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| What shall I read next...? Image courtesy of Corbis Images |
I was 70 pages into a new book
when the worst happened. The book was involving and a nice change from my usual
reads, but it was over 500 pages long and it would take at least a couple of
days to finish – but I needed to get my questions to the author of another book
by the end of the week. The trouble was I hadn’t read the authors book yet. So
I put down the book I had already started and picked up the new book which had
only just arrived. Luckily the new book was a fun and exciting read as well,
but it got me thinking about the books I read and the order in which I read
them...
I can’t read two books at the
same time. I get really involved in my books - or I do if they’re well written!
I think about them on the walk to and from the train station (remember I do
most of my reading on the train), I think about them when cooking and I can’t
wait to get back to them. However, if I’m reading more than one book at the
same time I end up with a bizarre mash-up in my head where goblins meet Henry
VIII and vampire hunters end up chasing zombies in outer space (actually that
could be quite a cool premise!). So I
read one book at a time in order to focus on that story.
I am also an obsessive list
writer and one of my favourite lists to write is what books I’m going to read
next. I always have a plan for what book I will pick up after my current is
finished. Okay, so I frequently don’t follow that list – sometimes I’m just not
in the mood for what I have planned so I will pick something else up more at
least at random. However, with a pile of Netgalley books and a couple of review
books which have to read soon I often feel like I don’t get a chance to read
some of my favourite authors. They sit on my HUGE TBR pile for months before I
get the chance to slip them into my reading list...I guess I really shouldn’t
complain as I can usually find something positive in every book I read!
Have you ever had to stop reading
one book in order to get a review book read and reviewed by a certain date? Or
are you a complete mood reader? How do you decide which book to reads next?
I know so sooo many people who read several books at a time. I'm not one of them. Just like you I completely immerse myself into one particular book world at a time and while I'm not exactly scared I might end up mixing the plots if I read more than one, I believe I owe it to the story, its characters, and the author, to dedicate myself to only them in a, let's call it, monogamous reading way ;-)!
ReplyDeleteAs to lists, I love them too. Usually I have them for review books only though, but I will read other books depending on my current mood.
I like that phrase - monogamous reading! Glad I'm not the only one!
DeleteI never used to read more than one book at a time - i get confused too, but i've actually had to put a couple down this year because I just couldn't bring myself tp keep reading, and then had to start again after reading something else so that i could get them finished and reviewed.
ReplyDeletei try to cut my tbr into months so that i get reviews done on time, but I've had very little chance to read anything else this year it seems! I've got to get down my list of review copies so that I can read something else!
I love lists though, I keep them on goodreads and on paper! (and i like crossing things off even more!)
There is something really pleasing about crossing things off a list I agree! It feels like an achievement in itself!
DeleteI'm the same. The only time when I can actually read 2 books at the same time is when one of them is for uni. E.g. I'm reading Charlotte Bronte's Shirley at the moment (for one of my classes) and I've also started Once More With Feeling which is one of my review books. The two are SO different that thank God it's pretty easy to juggle them but I can't read two review books or books of similar genres at the same time.
ReplyDeleteI love lists too but I can almost never stick to them when it comes to books. I tried to do a TBR list last month and I only finished 1 book from that list. xD #fail
I rarely stick to my TBR lists either - it's just the fact of writing them helps remind me which books I should be reading next! :-)
DeleteI am a review reader, I schedule them in, I can have like 4 months ready. Then in the between spaces I put books I really want to read first :)
ReplyDeleteI do this too and I hate it - hate having to put a book down to read a review copy. I'm trying to stop accepting review requests for books with specific deadlines so I can have the freedom to read what I want to, when I want to.
ReplyDeleteRight now, I'm a total review reader. Only on occasion do I read what I want... and when I do, I'm a mood reader. I also read one book at a time when I review because I do what you have said and mash up the books and it wouldn't be fair to the one that I'm reviewing. However, before I started reviewing I used to pick 3 different genre books and read them all at once. You would be amazed to find there is a common thread you can find even in the most different type of books. I had fun with that. :)
ReplyDeleteFun post. :)