Does anyone read two or more books concurrently?

Yes that is exactly what I do. I find it easier and more enjoyable to read 2-3 books at a time. Usually a fiction and something non fiction that takes me longer to get through. My most recent non fiction was King Leopold’s Ghost - about Belgium’s horrific genocide in the Congo.

Oh my mom was an David reader and did this all the time. She would always have this HUGE stack of book from the library.

I can’t do that. I can’t drink coffee and walk the dog either.

Nope, I usually just read one at a time, plus my concentration has been iffy during the pandemic.

yup. 

I don't have the attention span to get through a long, very serious non-fiction book without taking breaks and reading other things in between, or at the same time.   A few months ago I started a very long/thorough three-part biography of Theodore Roosevelt (it has footnotes, appendices, the whole 9 yards...). But I can only read a few pages of it at a time, because I'm constantly stopping to look things up, flip back to the footnotes, etc.  So I read other lighter/fluffier books in between.

I like the content and the knowledge I'm getting by reading the non-fiction books; it's just that my brain can't handle too much of it at once. (I am also a person who re-reads books, too-- so I might re-read a classic; that doesn't take nearly as much brain power as reading a new-to-me long fiction novel.)

Right now I'm re-reading Farmer Boy by Laura Ingalls Wilder and I have a couple non-fiction books going-- the Theodore Roosevelt biography, a book of essays about nature and canoeing in Canada, and I think I also started an Anthony Bourdain book in there somewhere.

eta:  for me, they're all 'real' books.  I don't regularly read electronic books on my iPad.  

Yes, I have real books to read at home, and at least 2 on the go on my phone at any time to read when I'm on my work break. They are mostly fiction but not always.

I tried reading two books at once.

It didn't go well.

I kept wondering what happened to a character and then realized that character was in the other book!

Mary K

I can only listen to certain books. They have to be fairly simple or more so can't have too many characters. I don't like bouncing timelines in audio. Biographies are also good, I usually find them too boring to read but are easy to listen to and keep track of. I find listening with headphones can be better than a speaker since the voice is right in your ears it forces you to listen and not let your mind wander. I thought maybe I'd get better at listening to them if I started this way and could listen to more complicated ones but I'm not getting any better and am getting tired of listening to so many light beachy reads. So now I only listen to one if it really appeals to me other wise I've gone back to listening to podcasts. 

I always have a fiction book going and I can have an audio or non fiction if I choose. I would read a non fiction very slowly so I'd need a more interesting fiction book to pick up inbetween. Or I'll have an audio book going while doing things around the house. 

I often read more than one book at a time, last night I finished up two of the five books I had on the go. It definitely helps to have subjects that are quite different so you don't play the "what was happening in this book?" game every time you try to pick it back up, and I often read a mix of fiction and non fiction at the same time.

I can read 2 or 3 nonfictions books at the same time without a problem, but only one fiction book at a time along with them. 

This has really been my pattern since high school and college when having multiple books on the go was just part of life.

I juggle maybe 3-4 books at the same time. It doesn't matter what kind. I don't listen to books or use a kindle.. (my dh got me one and I had to return it) I am a fast reader. I do read on my phone.

I usually have 3 books going. A fiction book and a non-fiction book and then a YA book with my DD. The YA is almost always an audiobook that we listen to in the car while running errands or driving back and forth from dance.

yes - I usually have 2-3 books going at a time (one light fiction, one historical fiction, and one non-fiction history or biography usually) - plus the read-aloud I'm doing with DD14 (right now we're reading the Diary of Anne Frank as well as George Washington's World)

Yes, I do this all the time. I typically have 2-3 books going on at once, sometimes more.

No, never. I'd rather immerse myself in one book and get through it more quickly.