing! :)
I multi-task.
There will be one or two e-arcs on my laptop, one or two e-arcs or beta manuscripts on my Kindle, one or two books on my Kindle app on my phone, and then one or two print books that I'm currently reading.
I somehow get to finish them all. But I've become lax putting updates on my Goodreads account because it's so much. Also, I might be reading one or two books with my students.
Medeia - that's a lot!! I haven't done Goodreads yet. I know I should, but there's just no extra time at the moment! I didn't count the novel I'm reading with my students either :)
I usually like to read one book at a time. I'll read more at a time if the books are in different genres.
I haven't succumbed to the digital age. All my reading material is still ink and paper!
Laura - I got my Kindle for my birthday last year and it started it all! Gotta love how easy I am to influence :)
I've always had quite a few books on the go, though they've been paperbacks - I only just got a Kindle for my birthday last week (squee!). So I know how you feel ;) Sometimes I feel I should consolidate down to one or two, but then again, meh *grins*
Hugs,
Rach
Rachel - exactly! It's so easy on the Kindle. I bought another book by a blog buddy last night too! :) Can't wait to read it as well!
hi miss jemi! i dont have a kindle so i just read one book at one time. im thinking if i had one of those kindle things im still gonna do just one at one time cause i like getting just really into a story and doing more could get me not into it so much.
...hugs from lenny
Lenny - that's exactly what I used to do! What got me started was not having the book I was reading near me - so I started another one! Crazy stuff :)
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