# How many books do you read at a time?



## Russell Brooks (Dec 23, 2010)

How many books do you read at a time? What's the most number of books you've read at once?

I'm a 1 book at a time guy.


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## cinisajoy (Mar 10, 2013)

Hi.  Are you counting fiction only or all books?


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## NogDog (May 1, 2009)

I just recently was in the middle of 4. Fortunately, I finished one, and gave up on another, so now I'm only reading 2.  

That's not really normal for me, but it's not unusual that I'll have one non-fiction going and one novel going at the same time, often reading 2 or more novels in the time it takes me to read the nonfiction.


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## Russell Brooks (Dec 23, 2010)

cinisajoy said:


> Hi. Are you counting fiction only or all books?


I'm referring to Fiction.


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## cinisajoy (Mar 10, 2013)

Ok then at the moment only 3.  Not counting the occassional shorts.  Or I think it is only 3.  4 if you count Atlas Shrugged.  It is read in very short bursts. Like a chapter every few months.  I can only take so much dialog and no action.
Oh wow I have more craft projects than books going at the moment.


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## lmroth12 (Nov 15, 2012)

I usually have a nonfiction and fiction going at the same time. I think the most I have ever had going simultaneously was 3 fiction books, but that is because none of them really held my interest and I kept going from one to another whenever I hit a point in one of them where I lost interest. That is out of the norm for me, however, as I usually read 1 fiction book at a time, and if it's _really, really _ good I put everything aside and read it straight through until I am finished. The last time a book engrossed me _that_ much was *The Help*. I read it over a weekend because I COULD NOT PUT IT DOWN!


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## Marilyn Peake (Aug 8, 2011)

I usually read one at a time.


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

Kind of depends.  I usually have a non-fiction title going as well as fiction. But I do read fiction much faster. Sometimes I read more than one at a time, but mostly not.  With paper it was almost NEVER more than one book at a time.  With multiple kindles, I sometimes have a different book going on each device.  And I do have, usually, at least one paper book in process -- just trying to not forget about books I bought pre-kindle.


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## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

Until I got my Kindle, I always had several books going at once. Now, I only read one at a time.

What I really need is a Kindle for every reading room in the house and one in the car so I can get back to reading multiple books at a time.


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## Russell Brooks (Dec 23, 2010)

lmroth12 said:


> I usually have a nonfiction and fiction going at the same time. I think the most I have ever had going simultaneously was 3 fiction books, but that is because none of them really held my interest and I kept going from one to another whenever I hit a point in one of them where I lost interest. That is out of the norm for me, however, as I usually read 1 fiction book at a time, and if it's _really, really _ good I put everything aside and read it straight through until I am finished. The last time a book engrossed me _that_ much was *The Help*. I read it over a weekend because I COULD NOT PUT IT DOWN!


The Help is probably one of the most memorable novels I've ever read.


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## martyns (May 8, 2014)

I usually have two or three on the go at any time. Some I only pick up once in a blue moon - for example 'Paradise Lost' I'm reading it for research into a dystopian, future theocracy novel involving angels and demons I'm saving idea up for - it's a slog at times though!


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## cinisajoy (Mar 10, 2013)

martyns said:


> I usually have two or three on the go at any time. Some I only pick up once in a blue moon - for example 'Paradise Lost' I'm reading it for research into a dystopian, future theocracy novel involving angels and demons I'm saving idea up for - it's a slog at times though!


Can I recommend the "Divine Comedy"? I think you will like it better than Milton.


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## TWErvin2 (Aug 7, 2010)

I generally read only one book at a time.

The most at one time? probably 4 or 5, but that was back in college.


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## Russell Brooks (Dec 23, 2010)

I admit that I may read more than one fiction book at a time while I'm researching subject matter. But that's after I've already read them.


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## JFHilborne (Jan 22, 2011)

One at a time. With my schedule, I have to slot reading into commercial breaks and whatever little time I have left in the evening.


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## sstroble (Dec 16, 2013)

Can only handle 1 at a time. Otherwise the characters and stories get all jumbled.


