Recently, I've found myself suffering through one of the worst #bookbloggerproblems there is: too many books. How can you have too MANY books?! you might say. You might glance sadly at your empty book shelf and think, I WISH I had too many books.
And you're right. It's spoiled to complain about being inundated with both free review copies and pretty hardbacks I've bought with my own cash money. But accepting an ARC is like signing a contract. By receiving this free book, I promise to read it, and in a timely fashion.
Sometimes, we spoiled book problems with our voracious bookish appetites get greedy. And we request every book that looks good and buy all the books on sale (or NOT on sale) and wow, the library FINALLY has an available copy of that one book I've been waiting for for months, I'll just check that out right now and then you realize you've bitten off quite a bit more than you can chew.
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| What you think a loooong TBR list is like |
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| What it's actually like |
When I find myself in a spot like this (like right now... I've got a million ARCs that need to be reviewed and reviewed SOON, but I really enjoy this foreign practice called "sleep" and one day soon I'd like to attempt some semblance of a social life), I cope in one of two ways. I choose a book at random and power through in a matter of hours, cross it off my TBR list, and head to the next one; or I read about four at once.
Both options are lunacy. I know some people who are incapable of multi-booking. It's like book-cheating. Or it's confusing, with too many worlds and character swirling in your brain at the same time. It's faster if they just stay dedicated and plow through one book at a time. Juggling multiple reads at once so very often ends up like this:
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| I've used this gif before. I don't care. |
But then there are people who are always reading multiple books. They have an audio book for the car, a paperback book for their purse, and a main book on their e-reader. Or they burn out if they focus all their energies on one book, so they have to switch to something different for a bit. Maybe they've been slowly rereading a favorite book sort of in the background of all their other new books, and every now and then they take a break and read a bit of the old book. Maybe, like me, they've been sloooowly reading Anna Karenina since last Halloween.
I vacillate between these two camps. Neither is right or wrong; it just depends on what mood the stalled car engine I call a brain is in. Right now, I'm multi-booking. Last week, I was power-reading, and I burnt out.
What about you? Are you a multi-booker? Or are you as talented at juggling as Honey Boo Boo?
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I used to read just one book at a time, but that was before I really got into reading. Now that there are a billion things I want to get to, it seems like I have to read multiple things at once if I want to have a prayer of getting to everything I wanted to that month. Powering through books really isn't my style; I like to take periodic breaks and think about something else for a while (unless the book is crazy good, of course). Plus sometimes I have quite a few things from the library, and those do, sadly, have due dates. Nice post! :D
ReplyDeleteNew GFC follower.
I tend to read just one at a time but sometimes will have a fiction and non-fiction going at the same time. My brain just is old and tired and it can't keep up with multiple plot lines like it used to be able to! ;-)
ReplyDeleteI tend to multi-book, but one always wins out and becomes the dominant book. It's impossible NOT to request books! I keep trying to hold back but they all look so good. I laughed so hard at what a big TBR really looks like gif. So, so true. Love this post :-D
ReplyDeleteI completely agree Kristen! One book always wins out and becomes the dominant. = ) I'm currently reading five books, but I keep picking up one more than the others.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree Kristen! One book always wins out and becomes the dominant. = ) I'm currently reading five books, but I keep picking up one more than the others.
ReplyDeleteI try to take things one at a time for the most part, especially with new books or books I just can't really get into, because otherwise, my poor brain becomes frazzled, and I forget what kind of a world I'm even supposed to exist in whenever I open a cover. That being said, my TBR list is monstrous, and that's only going to get worse as soon as summer hits! What's a blogger to do?
ReplyDeleteI'm definitely one of those people who cannot read more than one book at a time. The only time I make an exception is when I'm reading something for school, but that's usually because they make a book drag out over a couple of weeks. Otherwise, I have to stick with one. It's not so much confusion, as I just feel plain guilty! I feel like the book might catch on...
ReplyDeleteI tend to stick to one book! I do find that I can do an audio book and a reading book at the same time if they aren't the same kind of book though. I'm doing that right now. I have read more than one book at once, but I like to get swept up in a story and I find that if I read more than one book at a time I don't like it. It's kinda like when you're watching a really exciting tv show and then commercial happen and you get mad because it's messing with the vibe of the show. But hey, that's just me.
ReplyDeleteTwo books tops. That is about all I can handle and it doesn't happen often. I only did that mostly in college when I hard to read a book for class but I also wanted to read a book for fun, and no I'm not talking about text books just counting the books for my lit classes.
ReplyDeleteI know what you mean about having too many books! I just wrote up a post about that a couple of weeks ago because I felt so overwhelmed. Luckily I powered through and I'm feeling better. Good luck with all your books!
Oh man. I used to be AWFUL at multi-booking. I literally didn't read at all during college, because I knew I would have to read books for class. The idea of starting and stopping a book in between school books was completely foreign. I would purposely stick only to comic strip collections, because I knew I could set those aside if need-be. So for 3 years (I did the college thing quickly), I literally only read fun books when on break.
ReplyDeleteEven now, I don't multi-book very well. I still don't do multiple physical books. If I set aside one book for another, odds are I'll end up giving up on the first book. However, I do listen to audiobooks in the car now, so I guess that sort of counts. Oh, and I have a Bob Hope biography that I read when I finish a book and need time to process but still need to read something.
So I guess I sorta kinda multi-book. Ish.
I'm always reading multiple books. Sometimes I'll start a really complex book and find that I'm only able to focus on it but that's not often. I usually have an ebook going (for when I can sneak in some reading on my computer at work) but then I go home and want to stay off computers and often even my kindle so I opt for physical books at night. I will often read audiobooks but don't always have one going but sure do love them when I have a bunch of housework to do and don't want to do it. :)
ReplyDeleteI can't not multi-book. For various reasons. Mostly cause I have a pile by my bed, a book in my work desk, a book in my purse, a book on my iPod. I clearly have a problem.
ReplyDeleteI always multi-book, and usually somewhere in the realm of 5-10 at a time. I've never really thought about how ridiculous this is until just now :P (I also do this with television series- old ones, not week-to-week shows, that's different)
ReplyDeleteI think I have the ability to read multiple books at once, but I NEVER do it. I like to focus on one book at a time, otherwise I have a difficult time really getting into the story. I'm always really impressed by people who can read more than one.
ReplyDeleteCheater here! I have more than one book on the go ALL the time. I don't really know why... I've been doing it since, well, forever(?). And I guess it just works for me :)
ReplyDeleteI've always been a multi-booker. When I was younger I would just power through a few books at a time. One was for during the day, one was for when I got bored of one during the day, and the third would be the one I'd read at night that would keep me awake and usually involved some sort of creep factor or exciting adventure. Nowadays of I have one on my phone that I read while traveling, one on my computer for when I'm waiting for class, and one or two near my bed that I get to in the evenings.
ReplyDeleteGenerally speaking I don't multi-book, but there are a few exceptions. I occasionally have an audio book and a print book going at the same time if I'm travelling. I can't read a print book as a passenger in the car because I'll get carsick, but listening to an audiobook makes the trip so much more enjoyable. Also, if I'm finding myself taking a long time to get through a particular book, I'll sometimes start something else completely unrelated, like a humor book (just recently I did this with Jen Campbell's Weird Things Customers Say in Bookstores) that I can pick up or put down at any time and won't confuse my brain with competing plot lines/characters.
ReplyDeleteUnless it is multiple formats because I can only use one at a time like phone or nook or print because of where I am I tend to not read multiple books at one time I feel like I am cheating!
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