The Confession

I spent most of my life being monogamous. In recent years, however, I admit that I ventured into polygamist relationships -- and now, there doesn't seem to be any going back.

Of course, I'm not talking about my sexual proclivities. I'm talking about my reading habits.

Posing the question at Read Street, Are you a monogamous reader?, Dave Rosenthal of the Baltimore Sun thereafter penned an amusing piece on the shocking (to him) habit of many readers of reading several books at once. Do you read multiple books at a time?.

I have always been an avid reader and consumed at least a half a dozen books a month. As I mentioned before, as an English major, in my younger days, I fancied myself to be a purist. That is, I tried to read "literature" and was guilty of sneering at popular fiction. As time went on, I expanded my horizons and permitted the occasion light reading. I was able to keep up the habit even through law school and the grueling big firm days (I'm sure it helped keep me sane). Same during my daughter's childhood, even when juggling a busy law practice. Then, for some reason, I just stopped reading books. See And They Didn't Read This, Either.

Luckily, I began reading again, and even joined a book group. However, my reading habits have changed a bit. For one thing, I read more non-fiction than I used to. And, I've started to read more than one book at a time. I'm not even quite sure how it began. In part, I suppose it's due to my book group, which causes an overlap of a book for the group with another that I am reading on my own. But, things have gotten out of hand.

I'm now in the middle (or somewhere in the book) of 4 books, with a back-log of another 7 books (not counting the other dozen or so unread books on the shelf waiting to be picked up "when I'm in the mood."). As pictured above, I'm reading:

The Mill on the Floss, by George Eliot. The latest book for my book group. I missed our last meeting, but we somehow switched from being the Jewish Book Group to the Literary Guild (next up is Crime & Punishment, as seen in the to-be-read pile).

The Almost Moon, by Alice Sebold. One of the LLWL gave me this one to read. I liked Sebold's The Lovely Bones, but this tale of a mother/daughter bond that ends in murder has been a difficult read.

The Street Lawyer, by John Grisham. Someone gave me a few Grisham books (& I just picked up his latest). This one's a quick, fun read that I took on my trip to South Florida. Almost done with this one.

White Tiger, by Aravind Adiga (not pictured). My book group's last pick, which I didn't finish yet (and then left at a friend's place).

I'm trying to resist starting any of from the Next Up pile, although a few are calling out to me.