I've always been a proponent of one book at a time through most of my reading life. I read physical print 99% of the time, and just find it more immersive and easier to focus on a single book. Lately though, I've been wanting to tackle more of my ever-growing TBR and experience more stories quicker. That combined with finding out about Libby led me to finally trying out a couple of books at the same time.
How I've been approaching it is that my main book is the physical print one, which I'll spend about 75-80% of my time on. The other one is an audiobook, which I'll put on when doing chores, going for a walk or driving somewhere.
The main book is usually something more "serious" and requires some level of focus – literary fiction that's classic or contemporary, non-fiction or historical fiction. The audiobook is for something fun and entertaining – thrillers, mysteries, lighter fantasy or scifi etc.
I've really been loving this new arrangement – I can try two different books at the same time and there's some nice contrast and change of pace between the two.
Right now, I'm reading Ficciones by Jorge Luis Borges and listening to a Jack Reacher book (61 Hours) on audio. Before that, the combo was The Brothers Karamazov and the 3rd Red Rising book. I get both my fix of thematic depth and/or beautiful prose and breezy, fast-paced entertainment as well.
Anybody else approach their reading this way?
by Famous-Country-4921