Sunday Salon: Monogamy vs Polygamy

Recently I stumbled onto a conversation on Twitter between Carrie from Books and Movies, Unfinished Person from Still Unfinished and Xe Sands, author and narrator, regarding monogamous and polygamous reading.  It got me thinking about my own reading.  I once was a diehard one book woman.  On the rare occasion I might have two books going at once, one nonfiction and the other fiction, but I was never quite comfortable with that arrangement when I was in the middle of it.

When I read,  tend to immerse myself in a book, let it take over, and, not too long ago, I would have told you that I rarely had the urge to stray.  Once caught in the spell of a book, I was dedicated and loyal to it.  It had nothing to do with my being unable to keep multiple books straight at once, although I worried about that, and was more about my wanting to finish what I'd started.

For many years, much of my reading was done in big gulps.  I would spend hours on the weekends lost in a book.  My reading time during the week was limited to my half hour lunch break at work and maybe a half hour of reading before bed each night.  I couldn't really see switching from one book to another on a Saturday afternoon, especially not once I had my mind firmly planted within a book's pages.

With the birth of my daughter and my eventual return to working outside the home full-time, my world shifted, including my use of time.  My reading became more sporadic, reserved for my now hour lunch breaks, a page here and there during a slow moment at the office or between those at home chores if I am lucky, and a little bedtime peek if I don't fall asleep first.  My weekend reading is just about nonexistent.  I've gone from those big gulps to taking a sip here and there.  As a result, my reading has changed.

It didn't happen over night.  It's been a gradual change.  And not exactly one I planned or intended to happen.  It just did.

I no longer have the patience for slow starters, at least not to the degree I once did.  When I pick up a book to read, it has to grab me right away.  Otherwise, it gets set aside for another day.  I need a book that will pull me in as soon as I pick it up and carry me through the short minutes or hour I have to read, otherwise I don't remember what I have read or I find myself easily distracted. 

That isn't to say a slower book won't be perfect for me at another time.  Sometimes what constitutes a slower book one day, is what grabs me the next, whether it be the story, the characters, or the language.  Just that in the moment I choose to read it, it isn't working for me.  You could say this stems from my many moods as a mood reader.  I have always known my mood plays a part in what I choose to read and when; only, it's become even more of a factor in recent months.  So much so that my cravings have led me to stray.   I find myself going from book to book, starting one then another, whatever sounds best in the moment.

There are other, less significant, factors that I can attribute to my change in heart, I suppose.  For example, there are times I am limited to what I have on hand, sometimes literally what is in my reach.

In the quiet of the night when I do not want to wake the baby by turning on a light, my Kindle Fire is a blessing.  So, I often am reading an e-book.  My Nook and Kindle are light and convenient--turning pages is a breeze and so much easier to manage one handed when I am mobile and reading in short snatches.  At work, I am able to break out the paper books much more easily (although my e-readers aren't strangers to the office either), and so I often have one book going at work and another one or two going at home.

Occasionally I listen to an audio book on my drive to work (I don't listen on the way home since I have Mouse with me, and she prefers music).  It's not the most effective way to go about it, given my commute is 15 minutes.  That doesn't leave enough time to really get into a book and often I am stuck stopping at a not so appropriate spot, but I make do.

If you had asked me a year ago if my reading habits would change so much, I would have replied in the affirmative.  I was sure I would barely be reading at all.  I underestimated by passion for reading, something I didn't think was possible.  I didn't anticipate, however, that I would go from reading just one book at a time to sometimes juggling three or five--or even six. 

For the record, right now I'm only reading two books and listening to one.  Three if you count the book in my desk drawer I haven't touched in a month but keep telling myself I'll get back too . . . 

How many books do you read at a time?  Are you strictly monogamous or do you practice book polygamy? 

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Time to announce the mid-way winner of the Merely Mystery Reading Challenge Giveaway!   The winner was chosen randomly among those participants who shared links to their reviews over the past six months.

Congratulations to Laurie of In Laurie's Mind.   

You have won a book of your choice!

Thank you again to all who are posting reviews to the books you are reading for the challenge!

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