6 Reasons To Read More Than One Book at a Time

Long ago I realized that I would never be able to keep up with all the interesting books that get published each year. Heck, I can barely keep up with the stack of books piled up on my bedstead or on my desk, just begging to be opened.

But that doesn’t mean there’s not a reason to try. In fact, there’s good research that reading is beneficial to your mind, your mental health, and to stress management. And that’s not counting the pleasure or increased knowledge and vocabulary that comes from time spent reading books.

But there’s still that whole limited time thing. There’s never enough of it.

That’s why I read more than one at a time. A lot more than one. Right now my reading list is ten deep, and it is just as likely to grow before it gets shorter.

Here are a few things I’ve learned over the years of reading multiple books at once.

1. Reading books is an entertainment choice. During my leisure time, I make a habit of picking up books. Some people watch ESPN, some people quilt, and others exercise. Well, okay: I’m some of those people, too, but reading books is my first choice. With a finite amount of time, I have to recognize that I can either watch the latest episode of Shield or Downton Abby or I can read one of the books on my list. At least when I watch a football game (average play time: 11 minutes for every four-hour game) I can also find time to read between plays. (True story: I finished John D. Brown’s Bad Penny during the depressing BYU v. USU game last week. At least that way the evening wasn’t a total loss). Whether I’m relaxing, at the gym, or just plain bored, I habitually pick up a book to pass the time.
2. Reading in any media counts. I’m an unabashed Luddite when it comes to reading, and I know it. I love the smell of paper, I mark notes in the margins, and I keep my books (but you can borrow them. Just bring them back, please). That said, I’ve adopted the future, too. I keep my Kindle app stocked with books and my phone always has a couple of audio books ready to listen to in the car, at the gym, or on walks. I recently finished the second volume of William Manchester’s obnoxiously long biography of Winston Churchill, listening to it on my way to work and reading it at home. Thank heavens for audio books, or I’d still be reading it! Whether it’s on a device, an audio book, or a good old-fashioned paperback copy, reading in any media counts.
3. Read more than one to stay fresh. A lot of books just don’t grab me right away, but need a little time to get rolling. For example, The Anubis Gates by Tim Powers–a fantastic award-winning novel about time-travel and Dickensian London–started off slow and with a strange cast of characters. It was intriguing, but I struggled to keep with it. So I would switch to something else for a day and come back to it later. Sometime around page 80, I think, something clicked, and I plowed through the rest of the novel, putting The Anubis Gates down with a satisfied feeling only when I had finished it.
4. Beg, borrow, or buy, but stack them up: If you surround yourself with books, chances are that you will read them. Laura Vanderkam suggests, quite astutely, that “If you want to read more books, you need more books sitting around triggering thoughts like, “Hey! I could be reading right now!” A-freaking-men. But you don’t have money for books? Pro tip: most libraries won’t stop you from checking out as many books as you can carry, and besides: the library has a larger selection than even Amazon. So what if you don’t read them all? If you read just one of the four, you’ve still read one of the four. As an added bonus, you can probably request the books you want on the library’s website and have them waiting for you when you arrive. I live in Salt Lake County and they have a stellar collection of books, audio books, and, yes, movies and music. Get online, reserve a few, and stack them books up.
5. Keep track: I love metrics. I track my exercise habits, what I eat, how many hours I bill, and more. I also keep track of what I’m reading on Goodreads and LibraryThing. Not only does it allow me to remind myself what I haven’t opened in a while, but I can write notes about the experience, too.
6. Save your brain: Reading is actually really good for you. Research shows that it helps to prevent Alzheimers (while watching TV may contribute to it), improves concentration, reduces stress, and deepens thinking, empathizing, and listening abilities.

Make the choice, stack up those books, and start reading. You’ll never know how enjoyable it can be until you start.