(A) 1 book
You don’t begin a new one until you’ve finished the old. Start to finish.
(B) 2-3 books
Maybe a novel and a non-fiction. Toss in something extra now and again.
(C) 4 or more books
You love to read. You can’t wait to finish one book before you start another. Really. You can’t wait. So you delve into new books long before you’ve finished old ones.
(D) 0 books
[Then you’re probably not a blog reader either, so this option is unnecessary.]
* * *
I was a hard-core (C).
Until this fall. I challenged myself to try a new way of reading, to bounce between (A) and (B).
What happened?
- Finished books faster. Concentrating on fewer books meant I finished them individually in weeks instead of months.
- Nightstand looked neater. And I could see the phone on the nightstand better, since the stack of books was smaller.
- Easier decision-making. When I had a minute to read, instead of choosing between 5 or 6 books, I had only 1 or 2.
- Less library renewals…because I returned them quicker.
- Exercised patience. It was good for me to work through the discomfort of waiting to start a new book.
That’s about it for the advantages. I missed the thrill of a new book from the library every time I visited. I missed flitting from one book to another. I missed the variety in reading many different books at one time.
Do I have Attention Deficit Disorder when it comes to reading? I’m wondering now. But if I do, so what? 2 new books once a month, or 4 new books every 2 months? Irrelevant.
So now that Fall into Reading 2009 is over, I’m freeing myself from my self-imposed prison of only a few books at a time, and returning to my old ways of the more the merrier.
Yes, it will take me longer again to finish any given book, but I won’t mind. My circle of friends just got larger again.
* * *
I finished the books in my challenge except one, and I’m still reading it: Charity and Its Fruits. It’s a thought-provoking book, so it deserves a slow pace.
Thanks, Katrina, for issuing the challenge this fall. I’ll look forward to a new challenge in Spring 2010! (More Fall follow-ups here.)
* * *
My original list and reviews:
• Come to the Table by John Mark Hicks (11/3/09)
• Men Are Like Waffles, Women Are Like Spaghetti by Bill and Pam Farrel (10/10/09)
• Spiritual Mothering by Susan Hunt (12/11/09)
• Find Your Strongest Life by Marcus Buckingham (10/1/09)
• God’s Joyful Surprise by Sue Monk Kidd (10/16/09)
• Perseverance: True Voices of Cancer Survivors by Carolyn Rubenstein (10/5/09)
• Elephant Run by Roland Smith (10/8/09)
• iBrain by Gary Small and Gigi Vorgan (9/25/09)
• Click by Bill Tancer (9/27/09)
• The Time Paradox by Philip Zimbardo and John Boyd (9/23/09)
What works for you? How many books at a time do you like to read?
9 comments:
Wow, you read some really interesting books. I'll have to check out Ibrain and Time Paradox. I find it difficult to read more than one or two books at a time. So imagining the situation in reverse, glad you made it through the challenge. Maybe I should try it and see what happens. Happy Reading!
Very interesting you style of reading books, Lisa. And it's interesting how you changed it up for this time around and the observations you made. I don't think I could ever being reading 4 or 5 books at one time. The most my poor brain can handle is one fiction and one non going at once. LOL. But I'm totally like you in that I cannot come away from the library without another book checked out.
Oh and Merry Christmas! :v)
I usually read 2-3 books at a time. There have been times when I've got a bookmark in 4 or more books, but I can't actively read that many. (Hence the problem with my piled up nightstand which I tried to remedy during the Fall into Reading Challenge.)
Loved reading how your experiment/challenge turned out. I try to stick to (B) -- usually one fiction and two non-fiction at a time. But I tend to relapse into non-fiction "flitting" from book to book to book... I like you're approach though -- the more the merrier. :)
Great job reading the books you wanted to read! Merry Christmas.
Hi, I'm more of a (AB) person...seems like the max I can handle is 2 @ a time...haha...
Merry Christmas...!
I usually have 2 books sometimes 3 at a time. Most of it is due to laziness, if I leave a book in the car or upstairs, instead of going to get it, I will start another one!
I'm usually a 1-2 book person (one book that fits easily in my purse and one that's too big to leave the house). Of course, the at home book is often neglected, so maybe I should rethink my system.
Still, I cannot deny myself the joy of new books every time I go to the library. I just renew a whole lot of them. :)
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