Juggling books

Sidney Sheldon is one of those authors that you just don’t miss out on during your growing year if you are into reading. Well I didn’t miss out either. So when I suddenly spotted this book on the stands “Mistress of the Game” sequel to “Master of the Game”. I couldn’t help but grab it. On closer look I discovered that it was written by Tilly Bagshawe. Well Duh-huh, after all its been 2 years since Mr. Sheldon said good bye to the world.

Well after polishing off a 100 odd pages, I have goose bumps all over, coz it’s so creepy. I forgot how Sheldon novels used to be, crime, manipulations, sex, enmity, child rape, psychiatric depression ……well everything that’s wrong in this world and you have it in the novel. However I find my appetite for the evil is far lesser than what it used to be in my college days. I find that after 10 something atrocities I need to keep the book down and take a breather. So shall I stop reading it altogether? What you saying ….. Impossible!! How will I ever rest without knowing how it ended?

So that’s when I discovered why people end up reading more than one book at a time.

Me, I love reading one book at a time, for I am in that one make believe world and those characters are people I live with at that particular time. Can’t have too many worlds or too many characters going on at the same time. But with this book it feels like I am choking if I stay too long in this world, so I chose a safe book on L K Advani – “My life my country”. Reality and fiction, two different worlds and easier to exist in both at the same time.

You know I remember a time when I first realised that people juggle multiple books at the same time and I was totally astonished as to how they managed it. My first boss, a very nice, well respected and eminent person, used to juggle 3 to 4 books at a time. I was already in awe of him by the time I discovered that fact. Slowly it started registering how in interviews of CEO’s, CIO’s….heck all CXO’s, on the question of what are you reading now? It’s never a simple one book answer, it’s always multiple.

I do recollect how my boss had said that he enjoyed reading 3 -4 books at the same time, for it gave him an opportunity to relate content of different authors and draw his own conclusions and parallels. Whoa!!! Its one step at a time for me, I am now managing to juggle two books. Perhaps when and if I reach the advanced stages of book reading I too will be able to lay claim to what my boss has.