March 15, 2016 
mhoogland 
And by that I mean, do you read one book at a time or multiple books at once?
As for myself, I’m always reading at least 3 books at any given time, not counting those for work. It’s a tendency fed by both practicality and whim. When I’m on the go, I’m reading a book on my Kindle or iPhone. When I’m home it’s always print books—I’m curling up on the couch with a nice new hardcover or lying in bed with a paperback before going to sleep. But I also shuffle between books based on mood. Sometimes I’m just not in the mood for nonfiction and would rather read a fun, fast-paced espionage thriller instead of that critically-acclaimed National Book Award nominee.
Average readers might find the habit odd—I know many of my less literate friends do—but book lovers, more often than not, couldn’t imagine reading any differently. I polled a few coworkers, and all of them responded with the “multiple books at once” answer. Not a fair poll, I’ll give you that, considering we all work in publishing, but I think you’ll find that most serious readers are in the middle of a few books. Which brings me to my next question.
Is this an efficient reading habit? Is it the “right” way to read?
Although several studies have looked at multitasking and its harmful effects on the brain, I’m not sure you can consider reading multiple books as “multitasking.” At least in the sense of rapidly switching attention from one task to another. However, I could also easily see how shuffling between books might decrease reading speed. Regardless, I won’t be changing my reading habits any time soon. Not only is reading multiple books at once both practical and enjoyable, but it’s also rewarding in the sense that sometimes the books play well off one another—whether it be a juxtaposition of different writing styles or books with similar settings or the structure of nonfiction books.
I’d like to hear what our readers think. How do you read? Have you seen a dramatic difference in reading efficiency reading one way over the other? Let us know in the comments!
Congratulation on your new position! Until reading your post, I\’d never thought about my reading habits. I\’d always read one book at a time, and always read for fun. But when my role switched from working parent to stay home parent (which, for me became \”working a hell of a lot harder parent\”) my reading habits changed too.I now read multiple books at once and have three in progress right now, though I have less \”free\” time in which to read these days. Your blog post makes me wonder if my reading habits mirror my daily life. Could it be that when I was able to have a job that required me to do one thing at a time to completion, my brain wanted that for my reading style too? And now that I\’m interrupted constantly – wait, I mean, helping any and everyone with any and everything at any given time, does my brain prefer me to read multiple books at once? Coincidence? I wonder…Oops, I just remembered…I have to change a flat tire on the van before the babies wake up and before we go pick up kids from school.-Rob (7littles2bigs)
I\’m a multiple book reader–usually with one book I plow through in a matter of days and other books on the side I\’m reading more slowly. It also depends on what is in arm\’s reach at any given time. Do junk mail and cereal boxes count?
Twenty years ago, I read one book at a time, going through them pretty fast. Now, I find that one book rarely keeps my attention long enough to finish it in one or two days without straying to another book or two in between. The most recent exceptions have been Ready Player One and The Martian, which I read back to back two weekends in a row (and lost a lot of sleep). Most of the time, I read for critique partners in the evening (and write), read on my kindle app during my lunch break, listen to audiobooks in the car, and read textbooks on the weekends (and write). So I suppose the change in technology is part of the change in how I read.
I’ve always had several books on the go at any given time. I usually start my day with a non-fiction book on a topic I want to learn more about, I listen to books or podcasts while I walk or run, and then I usually have a few fiction titles on my kindle or in paper close at hand when I’m ready to curl up at the end of the day.
I’m a multitasking reader. I like the complimentary approach. My favorite way to multitask a read is to do a fiction and non-fiction that adds context. I like a lot of historical fiction and non-fiction, so it works really well. Alternatively I also love reading non-fiction and stopping periodically to scour the web for every little extra grain of context I can get. So when I was reading about America’s first black millionaire to celebrate black history month, I also ended up getting a Google education the New York stock market in the late 1800s. That seems closer to multitasking than simply switching books. I will say that I finish books much slower when I’m also doing simultaneous research but I find letting the rabbit hole consume me makes the read that much more enjoyable.
Cheers,
Rasool
I used to only read one or two books a year. Now since I’ve been writing I swear I have at least three going at a time. I find reading helps my writing. I wish I had discovered the love of books sooner I am so far behind.
Kindle PC and paper so at least three sometimes as many as five in several genres.
I ALWAYS have multiple books going at once. Life\’s to short to read one book at a time. And the mood thing you mentioned is a factor. What do I want to read right now. At the moment, I\’m in a classics mood, and I have MOBY DICK (First time rereading it since high school, REBECCA (I\’ve never read it before), Gore Vidal\’s KALKI, and a collection of Mark Twain short stories all going at once. Usually I\’ll have a biography and a non-fiction book going also, but I just finished HITCHCOCK THE MURDEROUS GAZE and haven\’t started a new non-fiction book yet. Plus I\’m rereading a manuscript of my own that is being considered for publication, and I\’m reading it over to see what I may want to change or polish.
I am notorious for reading multiple books at once. I have one by my bed and one by the couch, and I ALWAYS have one in my bag with me when I leave the house. If someone is late, I’m never waiting; I’m reading!