In Defense of Reading Multiple Books at Once

A few years ago, the thought of reading multiple books at once would sound blasphemous to me. However, since the last couple of years, I have come to think about it in a more pragmatic way and realised that it is, actually, a great action plan to read more and come across the books that I like.

Here are some of the reasons for starting multiple books at once:

💡 It adds variety

When you read multiple books, you are adding variety to your reading habits. You might be reading a detective fiction, a sci-fi novel and a non-fiction book simultaneously. Thus, you will be learning about different things at the same time. This would enhance your understanding and help you expand your knowledge base more. You can also take a break from a story by shifting to something else. Adding variety to your reading habits is great to develop your hobby and feed your mood.

📚 You will be able to complete more books

You might be thinking — how is reading three books simultaneously any help than completing one book at a time faster and moving on to the next? It does help! Since you are adding variety and flavour to your reading habits, you will less likely to become bored and that would contribute to your reading speed in the long run.

🛑 You will not feel stuck

I don’t know if this is just me but sometimes, reading the same book in a row makes me bored. This especially happens if I am tackling big books with many pages. If I start to lose interest, it warrants a change of pace. Therefore, taking up another book and reading through them will help you have a variety of tastes at the same time.

😇 Books do not have emotions, you do

Many people consider it blasphemous to start multiple books at once. It is like you are disrespecting one book without concentrating fully on it. Do not worry! You are not cheating on your book with another one. Books do not have feelings, you do. And it is important to focus on having the right and healthy emotions when it comes to reading books. If you are not enjoying a book at the moment, it is only fair to take a break from it and move one to the next one. Being true to yourself is the key. If you do not feel like coming back to it at all, then it is better to DNF the book.

Reading multiple books is not just when you are bored with a book and want to have a change of taste. Reading a variety of books at a set amount of time adds more colour to your life than you can imagine.

🏹 The idea is to have a convergent approach

When you start multiple books at once, you are not only reducing the friction but also helps you to go through the books faster and understand their priorities. For instance, you may start with five books but finish only two to three in the end. This means that you will be able to read the ones you like and go through your TBR pile faster.

So, these were few tips on how reading multiple books made me more efficient while having fun. If there are any other ways, feel free to share them below.

Until next time!

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