Look who’s back! I am totally gutted to not have been able to post anything on my blog in a week, not even a Top Ten Tuesday 😥 , due to being buried waist deep in the rubble that is my flat under building works. I have just trodden on three nails in what used to be our kitchen and a radiator leaked over my books, suffice to say I am not enjoying this.
But there is light at the end of the tunnel because today is my official graduation ceremony! And despite the massive spot (I’m fairly sure I’m growing a new limb here it’s so big) that’s popped up on my chin seemingly overnight I am determined to have a good day and say a proper goodbye to the university I’ve loved for three years.
Anyway today I’m once again hosting a stop on The Bookish Summer Blog Hop, a blog hop that runs between July 1st-31st. My previous hosting stop is here: You’re Halfway Through a Book & not Loving it. Quit or Committed?
But on with todays topic, which is:Â One Book at a Time or Several at Once?
My Answer
Don’t let the imminent degree I’m about to be awarded confuse you, I am easily confuddled. I get confused just following a series with intermittent other books between (like I’m sure Percy Jackson went to Hogwarts at some point?? And didn’t Klaus Baudelaire get sent to dig holes in a dessert at obedience camp one time??).
My point is that reading multiple books at once would be way too hard for me. So I guess I’m a one book reader kind of person!
Jo Linsdell from her blog Jo Linsdell
It depends. I prefer to concentrate on just the one book, but I will sometimes have multiple books on the go at once. Usually when I’m reading more than one they will be very different though. E.g. one novel, one non fiction, one audiobook… I then hop between them depending on my mood.
Marcia Marques from Trendy Simple Life
I usually read 2 or 3 books at a time, plus an audiobook in my dar for my daily commute. I know it sounds confusing, but they are always different genres and I pick up where I left off depending on my mood.
Kelli Quintos from Tangled in Text
I have gotten in trouble with this answer because sometimes I can personally handle it and sometimes all the books I’m attempting to read get jumbled up together and it turns out horribly. I had one time where I was reading two books that had the same character names. It was a disaster and I was constantly getting their backstories confused. Other than that, I’m usually perfectly fine reading three to four books at a time. I try to keep them all in different genres and even different formats if possible. Currently I’m listening to one sci-fi book with my husband during our car rides, I’m listening to a romance on my own during my daily commute by myself, I’m reading one physical thriller book in the mornings, then a non-fiction ebook at night.
Leslie Conzatti from Upstream Writer
I tend to read multiple books at once, for the same reason I tend to have multiple writing projects at once: different genres go with different moods. Sometimes I might be in the mood for a thriller, sometimes I might feel more like a fantasy. When I don’t particularly feel like trucking a stack of books around, I have my Kindle library to work my way through. I used to be able to read three books at once, back when I would blow through about 8-10 books in a single month. Nowadays, though, it’s more like I do two books at a time, and usually end up finishing one before the other. One thing is certain–I’m always reading!
Allie Block from Girl With a Book and Her Dog
I can only read one book at a time! My attention span doesn’t leave room for more than 1 book!
Casia Schreyer
More than one, though I don’t read as much as I used to anymore. Typically I have a long-term book, something that I read a chapter or two from every few days, a bedtime book which is aimed at 6-9 year olds which I’m reading to my children, and a binge book, something I read through in 1 or 2 sittings.
Brandy Potter from Brandy Potter Books
I don’t have time to read these days so one at a time is all that I can handle. However, I have been known to be listening to one and reading another and watching another on what seems like repeat… example: Reading THe Collector, Listening to Phantom Evil and watching Mansfield park like several times. Might be where I got one of my book ideas with the cross over in my noggin. Never know…. (starts thinking)
It was actually a lot easier to host this time since I may have cheated and just copied over the HTML from last time and changed a few things, but shhhhh.
Do you two-time your books or give them the special treatment of being your sole read? Can you hold multiple plots, bad guys, characters and life in your head all at once without mixing up who’s who? Love to hear your opinion on this topic!
The other stops on this blog hop are:
Books, Life and Other Oddities 
Everyone has great thoughts here!
