Why do I prefer to only read one book at a time? Well, because I find that it is easier to concentrate on a book if that is the only book you’re reading. I find that sometimes if I end up reading too many books at the same time, sometimes I will get details and minor things about each book mixed up. I will usually end up confused because I thought that Character A’s mom falls ill in Book A, but in reality Character A’s mom falls ill in Book B. That usually only happens when all the books I’m reading are somewhat similar. Usually same genre or similar plot, that kind of thing. (There are also times when I start mixing up which characters are from which books but let’s not talk about that. It’s really embarrassing.) As you can probably tell from this, multitasking is not my forte. Speaking of multitasking… I don’t really have the time to read a lot, which contributes a lot to my speed of reading books (or lack of…). That might also contribute to why I am so liable to getting details mixed up. Hey, don’t judge!
However, there is a pro to reading multiple books at once. Sometimes if you are reading a really really long book for a period of time, you lose interest in it. Not that it isn’t good, it’s just that it has become somewhat boring being stuck in the same world for days upon days. That’s where reading another book comes in. Instead of DNFing the other book, just start reading another one instead to spice things up. Ideally the two (or more) books are opposites. Or at least not super similar so details don’t get confused…
For me it varies a lot. Usually, I’ll start one book, get distracted by another and start it, etc etc. But sometimes, I’ll finally start a book that just completely captures me and that’s all I’ll want to read. I don’t generally get confused or mix them up, although it sometimes happens if it’s been a while since I’ve picked one of the books up. Part of the reason I tend to read more than one book at a time now is that on different days, I’m in the mood for different books. There’s also library books and books to read for reviews vs. books I want to read. And while it is possible that reading one book at a time COULD help me read more faster, I find that switching also helps to get through multiple books at once. It all depends! Great discussion!