Variety in Reading

[Lumiere]

I am curious.

Do you folks like to vary your books? By this I mean, do you prefer to read a light, humorous work if you've just read a heavy, somber book? Do you prefer to read an old book if you've just read a new book?

Do you tend to become absorbed with books of a certain type until your fascination is somewhat diminished and you want to move on to the next subject/style?

Do you like to read the various works of one author in a row, or do you prefer to mix it up?

[Paulclem]

Interesting question. It'll be nice to see what other people think.

I sometimes read an author, and focus upon their work for a while until I either become tired of their style or run out of their published works. George RR Martin's series which started with A Game of Thrones has kept me hanging on since the last one was published.

I also like to mix it up a bit. I read Perdido Street Station by China Mieville, which was a very intense dystopian fantasy, so then I read a thriller set in Barcelona - The Shadow of the Wind, which was different again. It's nice to hop around the genres.

[Dorian Gray]

I read all sorts of books. I recently finished Pride and Prejudice but I read Harry Potter or Confessions of a Shopaholic too. I even read Twilight...

But although light reading is easier to get through quickly, in my opinion, I prefer heavier stuff such as the scarlet letter, house of mirth, etc. Somehow the characters seem more intricate and fascinating in heavy literature and I'm very fond of historical literature.

But I don't read books in a certain order and I often change what I'm reading so I might be reading Picture of Dorian Gray one week and pick up The Secret Garden the next. I often read several books at the same time, although some are read more dilligently than others. It's a bad habit I'm trying to break.

[Red-Headed]

My tastes in literature can be pretty eclectic but I often get fixated on a particular author, especially if I really enjoyed a novel by them.

[sixsmith]

As a rule, I try to mix it up. I rarely read an author back to back and I will not, WILL NOT read consecutive Russians. Everyone is always short of a kopeck or too many verstas away from where they need to be. They get me down. Right now I've got Ballard with Anne Tyler so when I tire of perverse sexual fetishes, I can head to the familiar and saccharine surroundings of hometown USA. It helps.

[Red-Headed]

I will not, WILL NOT read consecutive Russians.

:lol: Oh ho...guilty as charged! ;)

[kiki1982]

I think I do this regularly, the variety-thing. Naturalism or depressing stuff like Hardy you can't really read all the time. You might end up thinking you are short of that one kopeck! :lol:

I can't really read depressing stuff for more than a few times a year (truly depressing that is, Tess-type).

Other than that, something light without a lot of symbolism and allusion is nice in between... Jane Austen is my favorite because it focusses on fun but when I am done with her, I'll have to find something else... But I'll find my way. Maybe I should go for the smaller ones of Dumas.

[blazeofglory]

My reading range varies as I choose switch to assorted subjects, sometimes poles apart for the fact is I get bored after flipping thru a few pages. I have started for instance Ulysses ten times and between that I have completed so many other small sized novels; I have completed the Brothers Karamazov and in between that I have read several books of non fiction. I never get confined to one book at a time, and I kind of jump from one to another and that is my habits. One of the bad habits with this is at times we read so many books but can complete none. I take several books and keep opened them simultaneously messing up the entire room and this bothers my spouse. I am no doubt an avid reader but the problem with me is that I cannot be content with one book at a time

[LitNetIsGreat]

No sets rules really, come and go, but things are dictated by university too.

[Pryderi Agni]

Sometimes, yes. I usually follow a 'fiction/non-fiction' pattern, whereby I read fictional works first and then go on to non-fiction. These days, however, I'm finding out I can do both, so I'm just reading both at the same time (1984/The Story of Civilization/Paradise Lost).