The Daily Ping

The 1st Ping was published on January 6, 2000.

April 25th, 2008

How Many Books

As with most things in my life, I’m behind on my reading. I mean, maybe I can’t call it “behind” just because I’ve got a long series of books on my “to read” list, but whatever…

Today’s poll is simple: how many books do you read at a time?

I can never focus on just one, so I’m always reading at least two at any given period. I’ve been known to juggle up to five books at a time, though when you’re getting up to that number, it’ll generally be months before actually finishing one of them. The two books I’m reading now have been in rotation for a while. One, a 650-page novel, I started in November. I’m on page 500. The other is a 300-page non-fiction book that I’m about 1/3rd of the way through after a couple of months. I had a third book that I decided to put back on the shelf after reading almost half.

The majority of my reading is non-fiction, only because I struggle to find fiction that really compels me. I have a few authors and subgenres that I use as go-tos. Reading multiple non-fiction books is not too difficult, especially when they’re disparate subjects, but I’ll never attempt more than one fiction book at a time for fear or confusing characters and plots.

And, darn it, I forgot to bring my book with me to work today. What am I going to read at lunch?

Posted in Everyday Life

COD April 25, 2008, 2:37 pm

I generally read one at a time. I tend to read mostly fiction, as I read to relax before bedtime and getting worked up over something important in a non-fiction book is not conducive to a good night’s sleep.

Ryan April 25, 2008, 2:39 pm

Agreed: fiction is best before bed. Non-fiction is good “thinking room” reading, though.

Sara April 27, 2008, 10:52 pm

Aw, man. I read too many books at one time. Right now, I’m at…i think 5…yea thats right. i read about 20..books per week…simply because i read fast. those books are in the 500 to 730 page range. and a couple 300 page ones. i don’t ever fall asleep on a book, i usually stay up till its done. I read books on history, science, religon, playwrites, fiction and nonfiction. i read it all.

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