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## Tatiana (Aug 20, 2010)

I usually have four or five books 'in progress' at any one time.  Currently, tho' I have seven.    I need to settle down and finish at least two or three in the next couple of days.


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## telracs (Jul 12, 2009)

i tend to read one at a time.  if a book doesn't interest me, i move on to the next. occasionally i will keep reading one that is difficult and read ain easier one in between, but not too often.


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## Donna White Glaser (Jan 12, 2011)

One fiction, but usually 1-2 nonfiction. If I'm researching, then the nonfic may go up. I've never been able to read more than one fiction at a time.


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## Mandy (Dec 27, 2009)

This is a bad habit of mine that's stuck with me since childhood. Back then, I'd have a book for school, one for the car, one for home, one for visiting on the weekends, etc. I can't kick the habit! I currently have five books I'm working on and there's no method to my madness; I read whatever interests me in the moment. A book is pretty darn good if I stick with it to the end without reading a different book.

I'm glad to see I'm not the only one with what I assumed was a really strange habit.


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## cinisajoy (Mar 10, 2013)

Mandy,
I have a dear friend from high school that remembers 3 things about me.  My shoes, my glasses and that huge stack of books I carried everywhere.  So you are not strange.  Last time I talked to him, he asked what did you do with all those books.  He sounded confused when I said read them.  He was less confused when I said they were guy deterents.  I would hit the guys if they tried to move the books off my lap.


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

Mandy said:


> This is a bad habit of mine that's stuck with me since childhood. Back then, I'd have a book for school, one for the car, one for home, one for visiting on the weekends, etc. I can't kick the habit! I currently have five books I'm working on and there's no method to my madness; I read whatever interests me in the moment. A book is pretty darn good if I stick with it to the end without reading a different book.
> 
> I'm glad to see I'm not the only one with what I assumed was a really strange habit.


 I'm confused by your characterization of this sort of behavior as a "bad habit"?  Seems perfectly normal to me!


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## cinisajoy (Mar 10, 2013)

Agreeing with Ann.


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## CesarAnthony (Jul 10, 2014)

Call me crazy, but I read 4 books at once.

2 Fiction books
1 History book
1 Current Affairs book

For example, right now I'm reading 

1. Harry Potter: And the Order of the Phoenix
2. Halo: The Flood
3. Sherman and Grant: The Friendship that Won the War.
4. End the Fed by Ron Paul.


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## Meka (Sep 8, 2011)

sstroble said:


> Can only handle 1 at a time. Otherwise the characters and stories get all jumbled.


^^^THIS^^^

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk


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## Atunah (Nov 20, 2008)

In general I am a one at a time girl, but in recent months, I have divided it into 2 or 3 at times. Not always though. Its more to do with my personal reading challenge than anything else. So I'll be reading a book on the Scribd subscription at night, maybe during the day I'll read a already owned book, or maybe a library loan. If I do read more than one at a time they are always of different genres/sub genres. I'll be reading a historical and a romantic suspense, or a sci fi romance and a time travel and a urban fantasy and so on. 

But most times I am one at a time. I don't have any issues mixing up the books though. As soon as I start reading I am in that world. Its also why I can start a new book immediately after finishing another. I know some folks need a pause, I just start the next one. My mind is already sharing space with so many stories and characters I read over the years, it doesn't make a difference if I stuff them in there simultaneously.


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## Russell Brooks (Dec 23, 2010)

I remember when I was about six, and I had borrowed 2 books from the library. I began to read both of them at the same time. My father caught me and told me not to do that, lol. I've always been a one-book-at-a-time person ever since.


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## Mandy (Dec 27, 2009)

Ann in Arlington said:


> I'm confused by your characterization of this sort of behavior as a "bad habit"?  Seems perfectly normal to me!


Well I always had people ask me how I could read so many at one time. And my mom gives me _that look_ because I still haven't finished Stephen King's 11/22/63 yet, lol.


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

Mandy said:


> Well I always had people ask me how I could read so many at one time. And my mom gives me _that look_ because I still haven't finished Stephen King's 11/22/63 yet, lol.


As far as I'm concerned you can be excused for not finishing a Stephen King. I've not yet tried 11/22/63 but I've tried several others and the characters are all so unpleasant I don't see the attraction?


