I almost always read multiple books at the same time. The biggest reason is I have an audiobook, ebook, and print book started at all times. This allows me to always have something to read no matter what I'm doing.

I do need to make sure they are not similar in any way, which usually isn't a problem since I read a variety of genres. I read social justice, history, and politics, which can often take an emotional toll, so I like to break it up with something light and cheerful. Sometimes I have what I call a long read, something that I need time to digest in small portions at a time, so I'll read other easier reads while working on the long read.

I think 4 would be my max. If I have too many started, I'll focus on one and finish it so my attention isn't split too much.

I think of it like how we used to watch TV, we often watched several weekly episodes of different shows. Of course these days, you can just binge-watch a whole series, but I think we catch more details when we read or watch over a longer period of time.

I grew up using the library, so I learned to do my best to keep books in the best condition possible. When studying I've underlined and highlighted, but those were all books I planned to refer back to often.

I will say that I was ready to rip the Wheel of Time books in half. They are so large, the print is so small and it hurt my hands to hold them open for so long. I bought the first in the series new and there are several creases in the spine now.

I've just started a reading journal for a long-term reading project. I'm planning to read books by authors from 195 countries. I couldn't think of any way to track it without a journal. I just got a blank journal and created an alphabetical list of all the countries, created sections for each continent, and a page for each country.

I looked at journals at a local bookstore and on Etsy. There are so many options.

You could contact them to see what they would buy or sell it for.

I see that it is currently unavailable at Thrift Books, you can put it on a waitlist and you'll be notified if they get a copy.

I would say to stick with it until you get through at least 1 library visit. That will at least show you where the story is going, but if it still doesn't interest you, then DNF.

I didn't dislike the book, but I doubt it's one I would recommend.

A few books I've enjoyed this year that might work:

The Invisible Library- fantasy

Switchboard Soldiers- Historical Fiction, but more like a fictionalized biography

The Gaslight Mystery series by Victoria Thompson is historical fiction based in1890s NYC, a midwife from a rich family and an Irish detective solve crimes.

Good Luck. That sounds like a fun secret Santa group.

Audiobooks are much faster for me than printed books. Although now that I'm reading more, my reading speed is increasing. I also have more opportunities to listen than I do to sit down and read with my eyes.

I don't have a set plan, but I try to spread out books that are intellectually or emotionally challenging and read lighter books in between. I often read/listen to multiple books at the same time. I like to have a printed book, audiobook, and ebook at all times.

I like to read my series over a long period of time. I read a lot, 10-15 books a month. I have a couple of series that I'm reading, but I only read 1 book per month from any series, some even less frequently.

Since I get most of my books from the library, I generally just read what becomes available. I fill my queue 1-2 times a month with a variety of genres. I have a small shelf of books I own to fill in when I don't have something available to read from the library.

I like to participate in challenges or have a goal that gives me some direction for choosing books. I joined a genre of the month challenge this year that provided me with a new genre each month and 4 tasks to read books to complete. Now I've created my own challenge to read fiction and nonfiction by authors from 195 countries.

I just finished reading it last week and I have mixed feelings about recommending it. I feel it was well-researched but could tarnish the image many have of the author and her books.

I'm sorry that you have this struggle, it would break my heart to feel uncomfortable with used books. I'm so glad that digital books are so readily available. I get most of my loans from my library in ebook or audio book form, but I still love the feel of a printed book.

I donate them. The 2 books I've recently felt this way about are classics on so many must-read lists, I feel any book may be right for someone.

I wouldn't risk damaging a book that doesn't belong to you. If you are truly phobic, I suggest you find a copy that you feel safe touching. I see you can get it on Kindle.

I've always felt that was a right brain thing. I'm very left brained, so it's never interested me at all. I've always felt like right brained people just naturally find time to add beauty to things.

I just read Prarie Fires, basically a biography of Laura Ingalls Wilder and it was very interesting. How the stories came to be written, how much was fictionalized, and how the story was shaped to apeal to the target audience.

