For all of us multi-readers...

[Gravy]

For everyone who reads multiple books at a time:

• Do you find there are any benefits?
• If you neglect a certain book for awhile, do you need to reread some of it, or can you pick it right back up?
• Do you read them all in the same format (paper, ebook, audio, etc...), or not. Do you find that your choice makes difference?
• If you haven't always been a multi-reader (or were one and stopped), what differences do you see?

Presently, I find myself curious about the whole subject.

As for myself:

I have found benefits. I have fewer reading slumps, and when I do have them, they don't last as long. I usually read more books, faster. And I don't have to quit one book if another has caught my attention.

Very seldom do I have to reread when I've neglected a book for awhile. If so, typically a few pages at most.

I've only been reading multiple books for a few years. I used to have to DNF more books, coming back to them at a later date. As stated before, I had more and longer reading slumps. I could, and still can, read a large book in about a day (if it's the right book), but my average reading speed seems to be faster now. I know I could manage about 4 books a month back then, but marked my reading goal this year at a 'safe' 60 or 65.

[SPasciuti]

Oh, I'm constantly doing this. I think I'm in process of reading 7 or 8 books currently and it's generally that amount all the time. I think the biggest benefit for me comes from the fact that I can get through more books and it feels like it takes less time (probably does).

I have, on occasion, had to start a book over because I neglected it for too long, but generally that doesn't happen often and as you said, sometimes rereading a few pages can jog my memory for what happened in the book. Generally, I don't like to leave them for too long since that makes it harder to write a review.

I definitely think using different platforms and formats for the books I'm reading influences my desire and ability to read so many books at once. I have a lot of e-books, which makes it possible to read so many and I know I'm always reading at least one pysical book. Audiobooks, though, offer a large number of opportunities as well. I find that I'm generally listening to two in the same time period, one for activities throughout the day (showering, cleaning, cooking, etc) and the other to listen to as I fall asleep. In some cases, when the book is really good, I just listen to one at both times.

I think the biggest difference in reading multiple books at once and reading just one si that I don't get annoyed when reading a book I don't like as easily since I know I can simply take a break from it and read another. That way I don't feel upset because I want to finish the book to read a new one and I don't have to pin it down to a DNF book, which I've always hated doing and try to avoid wherever possible.

[kfwilson6]

I typically read two books at a time but that is because I am intentionally reading something that I'm not in a hurry to finish. One is usually my "fun" book and the second, which I take my time reading, is some sort of self-help style book. Or I may read two books at a time if I have something I am reading in paperback because I must have an e-book at all times (often to read at the gym).

I cannot read more than one book simultaneously if the books are too similar. I tend to get the plot lines confused.

7 or 8 at a time is unmanageable to me. Good for you SPasciuti.

[Camille Turner]

I read multiple books at a time but always in different genres. For example, if I'm reading a really great fiction book, I'll also have a historical book going on at the same time but never another fiction book. I don't normally have to reread anything even if I've left one of the books aside for a while.

[JodyVamp]

I like to keep a paperback going to curl up with and something on kindle so I can read at night without turning on bright lights. It does help me get through more books, though I have to reread sometimes if I ignore one book or the other for too long. I also find myself ditching one in favor of the other if it gets dull or I'm just not in the mood for that genre after a while.

[Honeybeetle]

I'll often have a fiction and a non-fiction book open at the same time. Same as OP, I find I abandon books less often when I have another one to turn to when I'm not really feeling the first one. I also have a very short attention span, so if I'm going to get distracted from a book, it's at least more productive to read a different book than it is to watch TV or stare out the window.

[KasieMiehlke]

I have always read multiple books at a time. I have found that if I read the same genre that I do get them mixed up and have to re-read. I do read more books if i read multiple ones at a time. If one hits a lull, I just pick up another one and so on.

[BeatrixPotter]

Yes, I'm definitely a multi reader since college days. I have a lot of curiosity and am an eclectic reader, so I don't have trouble reading several books at a time, usually have four or five going.

Some require more concentration and I may only be able to read a few pages at a time. Others I will read one or more chapters. On Sundays I may just read some poetry or something more classic.

There are a few that I will read straight through, if it has a good plot and the writing is strong.

[KatrinaP]

I have been a multiple book reader for most of my life, and I find the biggest benefit to this is that I can read even books that aren't my favorite genre or are a little slow with ease because I have other books I can switch between to keep them all interesting. I don't typically have to re-read any of the books that I hadn't read from in a while; I think that reading several books at a time fairly consistently sharpens my reading skills considerably.

I think like most bibliophiles I prefer the paper format to the electronic one, though I've been trying hard to spend more time on e-books. There's just something about the feel and smell and weight of a book that makes the act of reading more enjoyable, at least for me. I have a much easier time reading physical books. I re-read Pride and Prejudice often (it's my comfort book) and I have a paper copy and I keep one in my kindle app as well, and I have noticed that I read much more of the book, and I read faster, when I read from the paper copy. Does anyone else have that same issue?

[Shrabastee Chakraborty]

For everyone who reads multiple books at a time:

• Do you find there are any benefits?
• If you neglect a certain book for awhile, do you need to reread some of it, or can you pick it right back up?
• Do you read them all in the same format (paper, ebook, audio, etc...), or not. Do you find that your choice makes difference?
• If you haven't always been a multi-reader (or were one and stopped), what differences do you see?

Presently, I find myself curious about the whole subject.

As for myself:

I have found benefits. I have fewer reading slumps, and when I do have them, they don't last as long. I usually read more books, faster. And I don't have to quit one book if another has caught my attention.

Very seldom do I have to reread when I've neglected a book for awhile. If so, typically a few pages at most.

I've only been reading multiple books for a few years. I used to have to DNF more books, coming back to them at a later date. As stated before, I had more and longer reading slumps. I could, and still can, read a large book in about a day (if it's the right book), but my average reading speed seems to be faster now. I know I could manage about 4 books a month back then, but marked my reading goal this year at a 'safe' 60 or 65.

1. I never was a multi-reader before but seemed to have pick this habit up in recent years and my reading pace has considerably increased.
Another point is that sometimes by pure chance, I pick two books having a similar theme (may be that theme is the major one in one book and a minor one in the other). It helps me understand the theme more thoroughly and often I can compare two different aspects of it.
2. Depends on the plot and the time for which it was left unread. Sometimes I can pick the thread up right from where I had left it,but sometimes I have to read the part I have already read again. But the second time it goes faster so no worries there.
3. Mostly all of them in the same format, i.e. Ebooks. But even if they are in different formats, that does not cause any problem to me.
4. Previously I used to stick to one book at a time, but that is time-consuming. Now my reading pace is considerably increased, but on the negative side, sometimes it takes me a while to get used to the entirely different set of characters and settings described in the different books.

[Haute_Coffee]

I never used to read multiple books at once but now I do. The change came because I have a gigantic tbr, I belong to more reading communities now so I get more recommendations, and I almost always have a book for review going for OBC.

I generally have an OBC book going on kindle and two books for pleasure going. Sometimes kindle, sometimes hardcover. I’ve been getting through my tbr faster that way yet somehow tbr pile never shrinks! It seems to grow every week somehow.