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| SFReader Forums > SF Fiction and Art > Right Now I'm Reading.... > Concurrent reading | Forum Quick Jump
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Jeff Stehman
Sage
      
Date Joined Mar 2005
Total Posts : 1224
| Posted 1/24/2006 1:34 PM (GMT -4) |   | I'm halfway through the current issue of Black Gate, halfway through the Nov/Dec issue of Foreign Affairs, halfway through _Elephants of Style_, and in the next day or two I'll probably start either _The King in the Window_ or _On Writing_.
It's not that I read half and quit. I'm reading these concurrently, a chapter here, an article there. I've read something from all three in the last several days. It's easy to do with magazines and a book like _Elephants_, but I once had three novels going at one time. Does anyone else get themselves into this kind of mess?
For added fun, I've been writing and/or editing three different short stories in the last few days, which is unusual for me, but I've been impressed by my progress.
--Jeff Stehman | | Back to Top | | |
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Edward Knight
Jack of all Trades and Master of None
Date Joined Jan 2004
Total Posts : 1038
| Posted 1/24/2006 4:51 PM (GMT -4) | | There's no way I could read like that. I have to finish one thing before I start another.
Edward Knight
Editor
Journey Books Publishing
Amazing Journeys Magazine
http://www.journeybookspublishing.com
http://www.journeybooksonline.com | | Back to Top | | |
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darkbow
Rabbit lord
Date Joined Oct 2005
Total Posts : 1574
| Posted 1/24/2006 5:02 PM (GMT -4) | | I read like that, all over the place, when it comes to nonfiction. Fiction, however, I usually stick with one book until I'm finished.
"Peter Piker the Pankin Man" -- upcoming in "Liquid Ohio" in 2006 | | Back to Top | | |
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Jeff Edwards
Neophyte
Date Joined Jul 2004
Total Posts : 160
| Posted 1/25/2006 6:46 AM (GMT -4) | | I normally alternate between a few different books at a time. On my bedside table right now I have an urban fantasy, a Star Trek novel, and a non-fiction book. I decide which one to pick up depending on my mood.
-Jeff | | Back to Top | | |
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jonesha
Adept
Date Joined Jun 2004
Total Posts : 655
| Posted 1/25/2006 8:32 AM (GMT -4) | | I bounce all over the place, although I've come to believe it's a bad habit. I was almost through the Mahabharata right before my son was born 8 years ago. I got, uh, kind of busy with a new baby in the house and never picked it back up. Now I'd probably have to start from the top were I to pick it up once more.
On the other hand, now that I have two kids and limited time I have to read in short chunks, which is why I prefer fiction collections or non-fiction over monster-sized novels. That and subject matter, of course...
best,
Howard
Editor-in-Chief
www.swordandsorcery.org
Flashing Swords E-Zine | | Back to Top | | |
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Boulden
Stablehand
Date Joined Jul 2005
Total Posts : 18
| Posted 1/25/2006 2:36 PM (GMT -4) | | There was a time when I had three, four, or even five novels going at any one time, but I have narrowed my range drastically--I found when I had too many books going, one, two are all of them slipped through the cracks and were never finished. I like to rip through a novel, and if it takes to long I tend to bog down and shift to something else "more interesting."
I generally have one to two novels (I have one on my nightstand at home--City of the Dead by Brian Keene, right now--and another in my work/school bag--An Obituary for Major Reno by Richard S. Wheeler, right now--for down-time on the commuter train) along with either a non-fiction magazine or book--The End of Faith by Sam Harris, right now--that usually stays home pining to be read.
I always have a book with me: one can never predict when it will come in handy.
Ben | | Back to Top | | |
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Paul
Avid Reviewer
Date Joined Sep 2005
Total Posts : 177
| Posted 1/25/2006 4:21 PM (GMT -4) | | I try not to read more than two different pieces of fiction at one time. Right now I'm venturing into Martin's A Game of Thrones while at the same time hanging out in outerspace with L.E. Modisett, Jr.'s The Eternity Artifact.
One night I'll read a good six or seven chapters of one book. Then the next night I'll attack the other one.
Blog - http://wistfulwritings.blogspot.com/
Upcoming stories: "The Dealer's Hands" in Shimmer's Spring 2006 issue | | Back to Top | | |
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Frank
Adept
Date Joined Aug 2005
Total Posts : 628
| Posted 2/1/2006 1:38 PM (GMT -4) | | I used to read one thing at a time and never start something else until done with the current read. Now I'm all over the place. Last night I finished Land of the Thundering Herds by Justin Denzel. Still in progress are:
Dragon Rider by Cornelia Funke (which, sadly, isn't very good...and I really wanted to like this one, damn it!)