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## Tristan Cruz (Apr 2, 2014)

I can only read one at a time. I feel the characters and story need my undivided attention so I can really get into it and not be thinking about another story.


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## Mike D. aka jmiked (Oct 28, 2008)

It's probably not unusual for me to have 4-5 books seriously "in progress". It's common for me to put a hold on something I'm reading if another one I've been anticipating comes along, or if something shows up that looks much more interesting. I generally don't have any problem resuming a read even several months after suspending reading. I'm more prone to this with non-fiction. I probably have a half-dozen partially read non-fiction ones on the ereader right now.

The longer the book, the more likely it is to not be finished without interruption. I read the unabridged _Count of Monte Cristo_ (all 1200+ pages) within the last two years, and it was done in three or four segments over a few months.

Mike


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## Russell Brooks (Dec 23, 2010)

Ann in Arlington said:


> As far as I'm concerned you can be excused for not finishing a Stephen King. I've not yet tried 11/22/63 but I've tried several others and the characters are all so unpleasant I don't see the attraction?


 I've been away from Stephen King for so long, I don't know if I could ever go back to him. If I did, I'd do my best to finish his book before moving onto another.


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## heidi_g (Nov 14, 2013)

I went through a period where I was reading several fiction books at a time, but now, if I can't keep reading a book, I just let it go. However, I'll when it comes to nonfiction, since I read those in such small chunks, I'm often in the middle of several!


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## Tristan Cruz (Apr 2, 2014)

Russell Brooks said:


> I remember when I was about six, and I had borrowed 2 books from the library. I began to read both of them at the same time. My father caught me and told me not to do that, lol. I've always been a one-book-at-a-time person ever since.


This made me laugh. "Your father caught you." - "Don't do that." So funny. But I agree with him. One at a time i think allows for you to feel the depth of the story.


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## katrina46 (May 23, 2014)

I usually read two. One in the genre I write in as sort of research and one in whatever other genre I enjoy.


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

Tristan Cruz said:


> This made me laugh. "Your father caught you." - "Don't do that." So funny. But I agree with him. One at a time i think allows for you to feel the depth of the story.


"One at a time" may allow YOU to feel the depth of the story, but for me, I don't have a problem keeping various stories separate. Most aren't particularly 'deep' anyway, though I'd agree there are some books that should be almost studied and not just read. 

Before kindle I did sometimes have more than one going. As a kid I was a 'one at a time' person, but as an adult, I realized it was a pain to carry a book around all the time but I knew I'd probably have occasion to want/need to read at work, at home, in the car, etc. So I stashed spare books places. I almost never read non-fiction because paperbacks were easier to stash and non-fiction was often not available in that format -- at least not the ones I was interested in.

So I totally get the 'one at a time' point of view, but I can also totally get the 'any book, any time' point of view. Different people process things differently, and sometimes different people can process things differently at different times in their life. And sometimes they just have to get over what they were taught as a kid because the only reason they were taught that way is because that was ONE PERSON's opinion at that time. 

I mean: I was also taught, as a kid, that if you start a book you finish it. I still have some residual guilt over a book I got as a kid from scholastic that was supposed to be about a horse -- it was called _Midnight_. I just didn't find it very interesting and never finished it. I think it's still on a shelf in my dad's house somewhere. And I still have the 'kid guilt' even though now, I have no compunction about giving up on a book that I'm not liking.

I think the difference is, then, the books I had access to were limited. Oh, there were thousands in my house, but I was a kid and they were 'grown up' books (I did get to them eventually  ). And there was a definite vibe of, "if we buy all these books for you, you better read them." AND, I'd always pick out about a dozen and be told I had to limit it to something like 4. My brothers wanted to buy some, too, and of course there was no way we were going to share them!  So I had to pick well and was not happy with myself that _that_ particular choice was a dud.


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## lindnet (Jan 25, 2009)

Before I had Kindles, I always read one book at a time.  I couldn't even fathom the thought of having more than one story going on at the same time.  But I love my little basic Kindle and then I got the PW.  Of course the only solution was to read on both of them.    Then I started feeling bad that I had paper books here that I hadn't read yet. 

