Still Not a Monogamist Between the (Book) Covers

Over the past several months, I've been trying to narrow my focus when it comes to my reading. Though I'm nowhere near committing to a single book at one time (nor do I expect that I ever will be), I'm trying to actually finish what I've started. I still sample -- extensively -- and not every book will make the cut. But I do get a much bigger sense of accomplishment when I actually make it to the end of the books that earn their place at the top of my reading list. This post from two years ago is still a pretty apt description. 

Are you a single-book reader or a multi-book reader? Do you give your heart to one book at at time? Or, do you prefer to play the field, seeing several books at once, giving a piece of your heart to each but not making an exclusive commitment to any?

I definitely fit into the second category.

I don't know when this happened, although I'm sure that it evolved over time. I used to take books out of the library or buy them at the bookstore and read them one at a time, fully committing to each book for as long as it lasted. But somewhere along the way, I stopped committing. 

I think it might have begun when I realized that "too many books, too little time" was a reality check, and not just an adage. I gave myself permission to begin books and discard them, unfinished, if there was no chemistry after the first few chapters. There were, after all, plenty of other books in the library, and I'd never have time to read them all. Why go all-in with a book that was unsatisfying when I had so many other options? 

There were other contributors to this lifestyle. A smorgasbord of Kindle samples. Book club deliveries that showed up while I was seeing another book and tried to lure me away. Magazines that were, by nature, interested in just having fun for a season.

And here I am. So much reading material. I can't focus.

I can't choose. I want to read them all. 

But there's not enough time.

Oddly enough, I'm monogamous when it comes to fiction. I think it's the characters. They pull me in and beg me to stay -- at least in the books where I get past the first few chapters. 

I'd like to say that I'll reform -- that I'll break my serial reading habit and commit to just one book at a time -- but I know there's no turning back. I've tasted the freedom of having a reading selection to cater to my every mood and, when I can easily take a wide selection of choices with me wherever I go in one simple, lightweight container, the temptation to see other books is just too great.

I've resigned myself to the idea that some of these relationships will be meaningful and others will be just flings. I'm okay with that.

And so I'll continue these pursuits, judging books by their covers, seeking both truth and fiction, in search of the perfect match.

Even if it's only for one night.