Dust motes. I started noticing its use late last year and I will say that it's been used in 75% of the books that I've read in every single genre.

Digging nails into palms to keep emotions under control is another phrase that I've read so many times in the past year, again in all genres.

I'm not a student, but I was reading a lot of nonfiction for work. I rarely read for pleasure. I just chalked it up to a season of my life where reading for fun was way down the list of things I had time for. There were times of the year when I was less busy, that is when I would put aside my work reading and read for pleasure.

It depends on why you made the notes and what purpose you want them to serve. The act of writing notes doesn't require you to do anything with them.

My dominant learning style is Kinesthetic, the act of writing notes helps me retain the information. The only time I ever refer back to my notes is if I'll be tested on the material. I usually keep a notebook with my notes from reading nonfiction and when it's full I throw it away.

I read for the story and the emotion or mood. I probably miss a lot of things that are important to other people, but I don't care. Perhaps that's why my experience with a few classics earlier this year was so bad.

I'm not sure they are intentionally excluded. I don't think I would have found the book if I wasn't actively reading books by women of color. So much of the media is dominated by white men or white women, they are less likely to read books on uncomfortable topics unless they intentionally seek them out.

Hopefully, we are shifting to a more inclusive media, but it will take intentional action by individuals or corporations to get there. Much of what drives corporations and the media is hot-button issues that often fade away over time. To make lasting change we as individuals need to speak up to let the people in power know what we expect.

I had similar issues with The Secret Garden, it's hard to believe that it was considered a children's book.

When I read books like this, I like to remind myself that although this was how many people were raised to regard other races, we have made a lot of progress.

After slogging through several "classics" this year, I've determined that I'll be happier avoiding them in the future.

This is one of my favorite topics. I love to set reading goals, and I usually set a few each year. It has taken me a while to get comfortable about sometimes not meeting a goal and not adjusting my goal if I exceed it. I make more progress when I have goals and I celebrate all progress, not just the finish line. When I don't meet my goal I take some time to think about what obstacles got in my way and adjust for next year, either adjusting my goal or making a plan to remove obstacles.

I'm recently retired and I have a lot more time to read these days. Just to keep things in perspective, my # of books per year goals were not met in either 2019 (24) or 2020 (12) for 2 very different reasons, even though I thought I set very easy goals.

This year I set a big # of books to read, I wasn't sure if I'd get there, and I was ok with not reaching it but I did, I read my 100th book in August. I didn't adjust my goal, I just kept logging books. I set another goal to help me read other genres that I don't usually put on my reading list. I selected 6 fiction and 6 nonfiction genres with the goal to read 2 books from each genre. I'll start my final book to complete this goal next week. In the spirit of exploring other genres, I also joined a book club on GoodReads that has a Genre of the Month Challenge, each month we get a new genre and 4 challenges to find books that will complete them. They need to be read in that month to count, and I've completed all 4 challenges this whole year.

I'm starting a new long-term reading goal. I want to explore authors from around the world, so my goal is to read books by authors from 195 countries. I plan to read nonfiction and fiction from each country, so 390 books will take me a few years.

Also for next year, I'm setting a goal to read or purge the last 20+ books I brought with me when we moved 3 years ago and to finish 3 series that I've been working my way through. I will likely keep my 100 books for the year goal and just hope I exceed it again.

There are lots of goals you can choose that aren't just how many books you can get through each year. I don't ever want to feel like I'm rushing through books or selecting books based on how quickly I can read them. Think about what you really want out of reading books and set your goals to reflect that.

I'm curious about what prompted you to gift that book to your coworker. Do you and the coworker talk about books naturally?

I don't usually gift a book to people, I've gifted bookstore or Amazon gift certificates to people and included a note that I was thinking they might enjoy a certain book, but to use the certificate for something they would enjoy if they aren't interested.

I'm a retired Life Coach, and I've spent the last few decades highly encouraging people to examine all areas of their lives.

Reform your inner mean girl by Amy Ahlers is about that negative self -alk and how to become friends with that part of your personality, it is just trying to keep you safe after all.