When I was younger, I could do up to three at once, but now that I have more going on I usually have to stick to one, sadly!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I was a much better at reading more when I had less going on too!
LikeLike
I’m actually able to read 3-4 books at a time! Sometimes I’ll be reading a book, but then I’ll buy another that I really want to read. So then I end up reading a bunch of books at the same time! 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
That’s very impressive!! I can never seem to read that many, do you not get them confused? I do that too but I put books on hold when that happens!!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yeah I normally don’t get confused at all!! I guess I’m lucky that way 😂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Haha you must just be really smart 😂
LikeLike
Congrats on your graduation! Way to go! Hope your building work finishes soon. It’s never fun having your home upside down like that.
Glad to see I’m not the only mood reader here.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Arg me too, the building work is so annoying 😪 and thanks!! Haha definitely not alone, everyone agreed with that!!
LikeLike
My preference, and honestly what I can handle is one at a time. However I find if I don’t like the book I’m reading I can go into month long slumps. I can avoid this if I read more than one at a time. I used to listen to audiobooks while working, but sadly it’s been too busy for a long time to do that.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Aw slumps really suck. I never really listen to audio books but I think I should try since they seem like a good solution when I have so little time!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Lately, I’ve been “reading” 3 books at a time. Usually I’ll have one main focus read, while the others are rereads and/or short story collections that I pick up occasionally. Like right now I’m reading Dance of Thieves, rereading Siege and Storm, and I also have a Celtic Tales collection I pick up every once in awhile. But generally, I’m a one-book-at-a-time kind of girl!
Also, sorry to hear about your building issues!
LikeLiked by 1 person
That’s a really interesting way of doing things, do you not find them at all confusing though? Ooh I’ve never read any of those, are they any good? Haha it should be over soon 🙄
LikeLike
Not usually? The thing is I’ll have one main read that I focus on, and then between finishing those books, I might read a couple chapters of my reread or even shift my reread to become my main read. Really, even tho I say I’m “reading” 3 at a time, it’s really only one.
But if I am juggling books, I don’t really get confused because for the rereads I already know the plot.
Lol, did that make any sense?
And yes, the Grisha Verse Trilogy is really good (Siege and Storm is the 2nd book in this series). And I’m enjoying Dance of Thieves, but not as much as enjoyed The Remnant Chronicles (DoT is a companion book to this series). The Celtic Tales collection I have is not quite what I expected tho, lol
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ah yeah that does, tbf if I read more than one at a time (which I rarely do) Id read them separately to avoid confusion too!
Ooh they do sound good! I’ll look out for them, are they all about Celts?
LikeLike
The Celtic Tales collection that I’m reading includes fairy tales from Ireland, Scotland, Brittany, and Wales! It’s divided up into sections such as Tricksters, The Sea, and Quests. Definitely not my fav story collection, but it’s nice to read some new tales that aren’t your typical Grimms Brothers or Hans Christian Andersen stories.
LikeLike
Oooh very cool! I love fairy tales, I’ll look out for them 😀 What makes them so unique?
LikeLike
I guess just that they’re not vaguely veiled copycats of like “Cinderella,” “Sleeping Beauty,” or “The Little Mermaid”.
Instead the stories include things like selkies, soul cages, husbands that shouldn’t be meddling with magic, clumsy maidens, and pookas.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yeah I like that too, I like it when authors put a good twist on the old tales and it really adds to the plot and magic system!
LikeLike
Yes, I love that too!
But these tales aren’t retellings, they’re new and unique. Well, maybe not new, because the writing can sound rather archaic at times, but new to me! They’re all kind of bizarre, but quite interesting!
LikeLike
Oooh new fairy tales? Sounds good. I’ll look out for them 😀
LikeLiked by 1 person
I used to be able to read a lot, but then I started writing and the time just started to get away from me. However, I do find that I can read MORE books because I can read faster 1 book at a time 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ooh are you quite a quick reader then? Writing does take up a lot of time but I actually find I read more when I write because one tends to inspire the other
LikeLiked by 1 person
Exactly!
LikeLiked by 1 person