How many books can you read at once?
This is a topic of immediate interest to me, since I have a shelf full of books, all of which I want to read, and nary the attention spant to juggle between books.
If you looked at my Goodreads profile, you’d see that I have indeed been in the middle of several books for, oh, at least a year now, despite having devoured entirely a handful of other books (OK, a handful that I noted on Goodreads – I’ve probably read more books than I’ve remembered to chronicle on there) in the meantime.
Here’s about how I estimate it. I can be reading one narrative book (and that means to include fiction and nonfiction as long as they are prose.) Any more than that and I end up putting one aside so long that I forget I’m reading it for at least a few months if not longer. By the time I pick it back up, I can’t start where I left off; I have to go back to the beginning.
I can then also be reading, maybe, up to three manuals: cookbooks, general technical how-tos, etc. I suppose because those types of books are lists, instructions, bullet points, I internalize the content faster, and also can categorize and compartmentalize and sort of mentally organize the things I’m learning. For example, I might not memorize every recipe in How to Cook Everything
I wish I could simultaneously juggle several narrative books, but I tend to get confused between them. Still, I get so anxious to start the next book sometimes that I may cheat my current book with my haste. I’m a fan of quality over quantity, but that anticipation thwarts the depth of my reading every time.
Anyone else want to share their bookish habits?
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Can I excerpt this, or steal it as a guest post?
Love it!
E´s last blog ..From WVFC: Angela’s Son- Frank McCourt
Oh yes. I have this same problem… because I don’t like to read. Yes, I am a very well-educated adult who does not like to read. I feel guilty for not liking reading, so I usually have a few books going at once. It usually takes me over a year to finish any one book as I pass from one to another trying to keep my interest in reading. The books are usually different enough that I can’t mix them up: something philosophical/self-helpish, a story, and something with short entries (like a poetry book). However, put a math puzzle magazine in front of me and I will plow through that like wildfire.