Book Buying Addicts Anonymous discussion

I was wondering, as my partner moaned about the heap of half finished books by the bedside, whether reading more than one book at a time is a personality trait? Trouble is that I have to read a book that suits my mood. It's the same with my selection in music (if you ever find me listening to Pink Floyd's The Wall through headphones run for cover). I'm looking for support/discussion/therapy on this, hoping that I am not alone in this habit.

I like to keep my reading habits value free, lol. Especially since I can go crazy (pun intended) trying to find the "right" book that suits my mood! And my several moods of any given day. There are some times when I'm able to fit myself to a book but more often I have to have several books (like 10 or so)to match the moment.

I have many books on the go at once...
Some in the car, some in my bag, some beside the bed, some next to the couch... that way there's always something to read within reach.

I don't think it means I'm that disordered.

But I also sometimes need the right book for the right mood.

There have been books that I've read and disliked but then read them again when I've been in a different mood and now they're some of my favourites.

My moods tend to last long enough for me to finish a book...usually. But yeah, I mood read too.

Kate wrote: "I have many books on the go at once...
Some in the car, some in my bag, some beside the bed, some next to the couch... that way there's always something to read within reach.

I don't think it mea..."

This sounds very familiar to my reading style. The only problem tends to be remembering which book is where!

I'm the same, I tend to have around 3 on the go at any one time. I agree it is generally a mood based thing with me too. I just can't read a book if I'm not in the right mood for it, so I start reading another.

I'm generally a very organised person so I don't think it's an unorganised trait. I just think it is making the most of the mood you are in.

I gnerally have at least 3 books on the go but sometimes I have only one and other times I have as many as 10 books on the go.

I wouldn't say it's a disordered mind etc. Have to admit I rarely have more than 2 books on the go at the same time.

I admire all of you - I could't even keep the characters and story line straight reading two books at once.....

The most I've ever read was two books at a time, and it made me feel less involved with each book, so I tend to read only one book at a time. I did, however, have a student who kept a stack of at least three books on her desk, and she would alternate books. (I guess she did it according to her mood, as well, or because her brain was constantly at work, as she was really intelligent).

Mood reading sounds like a good idea. I often don't feel like picking up the book I'm currently reading, but I suck at keeping track of more than one novel. But I do like to have a fiction, a non-fiction and a comic book/graphic novel on the go at the same time. They're different enough so that I don't get them confused with each other and I can fit my choice to my current intelligent level.

Speaking of intelligence... I don't think reading more than one book at a time is the sign of a disordered mind, more like an intelligent one, like Tee27 above me said. So feel clever, Huw!

I usually have only 2 books going at one time. I read one until I get bored or feel guilty about not reading the other book. Of course, sometimes both books are so good that I'm very torn as to which one to read.

..then i am disordered completely.... 3...

One book at a time is all I can manage.

Alondra wrote: "..then i am disordered completely.... 3..."

If you are completely, then I am hopelessly disordered...7...joyfully, blissfully...7...

Jeannie wrote: "Alondra wrote: "..then i am disordered completely.... 3..."

If you are completely, then I am hopelessly disordered...7...joyfully, blissfully...7..."

If reading more than one book is a sign of a disordered mind, then I am disordered too. As if I didn't know that already.....

Kyle wrote: "Jeannie wrote: "Alondra wrote: "..then i am disordered completely.... 3..."

If you are completely, then I am hopelessly disordered...7...joyfully, blissfully...7..."

Good for you. Love your attit..."

AGREED!

Kate wrote: "I have many books on the go at once...
Some in the car, some in my bag, some beside the bed, some next to the couch... that way there's always something to read within reach.

I don't think it mea..."

Yeah, that has sometimes happened to me too.

I think reading more than one is good for me, because sometimes you hit a dull part of a book and just need a nice little distraction. So when Les Miserable irritates me, i just start in on The Alienist.. and when push comes to shove, I just continue Outlander... I was thinking about picking another, but I should really be fair to Outlander. :O

Alondra wrote: "I think reading more than one is good for me, because sometimes you hit a dull part of a book and just need a nice little distraction. So when Les Miserable irritates me, i just start in on The Ali..."
I think that it is good for me, too. I usually have some fiction going, along with something that hurts my brain (for growth, you know), a book or two for home schooling, something I just want to know about, and something religious. I can move from book to book depending on my mood and/or what is needed at the time. And then there are those books all over the house that seem to be calling my name and somehow end up open in my hands. . . the pile just keeps growing.

I read more than one book all the time. After all, how many TV programs do people watch every day?

Kyle wrote: "Patricia wrote: "I read more than one book all the time. After all, how many TV programs do people watch every day?"

With the garbage that's on t.v., not much."

I'm with you, Kyle! :)

Patricia wrote: "I read more than one book all the time. After all, how many TV programs do people watch every day?"

