Do you ever get to the point where you have finished a book and you have so much choice on your shelves that you do not know what to pick up next?
That is exactly where I am at the moment. I am currently reading The Crimson Petal and White on my Kindle. An excellent book, though overtly graphic in some places for me, and I feel when I have read too much of it I need to move onto something else….
….My Man Jeeves is therefore being read at the moment also on my kindle. I do like Wodehouse and I am revisiting some of these….
… Little Women is still sitting on my kindle and I am over halfway through but I admit to finding this a bit heavy at the moment and certainly not enjoying it…
…So wanting to read a book and feel it in my hand and get absorbed by it I have picked up The Redbreast – Jo Nesbo. I bought this because of recommendations on blogs, reviews and in the bookshop. It has required some concentration and I have yet to be absorbed by it but still so far so good.
But should I not be reading something else? Look at my shelves they have an abundant choice at the moment and there are some more inbound…
…And as new books get released, I am wanting to read them and not the ones I have on my shelf… this is why I have Gillespie and I arriving soon! Read so much about it, reviews are good and it is also the Radio 2 Book club choice as well.
Too much choice for me means I really do not know where to start and what to pick up and read. I feel guilty when I am reading one book I think I should be reading another. Do I then not give proper consideration to the book in my hand because I am itching to read something else? Maybe?
I have always been a one book on the go kind of reader. Occasionally branching into two if they are of a completely different genre and there is no way of getting characters, plots and settings all mixed up. Suddenly I seem to be juggling more than two and then I get lost when I go back to a book I have not read for a few days. But sometimes I just want to read and that was the reason I picked up the second in the Agatha Raisin series, reviewed in my last post.
The conclusion I have reached is I have too many books on the go but also I recognise I am reading whatever takes my fancy when my mood takes me. So do I finish the ones I have on the go and not start any more?
The answer is…..
The Book Jotter 
I’m usually a one at a time reader but really I have to fit the book to the mood I’m in at the time. I have so many in the TBR pile at the moment that I’m tempted to opt for slim volumes to speed things up. It looks like you have Wolf Hall waiting too, I’m avoiding it at the moment.
I am also a one at a time reader. I like to full immerse myself into what I reading at the time.
I really like the illustration you used : )
I’m a one book person all the way! I did read two books at the same time recently however.
I was reading Grace Williams Says it Loud which is quite heavy going and I also had to finish The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde for a book group. I think it kind of spoils the experience a little when you read two books. You just get into the world of one then you have to dip into another world entirely, it can sometimes stop me from really connecting with a book.
I’m a one book at a time reader too, and I can relate to this feeling of having too many choices and not really being into what you’re reading. Usually I chug through and finish what I’m reading before starting something new, though more recently I have tended to give up when I’m not really into something and find one that does grab me. Good luck with your decision of what to read next!
Hi Jo,
Definitely finish the books you have on the go and don’t start anything else new, no matter how tempted you are.
I can only read one book at a time, although I do have to have the next book picked out and ready to start straight away, I can’t ever be without a book on the go.
Like you, I always want to read new acquisitions first, consequently the books on my shelves get older and older, will I ever get round to reading them, I ask myself???
In the past I always used to read one book at a time but since I started blogging I’ve found that like you, I’m now constantly trying to juggle two or three at once. I don’t usually have a problem keeping them all straight in my mind but sometimes I wish I could go back to just reading them one at a time.
I hope you enjoy Gillespie and I, by the way. I’m only three chapters into it, but I’m loving it so far.
Sadly, referring to the lovely cartoon header to your blog, there is such a thing as too many books! I have so many on the study shelves that the shelves that their weight is causing the shelves to part company with the wall (they are built in shelves) and we’re now having to remove all the books (just one section almost covers the dining room floor) and repair the shelves! And all have been bought by me; yes, my husband reads (mainly technical books) but I’m the bookaholic, so of course, he’s not best pleased about this state of affairs. Yes, there are too many books in our house!
I only read one at a time… otherwise it would take me forever to finish anything.
I love that illustration!
I usually like to read one book at a time unless said book stalls and I lose momentum. But since getting an ereader, I’m usually reading two at a time as I like to read in the bath 🙂 And I won’t risk taking my precious ereader in there! So I have an ebook and a paper book on the go at times but more than that would probably make me nervous.
I would suggest that you finish all the books you have on the go first before moving on to something else that beckons. I think it is more overwhelming to have several half-read books piling up than to have unread books on your shelves. They’re not going anywhere… let your mood dictate your choice and have fun 🙂
I adore that picture!
And I’m usually reading at least four or five books…