How Many Books Do You Read At Once? by Nancy L. Eady

One of the many things that drives Archie Goodwin crazy about Nero Wolfe is his reading more than one book at a time. Normally I’m Team Archie all the way, but here, I sympathize with Mr. Wolfe, because at latest count, I have at least four books I’m reading now. 

First, I am working my way back through Bobbi Holmes’ Haunting Danielle series on my Kindle. That is my fun read; I read the series at lunch and if I am at home with free time. I finish one of those books every two days. When I finish the series, I’ll pick something else. It might be something I already have on Kindle, or I might start something new. It just depends on what I feel like. 

Second, I am reading a (very thick paperback) biography of Winston Churchill written by Andrew Roberts called, originally enough, Churchill. I manage two or three pages of it a day during the ten to fifteen minutes I spend waiting for the dogs to finish eating, go outside and come back in. Having started it about two weeks ago, I’ve completed Chapter One. It’s a little dangerous for me to read because when I get too interested and forget myself, I end up being late for work. But it’s better than just sitting and being bored or, even worse, emptying the dishwasher or cleaning the kitchen. (My family probably disagrees on this point.) 

My third book is the Bible. This year’s edition is the Women’s Bible, New King James Version. I have a schedule that will let me finish the entire book in one year. It varies between two and four chapters a night with readings from the Old Testament and the New Testament. For those of you unfamiliar with the book, the Old Testament is a lot longer than the New. For example, I am going through the book of Psalms (Old Testament) and will finish it in September. I will finish the book of Acts (New Testament) next week. I switch yearly between a Bible that lets me read it in the Old/New format and a Bible that is arranged chronologically. Parts of the chronological arrangement are based on an educated guess by the editors, but it provides a different perspective.  

My fourth book is called Miracles by C.S. Lewis. I read it on those nights when I am not too tired after reading my Bible to conquer a chapter. I don’t know when I will finish it, but I read an entire chapter at once when I read it. The book before that was by Lee Strobel, although I don’t recall the name. 

So tell me, are you in the Archie Goodwin or Nero Wolfe school of reading? When is your favorite time to read? (I think just about any time is a good time to read, but other people may have different ideas.) Do you read more than one book at a time? Do you have a favorite time for reading?