Is it better to just read one book at a time?

Is it better to read one book at a time rather than say read 3 books at a time? I used to try reading four books at a time. I was able to read four books at a time but I had trouble making progress in each book. So I now just try to read one book and stick with that book. I'll listen to an audio-book too, but, I can only read one book at a time, because, it seems like I can't make progress in the books that I want to read if I do otherwise.

What's your opinion?

I was able to read numerous books at a time, but it just doesn't work for me any more. About the best I can do is read magazines or short stories in addition to a more serious book. Thinking about why this is, I come up with 2 could be answers. I think Direct TV and Hughes Net are the main reasons. Up until I was remarried and TV was reintroduced to me I spent a lot of time in book stores and listened to music. Then the internet bug bit and I have suddenly realized that I now have the attention span of a 3 year old. The fact that there wasn't a book store within 40 miles or so of this miserable little town that I live near. also contributed to me dumbing down. I think I am going to spend less time here, more time reading, playing music. and patronizing the new book store in town. I was a lot happier with books.

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I only read one book at a time also, i have this problem that i can't start something new until the old project is completed, at least around the house that's how it works. I also read pretty fast and usually finish a book within a day or two of starting it, this however can be a killer on the pocket book, thus my collection of some 750 titles in my library. I also was never very good at remembering the exact details of a book if i was reading several at a time.

What I've been doing the last couple years is to keep one fiction and one nonfiction book going. That way, I'm not getting confused in my fiction reading, or forgetting what happened last chapter or something, and I'm still learning other stuff in the nonfiction read, which is a lot easier to put away for a week or something if I don't get to it, since there's no plot suspense or whatever. There isn't really a right answer to this question, but that's what I do and it works for me.

[edit on 18-7-2008 by DragonsDemesne]

I like to have one long and one shorter book with me. For instance, today I will be waiting 4 and 1/2 hours while an elderly relative goes thru an outpatient dialysis session. So if I have a long stretch of time available, I'll crack open the long book. If not, the smaller book gets picked up.

I'm one of "them" I always read 2 or 3 books at a time but there's always this one thing that happens: at one point one of the books will become my "favourite" at that time because I'll have this special 'approach' to this book – it appeals to me in a more intense way because of reasons I don't know. it just depends on the time but I like reading several books at a time… I choose the one I feel most like reading and another day one of the other books will be more appealing so I'll switch books :hehe: I like it

reply to post by Uphill

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I am exactly that way. It just depends on what the situation calls for.

Depends on the book(s) and just what kind of mood I'm in. I have a bunch of them going when I'm not super interested in any of them. If it's something tough, or seriously thought provoking, one is more than enough. -Kind of like girl friends

BWAHAHA. So true. Although, I tend just not even read the book even it has an interesting cover, if you know what I mean.

However, on topic, I have to say that I read about 3 books a month... even though I only read one at a time. So, I read quickly. And, I think if I read all three at the same time, well, I don't think I would remember or learn as much.

Advice I recieved at one point in the distant past was if you wanted to be productive and as a consequence be more intelligent that it was a good idea to start something you finish prior to beginning something new...so in that case, I would say it may be better to read one book and finish it prior to starting a new one.

But there is something to be said about bombarding your sensory input at times to see what types of thoughts and perspectives emerge...

Thank you for that information. Who did you hear that from?

Marilyn vos Savant...Smart woman...

I just can't get too absorbed into a book if I try to read more than 2 at a time... I'm usually reading two though...one on my lunch break at work, and one at home (I hate bothering to cart them back and forth)...

Just realized how geeky my readings are this week...one is a D&D novel (3rd book of a trilogy with the Moonshaes), the other is a memoir of a self-professed geek and D&D player....

Oh my...

To think, just last week I was reading Lovecraft....

Oh man, this is a difficult question. I am currently reading "The Holographic Universe" and re-reading "Journeys Out of the Body" and have a fantastic Photoshop book. The first two books are always "with me", so when I am in bed and I want to read a bit of this, I will just go and read it. Another day I may be more for "that" and so here we go. At the end of the day, you may want to read two books at the same day, but it can also happen that one book is complete rubbish in your point of view and then, instead of throwing it into the bin, you may put it away for a while.

Greetings

It really depends.
Some books take time to digest. If you get into some deep thoughtful reading it might take months to finish just a few pages at a time. Other stuff can be read in an afternoon.
I have about six books going right now but they all are very different, a novel, a book of short stories, a biography, a classic piece of literature, an encyclopedia on bees, and an early Tolkien work that takes a spreadsheet just to keep up with the names. All of them go at different rates.
Just read at a comfortable pace and enjoy it. If it is too much or you get bored then bookmark it and put it in the short stack. You can always go back to it.

Oh man, I am glad that you have written that. If you don't only want to read words but also get what someone writes, it can often be quite sluggish to get through a book.
But you know I don't think that it has necssarily something to do with deep thoughtful reading. There is so much distraction in life, we are conditioning to be on the run. What do you think?

And too many names in a book can drive me banana

Greetings

I often find myself reading multiple books at once.

Right now I am reading:

Natures End by Whitley Strieber
The Wild by Whitley Strieber
Prodigal Genius: The Life Of Nichola Tesla by John J O'niel

and I am reading Contact by Carl Sagan.

I just love reading multiple books at once. If I get bored with one, I pick up another and read from it for a while and so on.

I love reading in general and I always have multiple books going at once.