This week I read:

The Creation of Eve by Lynn Cullen

The Two Towers by J.R.R. Tolkien

Disquiet by Julia Leigh

I plan to start White is for Witching by Helen Oyeyemi later today.

I realized this week that I am definitely a one book at a time reader. I’m participating in the Lord of the Rings Read-Along and since I’m re-reading the series, I thought I would take it slow and read only a few chapters at a time. It didn’t work for me. Once I put the book down after only a few chapters, I didn’t pick it back up. I know what happens and I think knowing in the back of my mind what was coming next didn’t make me run back to the book like I would with a new book or a new author. I felt safe in picking up another book and moving on. But when I went back to the book, I found I was once again enjoying the story and I wanted to read more but I told myself it was a month long read and not a day or two day read and put the book back down. Then I started to feel like I would never finish the book because I kept putting it off. I decided to stop thinking about it, because I also realized that I was spending entirely too much time thinking about it, and just finished the book. So, I finished the book. I enjoyed the book, I found new things to like and new things to dislike about the story (dislike in good kind of way) and I’m happy I finished.

There have been times when I’ve read more than one book at a time but usually they’re in different formats — actual books versus ebooks. Because the format is different, I don’t have a problem picking one up and putting one down. I haven’t figured out why that is yet. I sometimes read more than one book when I’m traveling too but that’s usually because I have books for the plane and books for the rest of the trip. Books for the plane have to be so engrossing that I don’t want to put them down and those aren’t always the books I want to read, say, on the beach.

I know people who can read several books at the same time and have no problem keeping track of characters and plots. I can usually do that but I somehow feel like I’m just not finishing something and I think that really bothers me more than trying to keep tons of characters, events, and settings in line.

Well, that’s enough of me rambling this week.  Do you read more than one book at a time? How do you keep track of everything going on?