How many books do you read at a time?
 

Browsing through the "What are you Reading..." threads I often see posts of people reading more than one book at a time (finishing one before another is started). I was a one-book-at-a-time kind of guy for the longest while and only recently bumped it up to two.

Currently I read two books: one hardback that I keep on my nightstand for night reading and one paperback that I read on the bus or over lunch hour at work (easier mobility).

How about you?

Only one at a time. I like to get completly absobed in one thing and I don't want to have to split my attention over more than one novel. I feel like I get more out of a novel if it is the only thing I'm reading.

Not counting grad school reading, only 1 leisure book at a time. Like others, I like to focus on one novel at a time.

1 required and 1 leisure

long days journey into night - o'neill REQUIREMENT
in watermelon sugar - brautigan LEISURE

so that's 2 at a time

one at a time, otherwise i would get confused

Between 1 and 4.
I'm currently in:
one collection of sci fi short stories in the car, for reading on lunch breaks at work [Harlan Ellison, Alone Against Tomorrow];
one 'light thriller' for, er, "library" reading [Harlan Coben, Gone for Good; the names are a coincidence];
one slower, longer-chapter fantasy novel for bedtime reading [A Kiss of Shadows, Laurell K Hamilton];
and either that one, or another short story collection for reading when I eat lunch or dinner by myself at home.

When making a book selection for each venue, i take into account the topicality/readability of the book; its portability; its size, and its condition. I'll bring hardbacks that are maybe not in great condition, that have short stories or that are 'light' for the lunch break reading, for example. That book can sit in the car for months.

I have gotten confused sometimes, but I try to read different styles of books, which helps.

For now, just one book that I keep in my car, and read whenever I eat alone.

Several, maybe 4 or 5.

Only 1 at a time, but I can pour thru them pretty quick. When I go to the library I always check out at least 4, and those are usually done in a week.

1

I'll sometimes do 2 if I lose a book somewhere or leave it at work or something. That's about it, though. 90% of the time it's just 1.

2 - one fiction and one non.

And the older I get the slower I read. -ohbfrank-

I used to could read several, but now I can really only maintain interest in one at a time. Sometimes I'll start several books at once, but as soon as one gets interesting, I'll find myself focused entirely on that one until I finish it.

If I were to read three or more books at the same time I'd need to grow extra hands in order to turn all the pages at once. But seriously folks...

It varies. I almost always read only one fictional novel at a time, but while I'm reading that book I might be reading one or two non-fiction books on and off and possibly a few stories from a short story collection. So anywhere from 0-4 books at a time, depending.

I usually read one at a time. :lol: The funny thing is I don't know why I do that. I can certainly handle more than one and I've been trying to get myself to do that. I've got about 6 or 7 books laying on my nightstand that I've been wanting to read and it makes sense to read more than one at a time.

Usually have one non-fiction and one fiction in the works. Sometimes though, I'll up it to two fiction books - one, a classic (Dickens, Gissing, Hardy etc.) and the other a contemporary mystery (Kellerman, Grafton, etc.).

I usually juggle three books at once:

1 Fiction
1 Non-Fiction or Self-Improvement
1 Theologlical Textbook

I personally couldn't handle reading two generes at once. Too many characters to keep up with!

I try to keep it to one book at a time, but lately I've been jumping between two or sometimes three books.

I have one hardcover that I've been trying to read for the better part of a year.
I keep a paperback for traveling, which I've been doing a lot of lately.
And I've always got one book that a friend from work lets me borrow or insists that I read.

I usually read one book and it takes me a few months to finish it.

Just don't have the time or urge to read all that often.

I usually have one fiction book I'm reading and a nonfiction that I'll have on standby, though it takes me much longer to go through a nonfiction book.