I tend to have at least two. One for my tube journey, one for my bedside table. The latter tend to be bulky hardbacks.
There's also David Copperfield, which I abandoned in favour of a new purchase, and The Count of Monte Cristo, which I last opened about 3 years ago!
CM
I love it when I get into one book and read it to the exclusion of others but actually that's pretty rare. I'm a bit like you CravenMaven, I keep my big hardbacks for the bedside table! I've still got Jonathan Strange on the go (never really got into that one, I must be honest, it's been there for about 2 years now!) and North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell.
Invariably, my favourite book at any time tends to be in hardback which is a pain to carry on the tube so I will favour hardbacks for the bedside (lots of cookery books, currently, the first book from Moro)and the glorious 'Have you Seen' by David Thomson. Paperbacks for travel - the October edition of Granta is a good size and because it comprises short stories, very easy to dip in and out of. Maybe I will finish Anna Karenina which I started in August - I got to page 400 and something but my heart sank at the remaining 300 or so and I was never as gripped as I should be. Just finished Kate Atkinson's 'When there will be good news' which I read in 3 days - gripping and funny and sinister with multiple twists at the end, one of which I still can't work out.
I really hate reading more than one book at a time - I really like to focus on the one novel that I am reading at the moment. If I find myself reaching for another book, then it means that it's time to give up on the one I was reading.
It is always a better idea to go through one book at a time but it is feasible to read two books. I believe it is dependent upon the type of book one is reading. I tried reading "E.H. Carr - What is history?" on my way to office where I get at least an hour time to devote. With the days end, I tried reading "Christopher Marlowe - Faustus" but it didn't work out. Both the book here in this case deals with some important aspects. Whereas at one time I read "Gustave Flaubert-Flaubert In Egypt" & "George Orwell - Down and out in Paris and London" and it didn't pose any problem as a matter of fact.
I can only manage one book at a time, otherwise I get confused.
I usually have a couple on the go (one fiction, one non-fiction), but there are a stack of half-reads that I can pop back to if the need takes me. I will eventually finish The Crimson Petal and The White - Ive been reading it now on and off for 4 years!
However, I do prefer to just focus on the one book if its something I am really enjoying.
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