Huh huh. I said “rule.”
Anyway, last night I wasn’t in the mood for the angst of “Uncommon Vows” right before bed, though I was about 3/4 into the book. I wasn’t on the home stretch and was far too tired to think of finishing it, so I did The Unthinkable.
I started another book.
Does anyone else have a rule that they only read one thing at a time? Candy, I know, reads quantum physics (I’m not even kidding) and romance at the SAME TIME, which bends my mind more than a little. But I usually read one thing at a time, because otherwise I will always like one better than the other, and the one I like less? I never get back to it. Also, I have a poor memory and I’ll start mixing the plotlines up, which can be a challenge if I try to read a contemporary and a medieval at the same time. Someone is showering a lot, some one is not. Which one?!! I can’t even watch two tv shows at the same time, while Hubby, when he is master of the clicker, can watch, like, twelve. Simultaneously. And keep track of what’s going on.
So of course, I am seriously loving the roller-coaster ride of “The Pirate Prince,” by Gaelen Foley. Woo damn is that thing purple-ish and non-freaking-stop. It reminds me of Pirates of the Caribbean – once it started, WHOOSH.
I do have to finish Uncommon Vows, especially after so many people recommended it. And dang the hero is hot. But I have to be honest, the “Oh, I’m hot hot hot for you!” “No, I hate hate hate you!” hot/cold heroine is in desperate need for a smackdown. Don’t treat that fine, educated, man like that! He should come over here to Candy & me. We’ll take care of him. Wink wink, nudge nudge.
So – do you read one at a time, or muliple books at once?
Multiple books at once. Currently I’m reading Come Up and See Me Sometime by Lucy Monroe, For Camelot’s Honor by Sarah Zettel, and Summer in the City of Sails by Shelley Munro. Oh, and The Phantom City by Kenneth Robeson. Oops…and Caught in the Act by Pam McCutcheon…I think that’s all right now.
I’m not sure I can read one book at a time, it’s just impossible.
I read more than one at a time, though I used to do it more frequently than I do now. Since I do most of my reading during my morning and evening commute, if I find I’m too close to the end of a book to make it through both rides, I’ll put that one aside and start a new one then finish the old one at night or on the weekend. Cause there’s nothing worse than finishing a book on the way in. Then I have to dash off to B&N on my lunch hour and try to find something that I want to read that I don’t already have, and that’s just a hassle.
I only read one *type* of book at a time. One romance, one nonfiction, one classic, etc. And kudos to Candy! Quantum physics is fun. I was reading about it a couple of years ago when I was thinking of writing a time travel series. Regular physics shuts down my brain, but for some reason, quantum physics just makes sense to me. 😉
I generally read only one book at a time too—unless one of the books is kicking my ass and I need a break every now and then from the non-stop erudition. Like last year when I decided I needed to read Small Animal Clinical Nutrition cover-to-cover in my ongoing quest to be an ersatz feline nutritionist. It took me about 3 months to finish it, and on the average I read a fictional novel for every chapter I finished.
And it’s not like Fabric of the Cosmos is a technical paper or anything, either—Greene uses Simpsons characters to explain relativity and the nature of spacetime, and X-Files characters to explain the wackiness that is quantum mechanics. Something about being able to concretely picture the characters makes all the difference in understanding the concepts. I’ve never really gotten the whole “two guys standing at opposite ends of the train moving at constant velocity” analogy other boks have used time and again to explain special relativity, but Greene uses Itchy and Scratchy and presto, I’m like “OHHHH, I get it now!”
Oh, and Sarah: isn’t Gaelen Foley fun? She’s such a guilty pleasure for me. She is beyond purple (by modern standards, anyway), her characters are just over-the-top and her plots make me go “WTF??”, but she is so action-packed and compulsively readable. I knew you’d enjoy her books.
Oh my gosh, total guilty pleasure. I am loving it. I love how in some books, you, as the reader, just go and go and go and you never stop to think how completely insane the plot is because the action just keeps moving. Other books, there are moments where I’m like Prince Humperdink: Skip to the END!
