The Next Best Book Club discussion

When it comes to reading, are you monogamous, or do you get your thrills from having a different book each night?

If you are monogamous, how long do you usually wait to start up a new book after you're finished with the last one? When you're nearing the end of a book, do you ever feel like you are starting to get sick of it? Do you ever feel like you miss your old book?

If you are polygamous, how many books do you read at a time? What the most books you've ever read at one time?

As for me...
I prefer to read just one book at a time. Sometimes I have to read more than one because of school. After I'm done with a book, I like to read a little about it online through GoodReads or anywhere else. Then I usually wait about a day until starting the next one.

So I'm just curious as to what other people think when it comes to this oh-so-serious-and-important topic.

Monogamous, occasionally I'll have an e-book on my iphone that I hop back and forth to based on if I finish my book at an inopportune time and don't have another on hand to follow it with.

It depends on how good or thought provoking the book I finished was as to whether or not I hop right into the next one. Sometimes I have to wait til I emerge from the cave of contemplation before I can comfortably enter another.

There is a kind of rule I set myself that I will always finish a book I start. I've had books redeem themselves at the end and been glad I stuck with them. I don't know if this will last. I used to have the same attitude about movies but now I can barely get myself to a theatre with the fear that I'll be trapped for two hours in a dreadful tale. I'm beginning to enjoy watching movies at home far more, since I can do other things at the same time and if the movie sucks at least it wasn't a complete waste of two hours. I guess I'm becoming more jealous of my time so maybe someday that will carry over to my reading as well.

I generally read multiple books at a time. I usually have a serious-type read, a happy, sweet easy read and a classic that I'm reading at the same time. This way I have something to read no matter what my mood is. (Thank god for my Kindle!) Plus anything I might need to read for school.

I usually start a new book the next day. I'm addicted to reading. =D

One book at a time. I've tryed reading two.. one fiction and one poetry or one non fiction, but it just doesnt work!

I read one from start to finish, write my review and then jump right into the next one!!

If I am struggling with a book or an immense tome, I will have a lighter one on the side. OMW I am a book adulteress.

i am ALWAYS reading lots of different books at the same time. i am somehow unable to read just one book at a time though it does get confusing. and as soon as i finish one book i get a snack and i start reading the next. there must be something wrong with me.

You are an addict. Who will complete the triple A

I'm too OCD to read more than one at a time, unless you count software manuals : / LOL

I usually read one book at a time. If the book I'm reading is close to a thousand pages, I will usually take a break from it at some point and read something lighter. When I finish a book, I usually start a new book the next day.

When you're nearing the end of a book, do you ever feel like you are starting to get sick of it? Do you ever feel like you miss your old book?
It depends on the book. Sometimes I really don't want it to end, and sometimes it can't end fast enough. Right now I'm reading Bradbury's A Graveyard for Lunatics: Another Tale of Two Cities and I just can't seem to get into it and just want it to end. I'm a masochist: I plow through a book, no matter what.

I try to be polygamous (LOL!), but it doesn't work quite the way it should. For example, right now, I'm reading two books, but I've been spending a significantly larger amount of time with one over the other. It's not that they're not both excellent books, it's just that I get so engrossed.

What it comes down to is that I'm not a very good polygamist, and I should probably just stick to one book at a time!

I'm all over the place. I read multiple books at once. I have a classic that I get on Dailylit.com. Then I have my main paperback book, a kindle book and an audiobook. So I'm usually hitting about 4 books at once. They are usually all different genre though. Dailylit is usually classics since I think classic are SOOOOO boring so it's easier to stomach a little bit a day and my audio's are usually Historical Fiction or Horror. I don't know what it is but I usually find HF and Horror audiobooks to be better read. All my Kindle and 'real' books are typically sci-fi/fantasy because thats my true love.

I generally read on "real" book at a time that I carry with me. I listen to one audio-book in the car as I drive and wait around or children, and one audio book in the house that I listen to as I clean and do mindless chores, so I usually have 3 books going at once. Only one of those is an actual paperbook, though. I usually start thinking of what I will pick up next near the end of my current book, if not sooner because of reading committments, so I never have a lag between books.

I think I'm reading about 20 books right now. Some of them i've not picked up for months. I've been reading the crimson, the petal and the white for years. I wouldn't recommend this method. I just love starting new books.

I can't read more than one book at once, because I end up liking one more than the other(s) and then the other(s) feel like a chore.

I'll make an exception for a collection of stories or essays that I can dive in and out of; those have clear stopping points, so I can get back to the "real" book.

Boy, do I hope that last paragraph isn't a metaphor for my marriage.

I usually have one book and one audiobook going at the same time. I just try to make sure that they are totally different types of books so there isn't any confusion.

I generally only have one book at a time. I like to fully enjoy the book I'm reading without trying to divide my attention between it and another story.
The exception for me are collections of essays or short stories, especially when they aren't really interconnected short stories and some non-fiction. I'll read my fiction inbetween large non-fiction books, just to give myself something else to focus on to keep the reading from getting too heavy.

