How many books do you read at a time?

I normally read one at a time, maybe two if I'm really eager to start a book while I'm already reading another one. However I was reading 5 books at a time the whole year in my last year in college, because I had 5 lit. classes and all required constant reading. Thankfully all the lit. classes were about different periods and different genres.... otherwise I would have gone really crazy! :) But like I say, I try to keep it at one. That way I give more time to that one and finish faster so I can start something else!

I don't think reading like say 3 books at once is a difficult thing to juggle... It just depends on you and the books you're reading. Personally, I prefer reading one book at a time, so I can enjoy that and only that, and not get confused with certain characters from another story and whatnot.

I stick to only one book at a time so I can appreciate the work fully. Some books are not worth reading, and I could tell in any part of the book when it's time to stop. Some books are slow reads: I read Freud's The Interpretation of Dreams for nearly half a year and it isn't the longest book in the planet. It's dry, analytic tone begged for juice but the challenge Freud deals with is so fascinating that I persisted in finishing it and was much gladdened and justified in doing so.

Some works are long but they read fast like Shelby Foote's 3-Vol. The Civil War: A Narrative. It took me 2 1/2 months to finish it but I never thought of reading anything else during that time. It is so well-written and engrossing and it was one of the best reading experiences I've had.

Ah, a long time ago I tried reading The Interpretation of Dreams, I got only halfway through, I'm afraid I didn't have enough determination =( Butttt, I think I am going to read it again and actually finish it, in the near future ...

I vary slightly - currently I'm reading 2 books (ulysses and the Iliad) but I tend to start several books at once (obviously not at the exact same time) then carry on with one or two, but come back to the others.

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Ah, a long time ago I tried reading The Interpretation of Dreams, I got only halfway through, I'm afraid I didn't have enough determination

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I can relate. :)

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Butttt, I think I am going to read it again and actually finish it, in the near future ...

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Oh, you should. One can fully appreciate Freud's groundbreaking achievement by doing so.

eek i prefer one at a time, but at this point i am reading, around 5 at once. [finishing pride and prejudice, sartoris, love in the time of cholera, mann's short stories, and the elegant universe]

I always have multiple books going on at any given time. I'm really picky about reading things that fit any given mood I'm in.

I´m reading just one book now (House of Sand and Fog), but I can read more than one at a time; I see no problem in it, because I can immerse myself in the story, and when I pick up another book, I can do the same with it; usually I read a book in the computer and another in paper (or more than one, it can be a non-fiction book); and it may be stubborn from me, but I read a book until the end, even if it´s boring or a bad one (let´s see how it ends, or, the author deserves a second chance, maybe the book gets better in the end, who knows...) ;)

At this stage of my life I'm finding myself increasingly bored with just about everything except the study of human behavior when AAA members' car breaks down and they don't like the wait time. Just off the top of my head: Rereading hand of Fu Manchu by Sax Rohmer--bogged down in it. Two pages into the first TV Monk book--Mr. Monk and the Firehouse. About 40 pages into Reteif's Peace by Willaim Keith; The Road to Damascus by John Ringo and Linda Evans (a Keith Laumer Bolos novel), almost 90 pages to go in Tales of the Shadowmen, Volume 1 edited by J Lofficer. I think I'm battling the tyranny of the collection--why DO I have to read EVERY thing I think I NEED to own?!!?

The ONLY thing I've been consistent is a comitment to reading Charles Haddon Spurgeon's Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit one sermon a day. As of today I'm in Volume 49 (of 63)-published 1902--Sermon #2800 of 3561. Started 1 Jan 99 the day after my 17 year old decided to try the prodigal son life and haven't missed a day yet (by the grace of God). Yes he came back but the story Wife #1 would make a great Dr Phil//Maury Povich show.

Now you know where my sign in name comes from and anyone who reads Spurgeon may understand my frequent confusion with the religious forums.

Presently I am reading 4 books:
1. Midnight's Children - Salman Rushdie.
2. 100 years of Solitude - Gabriel Marquez.
3. Beloved - Toni Morrison.
4. One Thousand Faces of the Night - Githa Hariharan.

I guess thats lots of reading for now.

As posted before, I can seldom read two books of the same genre simultaneously, and even when I do read two books of different genres, I still have trouble on occasion. Right now, I read Ulysses by James Joyce and the complete poetry of William Wordsworth; both, individually, seem a bit of a challenge, and from day-to-day, I will usually stick to one, yet often when I switch back-and-forth from each, my mind and attention usually float along with one of them, feeling not to understand the other. :p

I have a bit of a problem, when I go to the library, I will grab all the books that seem interesting, and then I'll have a hard time dragging them home ;)
And when I eventually get home, I want to read them all, so during the day I'll start reading at least five. A lot of you seem to be planning your reading really carefully, but mine is more... ehm...let's say spontaneous.

Luckily, reading several books at once works well for me. It's great to be able to switch book depending on what mood you're in.

[QUOTE=Snukes;63983]Huh. I seem to be the oddball, reading undetermined numbers of books at a time. I can't help it. I *try* to help it, but then there's always a new book begging to be started.

I agree with you there is always another book begging to be read

For me at the most three. I have two at work and one in the bathroom.