Monday, January 18, 2016

How Do You Read?

So, anyone who is friends with me on Goodreads (incidentally, feel free to friend me!) will know that my Currently Reading shelf tends to get a little crowded. I know a lot of people prefer to read one book at a time, but that's never been my preferred method of reading.

For me, I usually have at least three books going at any given time: some sort of anthology or other type of bite-sized reading (currently, A History of Civilization in 50 Disasters and The Science of Discworld fill this niche), some series that I'm re-reading (usually in anticipation of a new book coming out - right now, that's Poison Study and Libriomancer), and something new to me that was recommended (City of Stairs and Knots and Crosses fill this niche). There are also other random things that I've picked up along the way (that would be ReflectionsPrudence and Night Owls), but that part varies.

I read certain kinds of books faster than others, so some books may take me significantly longer to finish than others. I also try to cull the herd on occasion, and move books that I've started but not picked up again to the On Hold shelf - if it's there, it usually means that I want to pick it up again, just not right now.

Over the years, I've become more comfortable with flat giving up on a book. For a very long time, I felt that if I had committed to spending the money on the book, then I needed to finish it (or at least keep it with the intention of finishing it someday). Now, after some truly rough books, I've finally become willing to walk away from a book without finishing it. It's still difficult, and I still tend to give a bad book more of a chance than I probably should, but life is too short for bad books.

So, what about you? What kinds of books do you find yourself reading more regularly? Is there a method to your reading madness, or do you just start on whatever happens to be nearby?

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