To wonder if (Books)

[girlfriend44]

Does anyone ever have more than one book they are reading on the go at once?

Do you always finish a book before you start another, or do you have more than one at a time your reading?

I appear to have several on the go at once but the reality is that there is one I’m actually into and the others are ones I’ve started but haven’t admitted to myself that I don’t want to particularly read them.

I have a bedtime book and downstairs books, so usually have 2 on the go at the same time.

Used to do this a lot when I was younger and read more. My justification was that not all reading sessions are the same: you might be settling in for a long session or just filling an odd five minutes, you might be somewhere you can really focus or in a busy place with lots of people and noise, you might be stressed and wanting to distract or calm yourself, or bored and wanting to interest yourself, or settling down in bed to read before sleeping… and even if everything else were always the same, you're just not always going to be in the mood for the same kind of book. So why not have several ongoing options available at any one time? As a teenager, I'd usually have something like:

• a mainstream fiction, literary fiction, science fiction, other genre fiction, or other adult novel (i.e. proper fiction for adults, not "adult" fiction) for general recreational reading
• a "comfort read" — maybe a teen/YA novel, or a children's book (like Enid Blyton or Roald Dahl kind of level) that I'd read many times before
• an older, classic novel — Brontë or Austen or something like that — or maybe something similarly worthy and wordy (at one point I read the Bible cover to cover)
• a popular science book, maybe on evolution or how statistics work or something along those lines, or maybe a book about something else factual, like the history of English
• sometimes, a second book from one of the above categories, or a school set text, or something else entirely

It doesn't get confusing or anything — it's no more difficult than keeping track of what's happening in TV programmes when you're part way through several different series, or if you keep up with multiple soaps.

Usually have a novel and some non fiction on the go at any one time.

One real book and one kindle book - usually non fiction - on the go.

These days I'm more likely to be like this 😁 Wolf Hall was my other-book-on-the-go (with a bookmark stubbornly wedged about a tenth of the way through) for several months. Twice.

I almost always have more than one on the go. There will be a fiction and a non fiction, then I might need to read my book group book. Often the actual physical nature of the book means I can’t read it in a certain situation so I pick up another one - too heavy for the commute, too nice for the bath - or the content means I can’t read it in a particular situation so I pick up another one - too tired for the difficult book, too stressed for the distressing book etc

At the moment they are:
My Brilliant Friend - book group
Alexander Hamilton biography - non fiction, so takes me longer
The latest Strike book - too heavy to read in bed, on train etc
Tennysons Gift - short so easy to read on train, also have read before
The Mirror and The Light - nearly finished so don’t want to take on train as I’ll. finish it and then have nothing for he rest of the journey. Also I know what is going to happen and I don’t like it which is slowing me down!

Tend to have at least 2 on the go - usually three. They have to be different genres, so there is usually one murder/mystery, one chick lit, and then possibly a biography.

I have a home book and a car book. I spend several half hour periods a week sitting in my car waiting for one of my DC to finish an activity. The car book is for those times. The home book is for reading during downtime at home.

I do have more than one usually as I read mainly crime so I usually have a non fiction/lighter book going as well but crime mainly

I read a kindle so easy to physically switch

I have four books I'm currently reading on my Kindle,I rarely only have one book on the go.

I have multiple non-fiction books on the go at one time, if you include audiobooks. Otherwise, I generally have two physical books that I dip in and out of.

One at a time. If I read non fiction then I can read more than one but I read 99% fiction

I usually have between four and six on the go at any one time - one physical copy in the house, one in my work bag, one or two on my kindle which I swap between depending on my mood, and an audiobook as well.

I have one fiction book that is my main focus. I am also buddy reading another book with a friend where we read a set number of chapters a week and discuss it when we speak to each other. I also have 2 audiobooks on the go, an ebook from the library and a non fiction book as well.

I usually have about 5 on the go. There’s a couple of readalongs on here where it’s just a chapter a day or a few chapters a month. Then I usually have an audiobook on the go for when I can’t physically read a book. Then I’ve usually got a physical book on the go plus a kindle book for travelling/bath/evenings after lights are out etc. Sometimes there might be more than one physical/kindle book on the go e.g. might have a fiction and non fiction at the same time.

Many. I’m a writer.

I usually have a bunch I’m reading for research (fiction and non-fiction), a bunch I’m reading for craft (fiction and non-fiction) and then a bunch I’m reading for pleasure (uh…fiction and non-fiction).

However, I read very quickly and so if I find myself getting absorbed in one then I’ll keep on and finish it. It never takes very long.

Just one here at a time. Find that enough.

One real book (often two or three) by the bed, one on my kindle, one on my phone, one in reserve and one or two I've recently abandoned but can't yet admit it.

I usually have a fiction and non fiction physical book ongoing, a kindle book and an audio book. Like pp, it depends where I am and what I'm doing. Currently reading Julius Caesar, Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead and Feeling Blah physically, The House by The sea on audio and a Netgalley proof on my Kindle.

My 10 year old son is exactly the same.

My non reading DH can't get his head around it.

Usually a fiction, a non fiction and an audible (also usually non fiction) on the go. Occasionally a second fiction book if book group is imminent!

I generally have a book of short stories on the go in addition to whatever full-length book I’m reading, just in case I fancy a temporary change of pace. If I find I have more than one full-length book on the go it either means I’m not feeling well (comfort reading) or haven’t yet admitted I’m not enjoying one or the other of them.

I only ever read one book.

I always have several books on the go. Sometimes I’m in the mood for a chapter of something and the next night I want something else.