It's been my MO for years to read one book at a time. Or sometimes one physical book and one audio book. But this year, amazingly, I've switched it the other way and am maintaining multiple books. I'm not getting the dopamine hit as frequently (but shorter audiobooks help with that). The downfall with one book at a time was that I would inevitably hit something kinda slow or unsatisfying and I would find myself unconsciously avoiding the book before it clicked in that I should move on to something else. This added up to a lot of lulls in my reading throughout the year. Having a few going at once helps keep the momentum going. Here's how I'm doing it:
1. I'm doing the big read, so I front load the week focusing on Lonesome Dove
2. When I've hit my reading mark there for the week, I switch over to the other physical book I have going (currently The Splendid and the Vile).
3. I have a 7 month old son, so when I'm feeding him or rocking him at night I have a kindle book that's easy to pick up sporadically (currently The Making of a Manager). I can also have this on my phone or have my kindle in my work bag for random reading opportunities.
4. I keep a non-fiction, easy to follow audiobook going. Typically nothing more than 12 or 15 hours. This keeps the numbers tallying and my satisfaction high.
This is all new to me from how I've done things for the past decade or more, so we'll see if I keep it up, but for now it's been a really good change of pace.
Interesting that we've done opposite things this year. :) I am still doing The Big Read week by week, but since I'm doing so much writing about it, it feels more like writing research than "reading" — if that makes sense.
And funny enough, I've come to enjoy dabbling in multiple formats of the same book. If I can snag a hard copy AND an ebook of the same thing from the library, I'll do both. I then get the sensory experience as well as the convenience.
I've long maintained that I'd pay a little extra to have a physical copy as well as an e-reader copy so that I could hop between formats when it suits me.
I'm doing the Big Read again this year and reading Lonesome Dove. I usually read until I hit the weekly mark in the book, sometimes even reading beyond, then set it aside and read my other book (right now it's Demon Copperhead).
I find it easy to read 2 books at the same time if they are different enough in subject, time periods, fiction-nonfiction. I don't think I could read 2 books at the same time if they were both Westerns (Lonesome Dove and another western), or 2 mysteries, etc.
I always seem to have a few books going at once. I think if I only read one at a time, It might not get finished if I got tired of it and then probably would not be reading. Also I try to use our library and definitely have time limit on those books. I have decided to take this month to finish as many books that are on my shelves with bookmarks in them. It is a good feeling when you finish a good book.
Yeah I hear ya! The key, which I've learned over the last few years, is to just be okay giving up on something or putting it back on the shelf to return to again later.
It's been my MO for years to read one book at a time. Or sometimes one physical book and one audio book. But this year, amazingly, I've switched it the other way and am maintaining multiple books. I'm not getting the dopamine hit as frequently (but shorter audiobooks help with that). The downfall with one book at a time was that I would inevitably hit something kinda slow or unsatisfying and I would find myself unconsciously avoiding the book before it clicked in that I should move on to something else. This added up to a lot of lulls in my reading throughout the year. Having a few going at once helps keep the momentum going. Here's how I'm doing it:
1. I'm doing the big read, so I front load the week focusing on Lonesome Dove
2. When I've hit my reading mark there for the week, I switch over to the other physical book I have going (currently The Splendid and the Vile).
3. I have a 7 month old son, so when I'm feeding him or rocking him at night I have a kindle book that's easy to pick up sporadically (currently The Making of a Manager). I can also have this on my phone or have my kindle in my work bag for random reading opportunities.
4. I keep a non-fiction, easy to follow audiobook going. Typically nothing more than 12 or 15 hours. This keeps the numbers tallying and my satisfaction high.
This is all new to me from how I've done things for the past decade or more, so we'll see if I keep it up, but for now it's been a really good change of pace.
Interesting that we've done opposite things this year. :) I am still doing The Big Read week by week, but since I'm doing so much writing about it, it feels more like writing research than "reading" — if that makes sense.
And funny enough, I've come to enjoy dabbling in multiple formats of the same book. If I can snag a hard copy AND an ebook of the same thing from the library, I'll do both. I then get the sensory experience as well as the convenience.
I've long maintained that I'd pay a little extra to have a physical copy as well as an e-reader copy so that I could hop between formats when it suits me.
I'm with you Jason.
I'm doing the Big Read again this year and reading Lonesome Dove. I usually read until I hit the weekly mark in the book, sometimes even reading beyond, then set it aside and read my other book (right now it's Demon Copperhead).
I find it easy to read 2 books at the same time if they are different enough in subject, time periods, fiction-nonfiction. I don't think I could read 2 books at the same time if they were both Westerns (Lonesome Dove and another western), or 2 mysteries, etc.
Definitely true! It's why I stuck with one pic and one non-fic for so long. Really enjoying the total immersion this year though!
I always seem to have a few books going at once. I think if I only read one at a time, It might not get finished if I got tired of it and then probably would not be reading. Also I try to use our library and definitely have time limit on those books. I have decided to take this month to finish as many books that are on my shelves with bookmarks in them. It is a good feeling when you finish a good book.
Mary, that is exactly what used to happen with me when reading only one at a time- I would get tired and bogged down.
Yeah I hear ya! The key, which I've learned over the last few years, is to just be okay giving up on something or putting it back on the shelf to return to again later.