So my answer is 3.  I almost always have 3 books going at the same time, and when I feel like reading I just choose which group of characters I feel like visiting at that moment.


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## cinisajoy (Mar 10, 2013)

I guess I had strange parents.  They never distinguished between kids books and grown up books.  In 1968, my mom bought a huge set of paperbacks.  She kept them and the games in the hall closet.  I am sure by 1978, I had read them all.  They were the classics.  I was 2 in 1968.  I know I read them when I got a bit older.  If we (my brother and I)(he is 4 years younger chronologically, but not mentally.  Mentally, he is a genius) couldn't find something to do, mom would tell us go find something in the hall closet.  Heck the big rule in our house was ok you can do (whatever together) but not if the other kids are over.  Their parents might find it too dangerous.    We built a clubhouse at ages 11 and 7.  He was allowed to use the saw but I wasn't.  (They knew which kid was more likely to cut themselves.)
Remind me to thank my mother.


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## Patrik (Jul 13, 2014)

I like one at the time. I guess it's mostly about time. I dont like when it takes too long between start and end of a book  But it's also about that I just like to imerse myself into one world at the time I.. guess.


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## Dalia Daudelin (Jul 11, 2014)

If I'm not studying the books, I'll read 2 or 3 at a time.


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## Maxx (Feb 24, 2009)

Usually 3, a kindle book, an audio book and a DTB.


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## ScottS (Jul 3, 2012)

I read one at a time. My attention span is too short to - hey look, a shiny thing. What was I saying?


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## HaemishM (Dec 9, 2009)

When I was a kid, I'd read 2 at a time, very rarely 3. As I've grown older and gotten so much other stuff to do, I'm a single reader. I'm not sure I could concentrate on more than one these days.


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## CherieMarks (Oct 10, 2011)

Currently, when I lay down at night, I'm reading three different books.  And sadly, I've started two others, but I'm just waiting to finish one before I get back to those other two. To make it more interesting, they're in three different genre.  Pretty sure I'm the classic, undiagnosed ADHD book nerd.  Love books, got a channel changer in my head that gets clicked a little too often.

I'm actually a teacher in my day job and have had students complain when they have two books to read for different classes.  They can't keep the stories straight.  I can't relate at all.  It's the same as watching two different television shows to me.  The stories don't cross, so it works for me.


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## Toby (Nov 25, 2008)

Usually 1 fiction book at a time & including many non-fiction books. I am also reading a few "paper" non-fiction books. A book that I need to learn something immediately usually is read first amoung the many. It just takes much longer to finish the book. I can't seem to break this habit.


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## daleibitz (Jun 13, 2012)

I can only read one at a time, usually. Especially if the book is good and I'm completely immersed, I don't want to inject other emotions and/or characters into my reading.  However, I have been known to read 2 books at a time...if my ereader dies I usually have a hard copy book hanging around that I go read.


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## AnnVittoria (Jul 15, 2014)

Love this topic!

Two books


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## John F (May 19, 2014)

Almost always one, and never more than two.


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## Tristan Cruz (Apr 2, 2014)

Since this topic was posted I was a "one at a time" kind of guy. For whatever reason it is now two at a time. I feel like a horrible person... I don't know how to tell my family.


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## Bre_Faucheux (Aug 29, 2013)

Normally I read only one at a time. But recently, I have picked up a few really big books. It would drive me crazy if I tried to read the big ones only at one time. Because I am really slow reader. So I read an "everyday" book that takes a couple of days (circa 300+) pages. And anything over 500+ pages, I read alongside my smaller books. Otherwise I would go crazy feeling like I wasn't accomplishing anything with my bigger books.


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

I'm currently reading one fiction and two non-fiction -- very different topics, so it depends on my mood what I pick up in the moment.  BUT, just got word that a library book (fiction) I'd had on hold is available so I borrowed it and will have to read it in the next 21 days. 

I have to work out whether to finish the one fiction title quickly to get to the other or take a break from it and read the borrowed one. I'm a bit afraid of confusion -- though it's not usually a problem for me -- as one is a Rizzoli and Isles book and one is a Women's Murder club book.  And Angie Harmon played(plays) the main character in both TV shows!


