So, I thought I would break it down:
One book is on the bedside table. This book is almost always non-fiction although sometimes it is a particularly dense novel (most recently The Casual Vacancy which I did enjoy in the end but was slow to build). For a few years now I have been making an effort not to read much in bed. A little bit, but not too much. To that end I have been limiting myself to certain books, something I can think about after the light goes out or something very detailed that is better in small doses. Right now that books Georgette Heyer's Regency World. Last night's chapter was about floor plans of the homes of different social classes.
The second book, always audio, is in the quilting room. I usually aim for something interesting that doesn't require major concentration. Serialized fiction is good: Harry Dresden, Nero Wolfe, Stephanie Plum, that kind of thing. The last reading was from the Modern Scholar Series. It was about castles. Interesting, but when it comes time to wrap it up for the day or the week or whatever I have no trouble walking away. & if I do have trouble, then that book, or those discs or cassettes, they can always leave the quilting room when I do.
There are also likely to be books I am using, often for a while. I got a copy of The Healing Art of Sports Massage in a Goodreads giveaway. It has been on my Currently Reading list more or less since then; I refer to it a lot but I am not comfortable calling it Read until I read the whole thing. I should probably deal with that one, actually. Knitting, quilting books can linger, too.
Last (or not, I admit the pile can get pretty tall) is whatever book is priority. It might be whatever book my bookclub is reading. It might be a book from one of the other locales that got upgraded, It might be de back at the library ASAP & have a long hold list (that's how The Casual Vacancy got upgraded). If it's audio I can listen while I do whatever I am doing, making dinner, sorting dog toys, whatever. Regular books (which would not work in the quilting room of course) walk around with me. I can vacuum & read at the same time. It isn't the best vacuum job in the world, but seeing as how I vacuum most days (I live in a dog hair manufacturing plant; if I didn't vacuum we wouldn't be able to inhale deeply...& we wouldn't want to) what I miss today I catch tomorrow. They can go with me on my errands; I spend plenty of time waiting, at the DR, at the grocery store (yes, I read in line), where ever.
More than one person has asked how I manage to fit in so much reading. The first part of the answer is I really do fit it in; I do not spend much time without a book. The second part is all the other things I do not do: I have never seen an episode of Jersey Shore, Real Housewives, etc. I have also never seen Dancing with the Stars or American Idol. You could probably name the top twenty programs any given week & it is unlikely I have seen half of them. It is unlikely I have seen most of them. & it is not just garbage-tv; I have never seen Downton Abbey (I know, I need to amend that). I almost never watch football (& even when I do, I am mostly just sitting with A....reading) & I certainly never watch basketball. No soaps, nothing. Even while I was sick I mostly listened to audio books.
My goal this year is 125 books. What's yours?
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