I’m a big fan of Brian Greene for that reason—he just explains things in a more accessible way.
I only read one book at a time…kind of. I do have several books around the house I’ll pick up and read a chapter of (usually non-fiction/research stuff) if I only have a very short reading time: the Howdunit series and a couple of criminal profiling books, Brian Greene and Lawrence Krauss (sp?), The Elements of Style and Lynn Truss, different Norton Anthologies, things like that.
Romance—I can’t read more than one at a time. If I put one down voluntarily, it’s done. Usually I’ll finish it within a couple of hours; I can’t even conceive of taking a week to finish a romance. I like to gulp them in.
For me, one at a time with an almost pathological need to finish every book no matter how boring or rancid. Very annoying trait but I can’t seem to kick it.
Hey I have this GF book, I ordered off ebay but I never read it! Thanks for the reminder!
I generally read one book at a time. And like HelenKay, have a need to finish it, even if it sucks ass. But I am a horrid skimmer, so I might breeze through a chapter or two to get to the end… or just skip to the end ;).
It depends. If the author grabs me by the throat and won’t let go, then no, I’ll just stick with one. But if she starts rambling on with boring backstory or if I plain old don’t care about the characters, I’ll start another book. Depending on whether she can grab me back in a later chapter, I MIGHT go back and finish the book.
I am so with you on the gulping down the romance and the skimming. I noticed I have a HORRIBLE habit of skipping exposition and going from quoted text to quoted text. Almost like I don’t CARE what you’re wearing; I care how witty you are.
But at the same time, it takes me a long ass time to get to the point where I don’t want to finish a book, and it has to be because I just don’t care what happens. Usually there’s one or two characters I care about, or I just want to keep watching the train wreck of a plotline to witness the final, cliched carnage.
The cliches, they are messy.
I suck at passing the spamfilters. Argh!
If a book is good, I gulp it down. If it’s dense or not that great, I can simult with other books, and if I have a hard time slogging through it, I usually read the end and make up my own middle (unless it has the oddly soporific effect of Feehan’s LAIR…) I prefer reading lots of good dialogue over chunky paragraphs of tell-description, too.
I’m finally delurking – I’ve been reading every day for weeks. And busting my guts laughing.
With fiction, I’m definitely a serial monogamist. ;-P One book at a time, but I usually finish a book within a couple of days at the most – more usually, within hours.
I used to always finish a book, no matter what, but since I’ve been trying to juggle work, writing, studying, and every now and again some life, I no longer bother if the story isn’t entertaining me. Or maybe I’m just getting fussy and opinionated in my middle age…
I usually read a couple of books at a time. I can read two romances at the same time, but they have to be different genres and, if possible, moods. So maybe I’ll read a dark, angsty historical with a romantic comedy contemp, or an action filled futuristic, or a sweet series romance.
I have to read one book at work and another at home because some of the stuff I’ve been reading lately is too hot for work. I mean, ewww, to read a hot scene and then look up and see some of the nerdy programmers I work with is not good. And some of the covers do not lend themselves to officemate perusal.
You get to read books at work? I want that job!
I am guilty of having several books going at once, but even more guilty of reading slowly. I am not reading any romances right now, though I sure am craving one. I am reading The Shadow of the Wind, don’t remember the name of the author. It’s very very good and I recommend it, though I only get about two pages in per night before I pass out. Also reading Wicked – The life and times of the wicked witch of the west. Interesting, but I put it down to read Shadow. I think I’ll re-read a favorite romance for fun.
I’m definetly a more-than-one-at-a-time reader. I’ve usually got 4 on the go at on time. One reason is I’m so scatter-brained at times I’ll put a book down somewhere in the house and then can’t find it right away so I’ll start another one. I like to mix up genres too. I’ll have a medieval, a romantic suspense and usually a JD Robb all going at the same time.
hee the chick that sits next to me reads during her break… then again today she took a nap, at her desk, during her break
I hardly ever even think about taking a 15 min break but I did a week or so ago to flip through the RT mag.
I am thinking of making a sign that says smoke break and hanging it at my desk and taking 15 min EVERY hr and reading.