I'm like Jodi - I generally have an audio book (for my drive to/from work), and a regular book going. Sometimes I'm bad and will have two regular books going, but they have to be different from each other. My audio books can't be super serious ones/ones that require all of my attention since I'm driving.

I am usually a one-at-a-time reader but sometimes I'll read a nonfiction book and a novel simultaneously. If I am reading something and have to take a break from it to read something else, that's usually a sign that I should just break up with the original book, lol.

Usually I can go from book to book without a pause but occassionally I'll read something that is so good that I am actually reluctant to start something new right away. I can overcome this by making a radical genre switch.

And, yes, sometimes I will read something that I am sick of by the end. Labyrinth, which I just read this past weekend, comes to mind.

Like most of you, I prefer to read one at a time. And I definitely need a time to "absorb" if I've just finished something heavy or particularly thought-provoking, so I won't start a new one for a day or two. Or if I've really loved a book (whether deep or not-so-deep), sometimes it's hard for me to start something new because I'm afraid nothing will be as good as what I just finished. But the usual mourning period is just a couple of days, tops.

I do get tired of books sometimes, but usually this happens if I haven't been enjoying the book from the get-go but I'm just determined to finish it. When I do finish these books, though, I can't wait to start a new one to redeem literature.

I am very much the book adulteress! lol. I just find that based on my mood, that I have several going at one time. They have to be different, though: novel, short stories, graph novel, non-fiction. I've also snuck in books online, via Daily-Lit.com, where I can get books emailed to me pieces at a time. I also start a new book pretty soon after finishing. If it's late at night, I might not get to start a new one immediately, but I have the book ready to go w/ a bookmark right away! :)

I read two or three at a time, one I'm intense with and the others along for the ride. 75% of the way is when I begin to lose interest, but generally finish (with the help of the alternates.) I am addicted to reading - always have one at hand.

Natalie wrote: "I read two or three at a time, one I'm intense with and the others along for the ride. 75% of the way is when I begin to lose interest, but generally finish (with the help of the alternates.) I am ..."

I not only have one on hand, but I also have a backup just in case I finish the first. I can't risk being bookless!

I've apparently gotten rather slutty in my reading over the years (not a metaphor for my relationships, thank you), in that I tend to be reading a few different books at once. If I really dig something I'll stick with that until I finish it. But I usually at least have one book that I read on the bus to and from work and during lunch if I get one (which means it must fit in my bag), one that I read at home while I'm watching dumb TV or recovering from a poopy day, and then one on my bedside table.

How about the stack beside your bed?

Oh man, the stack beside my bad. -shakes head-

Let me just say that it seems to never stop growing, and I'm trying my best to read one book at a time.

I'm monogamous, cannot have more than one book in my head at a time, but the stack beside my bed is getting rather like Paris Hilton's little black book.

Like El, I've become a terrible book slut. I used to be very monogamous but ever since joining GR I find it so difficult to stick with one book at a time. Now I have an audiobook in the car, 2-3 of my own paper books, one I read aloud with my daughter nightly, and one on my Nook.
I love that my daughter is getting to an age where I truly enjoy her books, but she's still young enough that she enjoys being read to.
The paper books are usually very different and it all depends on my mood. If there's one I'm truly hooked on then the others will have to wait, but I'm pretty good at spreading the wealth a bit. Also, one of those is usally a business related or self-help type book which you don't want to plow through but really need to digest a chapter at a time.
I waste no time starting a new book when I finish. I will write the review so I don't blur my thoughts but that's all the time I allow between books. Too many books, too little time... :-)

I always end up reading more than one at a time. I really wish I could just stick to one but I can't help myself. I get too tempted by all the books out there.

I am strictly monogomous. That being said, I do tend to speed up when I'm close to the end. I get so excited to move on to the next one!

I usually have more than one book going at a time. One that I really enjoy and read fast, and one that is taking a little longer to get into. But if I start to get sick of a book, I just don't finish it, like The Poisonwood Bible. I have the attitude that there are too many good books out there to waste my time on bad ones. Usually I pick up another book immediately when I finish one; occasionally one leaves such a good feeling that I want it to linger, so I wait a day, like The Shadow of the Wind.

I usually read only one book at a time, but have more than one on my "currently reading" shelf. For instance, I started reading a book quite a while ago that I didn't get a chance to finish before I had to return it to the library, so I started reading another book, but the first one is still on my "currently reading" shelf half-finished. And various other stories like that - I generally have 5 or 6 on my "currently reading" shelf, but only actually really read one at a time. But it seems that as soon as I get rid of one on the "currently reading" shelf another one adds itself on. And I usually start reading something else the day after I finish a book, particularly if it's a series. Unless I happen to finish the book in the morning for some reason, in which case I usually start that night.

I usually read two books at a time, different story lines to not get them confused.I tried three books once but that did not work,they were all morfing into one book getting them confused. Now I am just reading one, its really good and close to 500 pages so need to focus on this one. My bookshelf is full so there will always more to read.After this book then its back to two books for me.

Depends on my mood. Usually a few going at all times. But when one really picks up steam, I'll stay with it.