Hello. My name is Natalie and I’m a literary polygamist.
As you can tell from my sidebar, I keep company with several different reads simultaneously. I hope you won’t think less of me for my wanton ways.
During a typical week, I am in the middle of four different books at school (currently: Of Mice and Men, Great Expectations, A Raisin in the Sun, and The Importance of Being Earnest), a book in my car (Foreign Body), and a book or two at home (American Wife). I’m a book ho’ and am proud to shout it from the top of my book brothel blog.
So, do you step out on your books and see others? Are you able to keep plots and characters straight in your head when your moral compass leads you astray?
Book, Line, and Sinker 
I am utterly monogamous, and suffer from book dementia. I can’t read more than one book at a time, and as soon as I end a book, I forget the majority of it. I’m left with a general sense of whether I hated it, liked it, or loved it. That’s it.
I envy your ability to be a playa’.
First, Hi! I found your blog arbitrarily.
Second, I go through phases. There are times where I am reading 2-5 books at a time, for different reasons. If you consider the books for classes, I am reading about 30 (Math grad student). However, usually after the number of books gets large, I start knocking them out. Currently I am kinda reading four books:
Slow reread of Game of Thrones
A Wizard of Earthsea
taking a break from Curse of the Mistwraith
pretty much gave up on Twilight (It was painful)
Hoping to pick Les Miserables up soon for a reread, I love that book!
Fellow polygamist here. I usually have at least one fiction title, one book of essays, one book of poetry, maybe a book of short stories, one read-aloud to the kids, and one audiobook going all at the same time. And no, I don’t get them mixed up. 🙂
I often have two books going at once.
I am monogamous for the most part. If I’m reading some dry non-fiction, I’ll sometimes read a work of fiction at the same time.
I loved your hilarious post! I am a loyal and faithful reader to one book at a time. I have never been able to read more than one at once. I actually feel guilty for “cheating” on the other so I stick to one at a time. I usually go from one to the next with little time in between though. I used to do that with boyfriends too!
Depends on if I’ve read the book(s) before. If I have then, yes, I’ll read several simultaneously.
If I haven’t, I usually can’t put it down until I am finished anyway so the point is moot. (So what if I’ve read in the shower, flossing, brushing my teeth, and getting dressed. What is your point??)
I’m mostly monogamous, but sometimes veer away, too. Right now I’m reading two because one is for a read-along and I have to intersperse some other reading in between.
I usually only have one book going but when I have two it is because I have one fiction and one nonfiction book going. They have to be completely different though or I can’t do it at the same time.
I also read multiple books at once! Usually though it will only be about 2 or 3 and they’re often really different types of books (non-fiction, fiction, essays…etc). Some people just don’t understand how I can keep up with different storylines but I really like the variety.
I have always been monogamous but lately I’ve been stepping out so easily! I guess I’m becoming a bit more promiscuous!
I have to stand up and confess that I am a book ho’ too! I actually leave my many started books in different rooms of the house so I can try and convince myself that I don’t have so many on the go at one time! I seem to be able to keep on track with plots etc… but I often have to re-read a chapter or so when I first return to a book to remember what was going on.
I LOVE this post! I’d never read more than a book at a time until recently when I started reviewing. I can’t help it! There are so many books that I WANT to read, and others that I need to read. I also started listening to books, so I’ve always got one going in the car now too!
I am ashamed to say, I am a polygamist too. I used to read only one book at a time, but nowadays I always have at least 3 books I read at the same time. Usually only one of those is fiction, so it’s not too hard to keep up with the characters and stories!
Long time polygamist here. At any given time I usually have 4 – 5 on the go. A few fiction – something serious, something light, maybe some youth fiction – and a non-fiction or two as well. That isn’t counting all the books I read with my kids, the newspaper, online reading etc.
Oh dear, maybe I need counselling for commitment issues…
I’m a serial literary monogamist. I let myself get sucked into a story, and an interjection from another book would interrupt that reverie…
Hello…my name is…and I am a book ‘ho
Pretty much one book at a time for me!
I’m a one-book-at-a-time kind of girl. I just end up mixing up the story lines if I try reading more than one at a time. So my poor books go from living room, to bed, to nightstand, to purse, to work lunch room, and back again throughout the course of a day!
Sending an award your way! You can check it out here!
I’m a total literary polygamist! I also keep a book in the car, a book by my bed and, if I’m feeling particularly randy, a book in my desk drawer! That will often make it a wee bit harder to quickly get through a book, but hey — there’s plenty of my literary lovin’ to go around! 🙂
And on an unrelated note, I’m sending you good vibes with The Book Thief… I can see where slogging through the text might be required at points, but I freaking loved it! I think that if I’d stopped and picked it back up again a day or two later, I would have lost all my momentum with it. But I just kept rolling along and couldn’t put it down. Don’t give up — it’s amazing!
I read several at once, usually 4 or 5, with an additional 2 or 3 at a slower rate, long term projects, if you will.
I really don’t tend to forget the plot lines, but I will occasionally forget a character if they are fairly new to the book at the point where I switched.
I’m usually a strict book monogomist. I can do a fiction and non-fiction at the same time, but that’s generally about it.
I’m definitely polygamous. I do one regular book, one “chunkster” (long) book and one non-fiction book at the same time.
Nope, not monogamous at all. I usually have at least 4 going. Bookgroup at work, bookgroup after work, an ARC of some kind, and something just for me!