Once I was the kind of person who read one book at a time. If ever I had more than one going, it would only be because they were in different formats and therefore not equally accessible in all situations – a regular book, an audiobook, and an ebook. This was probably because I am high in orderliness. I like to focus on one thing at a time, and I like to finish things.

Those last three things are still true about me, but the very first one is not. I blame this change on my husband. Being married to someone will influence you, in ways neither one of you intended. He reads multiple books at a time, and has for as long as I’ve known him.

It started innocently. I would have one fiction and one nonfiction book going. Reasonable, for they are very different experiences most of the time. But it was a slippery slope, my friends, and now, today, as the year ends, I have many different books going. A shocking amount, according my standards. Here is the list, with comments:

1) We Who Wrestle With God by Jordan B. Peterson. Nonfiction, philosophy. I pre-ordered this book this year, and I was excited when it arrived at last, because I’ve enjoyed other books written by this man, so I started reading it almost at once. I found it to be dense reading – not that this was unexpected, but I wasn’t in the mental space to work hard to understand concepts at that moment, so I set it aside and I haven’t tackled it again. This is the longest untouched book on this list, and I’m considering doing the audio version of it. I almost always find it easier to understand things I read than things I hear, but Jordan Peterson is the exception that proves the rule for me. 

2) Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen. Fiction, romance – historical, now, but it wasn’t when it was written, so that’s fun. This is a re-read. My daughter and I went on a Jane Austen/Bronte sisters movie binge, which inspired me to want to read some books of that flavor, and through that I discovered the existence of Wide Sargasso Sea, which I didn’t own and had never read before. I ordered it, and while I waited for it to arrive I started re-reading Sense and Sensibility to scratch my itch. I didn’t finish it before Wide Sargasso Sea arrived, because Amazon is swift, and then I read the new book before I finished the old one, and then I got distracted by Christmas.

3) The Place on Dalhousie by Melina Marchetta. Fiction, found family, contemporary but Australian (because the author is) so that’s also fun. This was a Christmas gift – our little family tradition is that we each choose a book for ourselves, and this was mine for me this year. Melina Marchetta is one of my favorite authors and I was pleased to find that there is still a book of hers in existence that I haven’t yet read. So of course I had to start it at once, even though I knew it would be difficult to get it finished this year since we were going on a trip for almost the rest of the month.

4) Meditations by Marcus Aurelius. Nonfiction, philosophy, written nearly two thousand years ago. This was also a Christmas gift, purchased by my brother, and I started reading it the same day I got it. I’m quite sure I read it before – my brother loaned his copy to my husband when he broke his back – but the only thing I remember from the last time is this bit:

“Don’t let your imagination be crushed by life as a whole. Don’t try to picture everything bad that could possibly happen. Stick with the situation at hand, and ask, “Why is this so unbearable? Why can’t I endure it?” You’ll be embarrassed to answer. Then remind yourself that past and future have no power over you. Only the present—and even that can be minimized. Just mark off its limits.”

I’ve found that to be quite helpful when I feel overwhelmed. But since I’ve only had this book for about 48 hours and I spent 14 of those in a car (and I cannot read in a moving car without sickness), it’s still in progress. 

5) Dune by Frank Herbert. Science-fiction, according to Wikipedia ‘a landmark’ of the genre, old enough to be my parent (published in 1964-1965). This book is simply massive, and I read a good chunk of it earlier this year and then I got distracted for reasons I don’t recall, but which lasted long enough that I decided to start over rather than keep going. I’m back past where I left off last time, but still not done, partly because of the next book on the list.

6) The Well of Ascension by Brandon Sanderson. Fiction, fantasy. This is the second book of the Mistborn series and I wanted to have it at once when I finished the first book, but I had to wait for it to arrive. So I read Dune while I waited, and then when it arrived I started it too even though Dune remained unfinished. This one is also taking some time, for it is a bit of a brick itself.

7) Rilla of Ingleside by L.M. Montgomery. Fiction, the only Canadian novel written from a woman’s perspective about the First World War by a contemporary author. This is a re-read, except I’m doing it as an audiobook this time and I’m not sure I ever imbibed it in that format before. I just started this one yesterday, after finishing my previous audiobook on the drive home. I like having an audio option.

It’s unclear whether this method causes me to read more books, or fewer. It does cause me to leave more books unfinished, which bothers me slightly. But my husband’s philosophy is that life is short and the list of books he wants to read is long – and perhaps it is better to read a little of a lot of books, rather than a lot of a little books.

Do you think so?