I have had one of those weeks where I am unable to settle on a book so I have started many only to set them aside to start more. Because I am rather obsessive compulsive about my reading, I will indeed eventually finish them all but heaven only knows when that may happen. In the meantime, where do I put all of these partially read books? If I stack them all on my bedside table, I could die in the night under an avalanche of books. So I scatter them throughout the house to be stumbled on fortuitously. I truly do have books in almost every room in the house and I don't just mean books on shelves (which would also be a true statement), I mean books with bookmarks tucked between their pages waiting for the mood to strike and bring me back to them.Obviously I have books on my bedside table. In this case, I have Great Lakes Nature because it is episodic and I read an entry a day or thereabouts. I also have whichever book has struck my fancy at the moment I decide to head to bed. In my bathroom, I laid down The Vagabond by Colette. I think it went in there with me while I turned the shower on and waited for it to warm up. But it wasn't the right book for me when I got out of the shower. In the kitchen, I have A Civil Contract because I decided it had been a while since I read Georgette Heyer and Regency-set romances generally help me out of the "inability to choose" state. Didn't seem to work. Beside the computer in the basement, I have The Lacuna, my latest book club book. I can't seem to get past my lack of desire to read it (but I need to since the meeting is coming up) and so it sits abandoned too. In my purse in the car, I have a copy of Ophelia Joined the Group Maidens Who Don't Float because it is hilarious and easy to put down. Facebook and great literature, how can you go wrong? And yet I can't read it straight through because I know it will seem one note if I do that. And so it is my dip into book when I get stopped by a train or a long red light or have to sit at innumerable kid sports practices. Oddly enough, I don't have books sitting by the couches in two of the rooms I like to read most. But I could remedy that later today. At the moment, odds are that all the books I have bookmarks in currently will stay where they are and I will try something else. Call me fickle but don't comment on my decorating technique of strewing books everywhere the eye can see!
Do you read more than one book at a time? Do you leave a shelf's worth of books in your wake?
This past week I haven't finished much (witness the above post!) but I did raft down a wild river with a group of women all struggling with major life decisions and I lived in China with missionaries during some of the most turbulent times in China's twentieth century history.
I have the Lacuna on audio book and hope I'll enjoy listening to it versus reading it!
ReplyDeleteMy Sunday Salon
I tend to read one book at a time but have sometimes started a book and another comes along that distracts me.
ReplyDeleteI have been very good up until I started blogging this year, in that my books were confined to bookshelves in the living room and a couple by the bed. Blogging has increased not only my wishlist, but my TBR shelves and I am starting to wonder where I can stash books next without anyone else in the house noticing!
carol
I usually have two or three books going at one time so I can switch back and forth depending on my mood!
ReplyDeleteI am the poster child for reading multiple books. I currently have bookmarks in 16 books, although really I'm only making progress in about six. I'll probably start the new Robin McKinley today.
ReplyDeleteI try to round them up at my bedside table at night, but during the day I lose them all over the place.
My normal reading mode is to have one novel and one non-fiction book (like a cookbook) on the go. Lately, though, I've been giving myself permission to pick up a second novel if the one I started is tough for me to get through. In my knitting and my reading, I've always felt that I should finish the project/book I started before I move on to another one. This can be a problem if I run into a project/book that I'm not enjoying. My sense of obligation goes into overdrive and I feel like I HAVE to finish it. I'm learning to break free and move on :-).
ReplyDeleteI have a book for every place I might sit or lie down for a while. That way, if a cat sits on me, I can stay and provide a lap for a while. I usually have three books going at once, one on my beside table, one beside an easy chair, and one on the kitchen table.
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