Thats what I try to explain to my husband who doesn't understand my reading habits (I usually have about 3-5 on the go at the same time!) He says if he did that, he'd get confused. but I tell him, "If you sat down and watched an episode of Smallville, then switched to Army Wives would you get confused?" And he admits he wouldn't. Books are like that for me, sometimes I'm in the mood for some chick lit, sometimes for historical fiction, sometimes mystery or thriller, I never know what I am gonna be in the mood for!

I am the same way Joy!!!

Susan wrote: "I am the same way Joy!!!"

Sometimes I just get bored reading the same story, especially when I pick up a big one, sometimes I just gotta mix it up a little! =)

I have at least 5+ books at one time if not more. How fast I finish them depends on my interest in the book. Most of my 5 star books I read in two or three days, while my other ones can take me weeks or months to finish. I have a few books on my waiting shelf that I started years ago and they just got crowded out by others. I compulsively start new ones too, always on the look out for the next great story, no matter how many I've already got half way read.

I love your comments Joy, so true! Sometimes those +700 page need to be broken down with some thing short and sweet.
That's why I love short stories so much.

i have 34 books I'm working on at once; now that's strange! I'm the same way, Mackenzi. My sister can read 6 at once.

Mackenzi wrote: "I have at least 5+ books at one time if not more. How fast I finish them depends on my interest in the book. Most of my 5 star books I read in two or three days, while my other ones can take me wee..."

This sounds so like me; I keep finding half read books in really bizarre places. I have just found one in a winter coat pocket and another in my spare violin case which i had forgotten about completely. There is a large shopping bag full of books that I have started and intend too go back to

I have this problem as well - at least 5-6 books going at once, had it up to 9 at one point this last summer. Depending on what I'm feeling right at the moment will determine which book I grab.
Okay, who am I kidding...it's usually the book that's closest to the coffee pot.

Sonya wrote: "i have 34 books I'm working on at once; now that's strange! I'm the same way, Mackenzi. My sister can read 6 at once."

Holy cow!! I thought I was bad with 22!! LOL

17 books currently or half way through reading sitting around the house and mixed in with my not yet read books. I have little unstable towers of books everywhere.
Somtimes I suddenly remeber a book I was reading and I have to hunt through all the piles to find it. Some of my reading books I haven't picked up for months but I know where I am and whats happening, I just havn't been in the right mood or the right place to read them (or they have been a little forgotten about... Sorry books)

Im untidy but very organised.

I usually have a fiction and a non-fiction book that I'm reading at the same time but I have 3 books I'm reading now. I started Mark Twain's autobiography months ago. It's the kind of book you can pick up when you're in the mood. Parts of it are very dull (talking about his friends) but other sections are great.Autobiography of Mark Twain: The Complete and Authoritative Edition, Vol. 1

That's my problem, too. Recently I said myself I mustn't read more than ten books at once! It works now but I'm not sure how long it will last. :D

I used to only read one book at a time but in recent years I find I'm reading multiple books - like others here, it somewhat depends on my mood-- and like Sally, I like a mix of fiction and non-fiction which are distinctly different types of reading experiences for me.

However, I do find I need to limit the number of books I start because it tends to compromise my focus and sense of immersion - especially with fiction. If I'm picking up additional books it signals to me that the one I'm reading may not be holding my interest as much as I'd like and I run the risk of abandoning it altogether.

Generally I prefer no more than 2 fiction at a time. Non-fiction can vary since in many cases I can pick and choose which parts to zero in on.

I read multiple books at the same time but never linked it to mood - interesting idea. Sometimes the choice is 'situational' - traveling or at the cabin means choosing one from my Nook; at home, it's one off the bedside table, the ottoman, the counter...
If a story really captures me, I'll finish it before returning to one of the others.

Sometimes I'll get so involved in a story that I'll read just that one. Other times, I'll have three or four going. My problem is that while I'm reading one book, I'm thinking of all the other wonderful books sitting on my shelves waiting on me.

Beth wrote: "Sometimes I'll get so involved in a story that I'll read just that one. Other times, I'll have three or four going. My problem is that while I'm reading one book, I'm thinking of all the other wo..."

That thing about all the other wonderful books waiting on the shelf is soooo true.

Beth wrote: "Sometimes I'll get so involved in a story that I'll read just that one. Other times, I'll have three or four going. My problem is that while I'm reading one book, I'm thinking of all the other wo..."

I have exactly this problem - too many interesting books all calling to me to read them! I think I have about eight I'm part-way through at the moment (but still am looking at others on the shelves!), though they're all non-fiction. I tend to read one for a while and then move to another, and usually quite varied subjects. This comes and goes though, I'll have long periods where I'll just read one book at a time but then get unsettled and start reading multiples again.

It tends to happen more with heavier non-fiction where it takes a long time to read them - I'll tend to read those in little chunks, though that doesn't really lend itself to retaining what I've read!

I usually read one book at a time. The assistant at my dentist office told me she reads a book at home and listens to a audio on her drive back and forth to/from work.

I think I'm up to 37 books as currently reading on here
I sometimes misplace some books