Patricia Stoltey

Author

Is It Possible to Read Two Books at Once?

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Chicken_StoryJan2010-001Not for me, unless one is fiction and one is nonfiction.

I finally started reading a book I was really looking forward to — The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins.

Then I received a notice from the library that The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah was ready for me to read on my tablet with Overdrive. I have it for twenty-one days.

Thank goodness, I own The Girl on the Train so I can set it aside a few days.

There’s no way I could work on both of them at the same time. Even though the stories take place in different parts of the world at different times, I’d still get things all mixed up. Both novels require full concentration — neither is light reading.

So I’m focusing on reading The Nightingale first.

Have you read either one of these novels?

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Comments

  1. I usually read 2-6 books at a time because I like switching, especially if one gets dull. Thanks for the recs. I’ll look up both books.

    • I don’t think you’ll be disappointed in either of these novels, Medeia. Thanks for coming by.

  2. Haven’t read those two books. I usually have two books going at the same time. One for lunch reading at work, the other for nightcaps at home. It’s only a problem when the plot/characters are similar. Had two completely different stories, but both with a male/female couple trying to work things out. Yes,that took a bit of thought when opening either one to orientate myself.

    Otherwise I don’t have any issues and I don’t have to cart around a book, leave it somewhere than not be reading later. Also, I read a lit mag in between/during if I want a quick change of pace.

    • I wonder if that capability is related to your brain’s ability to handle the work you do. Some of us are wired to do those complicated tasks. Others, not so much.

  4. I’ve had that situation too, Pat, where I was reading two books at once. I can usually do fine with that if I am reading them at different times of day. So long as I leave enough time between ‘reading breaks,’ I’m fine. But I can’t dip from one to the other in the same reading session.

    • You’re lucky if you can do that, Margot. I hated putting down The Girl on the Train because I was already into the story. I may have to start over when I go back to that one….luckily I wasn’t too far into the novel yet.