How many books are you in the process of reading? Do you indulge in different genres at the same time?
I generally have 4 to 6 on the go at any given time: 1 or 2 fiction for me; a non-fiction of some sort; 1 or 2 for reading with my daughter (we take turns reading out loud and discuss them); 1 or 2 for work.
Well, according to Goodreads I'm in the process of reading nine books.There are, in fact, that many books that I pick up from time to time. But for all practical purposes, there's one that I'm listening to in the car (always non-fiction), one that I'm reading that's related to work (non-fiction, again), and one that I read while relaxing (fiction, for escape!).
I'm guilty of preferring eBooks and audiobooks to print. I haven't read a physical book in years. I started with eBooks because I have pretty serious arthritis in my wrists and hands, and many books that I enjoy are heavy enough that they're painful for me to hold. I also found it tiresome to keep track of physical books, and especially to move them. When I found that with eBooks I could keep an entire library in my pocket, I was thrilled! As I grow older and my vision grows dimmer, the ability to change the size of text in my eBooks is more and more important. I like to read in bed, and having a light on to do that by has been a bit of a nuisance to my partners over the years. With my Kindle, I can read without a separate light, and my co-sleeper isn't bothered at all. And, happily,the Kindle's lighting lets me avoid blue light at night time. Audiobooks let me use otherwise wasted driving time productively! So I'm unlikely to go back to print books any time soon.
The only detriment to eBooks is that there's no browsing the bookshelves of readers any more. I hardly have anything on my shelves but coloring, music, and children's books. You wouldn't know to look at them that I'm an avid reader! You could tell so much about people by what was on their shelves before!
Great comments, especially the ones about browsing other people's shelves. An author friend of mine has recently had some of his work published as audio books. He loves hearing someone else read his work aloud. Many writers I know love eBooks particularly for their accessibility.
@pixiedust I enjoy hearing people read aloud if they have nice voices and read well. When I was in school, reading aloud was a standard part of the classes. I've often wondered if that has changed because so few people are able to read well any more.
I used to be part of a group of friends who all hung out at a small, independent bookstore who would have readings once a month or so. We read all manner of things, poetry and prose, ancient to modern, chosen from many authors and sometimes from unpublished personal works. I miss that so much, but 1) I have fewer real-life friends now and 2) most of them probably wouldn't be interested in such a nerdy pursuit (despite being self-described geeks).
2 non-fiction ones right now that I've started and probably will never finish. Lol. I'm slow.
Currently three books:
Zealot: the life and times of Jesus of nazareth
Rant: The oral biography of Buster Casey
Children of Blood and Bone
I usually like to invest time in one book at a time but I just picked them all up at the same time and can’t stop reading any of them