How many books do you read at a time?

[Veho]

One or two. If it's two, one is usually a novel and the other a play.

[aamir]

I usually read one book at a time, because when I read I usually engross myself in that particular book it would be like betrayal to read another during the process.

[DanielBenoit]

Depends. Usually more then one, but rarely do I read more then one novel at the same time, if ever. Currently I am reading The Idiot which is very powerful but lags at times, and so I have a backup plan whenever I'm feeling that it's getting tedious. Also, whenever reading Dostoyevsky, I always make sure I have a happy book at hand so that I can drag myself out whenever it gets, well, unbearable.

Maybe I might read a short story here or there while I'm in the middle of a novel, I certainly don't hesitate to read poetry, since most poetry doesn't have any sort of narrative, thus I won't be distracted too often. Often I'll read a philosophy book as well.

[mal4mac]

Depends. Usually more then one, but rarely do I read more then one novel at the same time, if ever. Currently I am reading The Idiot which is very powerful but lags at times, and so I have a backup plan whenever I'm feeling that it's getting tedious. Also, whenever reading Dostoyevsky, I always make sure I have a happy book at hand so that I can drag myself out whenever it gets, well, unbearable.

I agree with that plan! I recently read "Devils" with "Confederacy of Dunces" as backup. That kind of worked, though "Confederacy" is also a bit black, though much lighter. Maybe Dostoevsky & Dickens would work...

[breathtest]

I'm currently on two, which is probably the norm for me. I'm reading What We Talk About When We Talk About Love by Raymond Carver and Absalom Absalom by William Faulkner. I usually try not to go higher than three at one time, but that limit is more an attempt at trying not to open the floodgates, because then i will end up reading like twenty at the same time.

[Buh4Bee]

I usually read two or three at a time-two novels and one non-fiction. I get bored with one book and jump to the next until I realize I need to finish a book that I have been in too long.

[sadparadise]

I read 2 to 3 books at a time. Presently I am reading Frankenstein, The Naked and the dead, and Farley Mowats memoir Otherwise.

[blazeofglory]

This is the peculiarity of me to read several books at the same time and few books are completed. This is really a queer habit that I just get started and no sooner than I get to the middle than I give up and take a different book to start with.

Oftentimes reading a few pages of the book I can know in advance what the rest of pages will have in store for me. And they bore me and for the sake for finishing I read them but when it comes to reading short stories I indeed complete them for they can be finished at one sitting or at one go.

[blazeofglory]

I read at least three to four books at a time.

[horizonrusted]

I typically read more than one thing at a time. By thing, of course, I'm talking about multiple books, articles, essays, etc. They usually are pretty different from one another. Right now, War and Peace, text books, various articles on everything from benzodiazepines to physics.

[FrankMarcopolos]

78. Just kidding. Usually 1 fiction and maybe 1 or 2 non

[Hidden Leaves]

I generally read many books at a time. Right now I'm reading Dostoevsky's 'The Devils', Cary's 'The Horse's Mouth', Hesse's 'Steppenwolf', Le Guin's 'A Wizard of Earthsea', Lautreamont's 'Maldoror', E. H. Carr's 'The Bolshevik Revolution' and Kandinsky's 'Concerning the Spiritual in Art'.

[MarkC]

I prefer to read only one book at a time because I like to concentrate fully on what I am reading...:-)

[Mrig]

Mostly one at a time...but two books when they are totally different like fiction and non-fiction.

[Dirtbag]

1 online fiction
1 online non-fiction

A few physical fiction (I usually have one that I read more frequently than the others.)
A few physical non-fiction

I read a fair amount of wikipedia articles if that counts as a book. When I'm manic, I like to fill my head with random trivial information. It's more like having ideas run through me. Most of them don't stick but it keeps me occupied.

I think it's more enjoyable to read a few books at a time than it is to read those same books one after another. If you're spending a large portion of your day reading, some variety offers relief. I read a book until I've had enough of it for the time being and then I grab something else. Like cereal, I wouldn't want to eat Alpha-Bits for 12 hours a week. I'd want some of my cereal time to be spent with something sweeter and marshmallowier sometimes like Chocolate Lucky Charms. The J.K. Rowling of cereals.