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## Daniel Harvell (Jun 21, 2013)

Only one at a time for me too. I multi-task all day at work and at home - I like to have just one "escape" to focus on at a time. (Plus I'd likely mix up the details between multiple books anyway!)


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## BOOK-ie (Jul 28, 2014)

I can read up to five at a time, but it is usually the result of not falling in love with the books I've started reading.


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## RubyL (Jul 28, 2014)

I always have a bunch of things started, but when something really grabs me, I'll read that from start to finish before getting back to the rest.


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## Tony Richards (Jul 6, 2011)

All of this is totally alien to me. Do you watch more than one movie at a time? Listen to more than one album? I  only ever read one book at a time ... and if I'm not loving it, I put it down and pick up something else.


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## derekailes2014 (Aug 4, 2014)

It depends on if I'm currently writing a story or not.  If I'm just reading to enjoy, I stick to one book at a time.  If I need to do research for my writing I can be reading several nonfiction at a time.  When I was in school, I would read the required book along with reading a different one when I had finished whatever my required chapters were.


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

Tony Richards said:


> All of this is totally alien to me. Do you watch more than one movie at a time? Listen to more than one album? I only ever read one book at a time ... and if I'm not loving it, I put it down and pick up something else.


Actually, I've been known, if there were two shows on I wanted to watch at the same time, to flip between them at commercials. Works even better with TiVo since you can pause and not miss anything. But in pre-tivo days it was the only way to not miss something. 

As for music, if we have it on we usually put the player on shuffle -- so, really, we're listening to any number albums at the same time.


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## Jena H (Oct 2, 2011)

I'm generally one at a time, but I've done two at a time, without a problem.  Read one book while I eat lunch, and a second book at the dinner table before I start to clean up.  Double the goodness!


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## PandorasParanormalBox (Aug 10, 2014)

For novels I usually prefer to read one at a time, but I have been known to stop in the middle of one to read another. I may eventually come back to it, but I wasn't in the right mood to read it. For reference books for writing or other, 2-3 at a time along with a novel for fun.


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## cinisajoy (Mar 10, 2013)

I have been known to read a book and watch a show at the same time.  I also do handcrafts (cross stitch, embroidery, crochet) while watching television.  Usually clean house to music.


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## crebel (Jan 15, 2009)

No matter how many books I have open and started, I have still not mastered the process of having my eyes on more than one book at a time. So, I only read one book at a time, but I may have 2 or 3 I alternate between.  They do have to be completely different genres, though, or I start mixing the stories in my mind.


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## Adrian Howell (Feb 24, 2013)

Multitasking isn't my strong spot. 

One book at a time. And if that one book can't hold my attention enough to keep me from starting another, then it's very unlikely that I'll finish it later.


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## balaspa (Dec 27, 2009)

I am still a 1 book at a time guy.


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## stevene9 (Nov 9, 2008)

1 fiction at a time. If there is a nonfiction that I want I may read it at the same time, but I mostly read fiction (science fiction is the greatest part).


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## Otsana (Apr 12, 2014)

I would guess around three books? I usually have my own book I'm reading or editing. A book that I'm reviewing for someone (sometimes 2!) and then one that's my book for when I lay down to sleep. Sometimes they intermingle, but mostly it goes about like that!


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## hs (Feb 15, 2011)

Usually 2 books at a time, one on my Kindle and one print book.
I've occasionally read 3 or 4 at once, but then I get the plots and characters confused, especially if two or more of the books are in the same genre.


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## JeanetteRaleigh (Jan 1, 2013)

Right now I'm at three.  A couple are non-fiction and one fiction.  Also, if I find a book a slow read, I might grab another book from my pile and read that to the finish, then pick up the original book later if I'm more in the mood for that kind of read.  Oh, I forgot the 'Haunted stories' book that I keep in my desk at work, just in case.  I read them in complete stories, though, so it doesn't really count.


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## Wiserthanthou (Apr 6, 2014)

Four or five, it gets pretty crazy XD And by crazy, I mean that I forget half of what happens in two or three by the time I get back to them


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