Lynn Sharon Schwartz's Ruined By Reading (immensely pleasurable)
An Underground Education by Richard Zacks (easy do absorb in small doses and very interesting)
River Out Of Eden by Richard Dawkins (I love this guy)
The Discoverers by Daniel J. Boorstin (also easy to do in short doses) (A few years ago I started but never finished The Creators by the same author because it got packed away for a move and I think thats when my reading habits became messed up.)
I don't count short story anthologies cause I crack a different one open every week and read one or two stories from each...I'll probably keep doing this until I die and there is no lack of shorts out there to last the rest of my life...I'm addicted to buying anthologies and collections, anyway...
I'm also a magazine junkie. I subscribe to a bunch of magazines including Astronomy, Discover, Scientific American, Archeology, National Geographic, Smithsonian, Wired, Game Informer, Sky & Telescope (these nine I read cover to cover every month). I also like to read Film Comment and American Cinematographer when I can find them. I occassionally pick up a copy of Popular Mechanics and others when the covers interest me. I recently cancelled my subscriptions to GamePro and PlayStation Magazine cuz it was just getting to be too much.
Then there's all the crap I have read to keep up with what's going on in the jewelry/craft industry (I own a small bead shop for a living)
I've also recently taken an interest in reading poetry.
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Raph
Stubborn Scholar
Date Joined Oct 2004
Total Posts : 260
| Posted 2/2/2006 12:13 AM (GMT -4) | | I tend to bounce back and forth between books, unless one book(or series) really grabs my interest. There's been many times when I'll be reading one book just because it's something to read, and I'll get a new book by a favorite author of mine, such as Spider Robinson, and I'll drop the other one like a hot potato. Usually I'll pick the other one up again later, if it was decent.
My wife, on the other hand, reads so fast that I've never known her to stop reading in the middle of a book unless she just doesn't like it at all. I'm lucky; if anything my wife reads even more than I do. The only problem with that is I have a hard time keeping her supplied with books!
And, like Ben, I usually have a book with me, in case I have to wait somewhere. Definitely comes in handy.
Mike O. | | Back to Top | | |
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BethS
Adept
Date Joined Jun 2004
Total Posts : 745
| Posted 2/2/2006 4:46 AM (GMT -4) | | quote:
Originally posted by Paul
Right now I'm venturing into Martin's A Game of Thrones
I'm rereading that one because it's been years and I wanted to be up to date on the series before I start the latest one.
I used to reread favorite books a lot; now I rarely do. But with GoT, I find myself every bit as enthralled as the first time through. The writing is as smooth as silk and a pleasure to read, the world-building is authentic, and the story-telling incomparable. Would that more writers could do what he does.
Beth | | Back to Top | | |
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Jeff Stehman
Sage
Date Joined Mar 2005
Total Posts : 1224
| Posted 2/2/2006 6:52 AM (GMT -4) | | quote:
Originally posted by Raph
The only problem with that is I have a hard time keeping her supplied with books!
My wife asked me to stop by the library the other day. "They have a couple of books on hold for me." When the librarian came out of the back room, I had to laugh. She was carrying nine books. My wife will probably finish them in ten days. I wish I could read as fast and thoroughly as her.
--Jeff Stehman | | Back to Top | | |
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von Darkmoor
Small Press Publisher (and Dancer still)
Date Joined Dec 2005
Total Posts : 2940
| Posted 2/26/2006 4:20 PM (GMT -4) | | I used to adhere to a strict creed: alternately reading one fiction then one nonfiction book. Then I began reading both at once, even up to two or three of each at once. I told myself that, though I was reading 5 books simultaneously, I was still predominately reading only one of them and so stuck to my alternating schedule. This worked for several years. Until I started writing my novel.
Now I've found it very hard to alternate, going many weeks in a row reading only fiction and almost exclusively fantasy. It is with sincere reluctance I pull myself from these books to take on reading that I must do to stay on top of things in my other hobby - publishing a newsletter dedicated to WWII and preserving the stories of veterans. Not that these books are not interesting or fun to read, but my passion for them is not the same. Sometimes reading them terribly slows me down, whereas, I can normally read a trilogy like The Black Company in a week.
It's a minor complaint, brought on by my own habits, I know. I can now safely say that, though there are currently bookmarks in many books, I only read 2 at once - and one of them is usually bed or bathroom reading.
~~~ "Your fool is here to save you from your folly . . . Here's to folly!" -- Simkin, in Doom of the Darksword ~~~ | | Back to Top | | |
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