Do you ever feel as if your reading life is fractured? I always have at least three books going at the same time…an audiobook to listen to while driving or knitting, a Kindle book, and a library book. Perhaps because of the bitter cold, dreary, and confining weather we are having, plus the dismal state of the union at the moment, I find that my reading life is definitely fractured! I am reading 7 different, very diverse, books at the same time ! And I’m enjoying them all!
Currently reading
- Audiobook: Listening to The Silkworm, by Robert Galbraith (although I took a break from it to listen to the newly published In the Great Green Room–The Brilliant and Bold Life of Margaret Wise Brown, by Amy Gary.
- Kindle Books: I am in the middle of The Two Towers, by J.R.R. Tolkien, my re-read of his Lord of the Rings trilogy. I am also reading Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott, for Roof Beam Reader’s Classics Book-a-Month Club. I started Wild Seed, by Octavia Butler, last month then set it aside to start Little Women…but I keep going back to it. And then I pre-ordered the book The Meaning of Michelle, by Veronica Chambers, and it came in last week, so I started it, too!
- Library Books: When we had a break in the stormy, icy weather last week, Hubby and I walked to the library. I came home with too many books, and am enjoying a knitting book called Seamless (or Nearly Seamless) Knits, by Andra Knight-Bowman and a gardening book, Sissinghurst: Portrait of a Garden, by Jane Brown.
Definitely fractured reading, and It’s a little like a reading frenzy, too. Does this ever happen to you, or am I completely losing it in the middle of the very January January??
A Fondness For Reading 
I love your term ‘fractured’ regarding your reading. I will admit that I don’t do too well when I read more than a couple of books at a time. One for audio and one for print/e-book. And sometimes, if I have a book in both formats, I do a read/listen combo. Kindle makes that pretty easy for most books. Put down the Kindle and turn on the audio and the story picks up where I left off. Makes the reading go faster.
What are you thinking of THE SILKWORM? I’ve really liked all 3 of the Strike books. I hear she’s working on another. Can’t wait.
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I think in some ways it makes the reader feel as if she is getting books read! I’m going to email you a great piece on this.
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Kay, I do love that connection between the e-book and the audio book! I’m enjoying the Robert Galbraith books. I didn’t know what to expect, but I really liked the first one. I’m reading a little slower with The Silkworm, but she’s such a great storyteller.
Nan, thanks so much for the article you sent (just sent you a return email)! It was terrific!
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It definitely happens to me sometimes when I’m deep into research for something I’m writing. I read a bit like a magpie picking out bits here and there and then I’ll read something entirely unrelated like a graphic novel to rest my brain. And then if my eyes have had enough then audio it is!
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I rarely ever have more than two going at one time; one on my audio player (either my phone or my new Amazon Echo Dot) and one in print. However, I started reading Coming Home by Rosamunde Pilcher in print and decided the font was too small and the mass market paperback too cumbersome to hold for a long period of time. So, I downloaded it to my Nook. That all well and fine, but I don’t like to read my Nook in bed since it’s backlit and I worry it adds to my insomnia. So I picked up a print book (A Vintage Affair) and started reading it in bed. Now I’m up to three books at one time and I don’t like trying to juggle the characters, so Pilcher’s book has been set aside for now. Ironically, I’m still dealing with insomnia, so I may just go ahead and read my Nook book at night! 🙂
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Victoria, I love your description of reading “a bit like a magpie!” That describes it perfectly!
Les, I’m sorry to hear about the insomnia. That’s a tricky one to deal with. For me, I don’t have trouble falling asleep, but will wake in the middle of the night and not be able to get back to sleep. I hate the tossing and turning thing, so I’ll prop myself up and read. That usually gets me back to sleep pretty fast.
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