My secret on reading more than one book at once

Everyone always asks me, “How do you read more than one book at once?” I can tell you that I “trained” my brain to read more than one at a time.

I was an English major in college and needed to read a lot of books at once. After I graduated, I went back to my one book at a time. A few years ago, I started “training” my brain again using the same methods as college. Now I just read a few chapters, put down the book, and pick up another one without skipping a beat. I can read up to 7 at once. I can read more at the same time, but I like to read my library books within 2 weeks. I am going to share my secrets. This may or may not work for you though.

When I first started, I started with two books. I made daily goals for what I wanted to read. Typically, I read them in 2 weeks. So I take the total number of pages and divide it by 14 or 21 days. If a Kindle book than if I want to read the book in 14 days, then I read 7% of the book a day and 21 days then 5% a day. Then what I do is take notes on characters, setting, plot, etc. I would simply keep a notecard that I used as a bookmark for both books. I will write down notes of anything and everything that was important. That way I cannot get the character messed up in my head when I read the other book. **When you first start, you may want to read two different genres (i.e, thriller and romance) or a physical book and a Kindle book. That way it is easier to keep them separated.**

After a while, you will notice that your notes will get smaller and less detailed, but you are retaining information from each book. Then add another book to the rotation. You may still need to take notes though. But over time, you will end up noticing that you do not need to rely on the notes.

I do not take notes on any books that I read now. I simply read like I would watch all my TV shows. I can watch several TV shows at once and remember where I left off, the characters, etc. I have now taught my brain to do the same thing with books.

So that is my secret! It took me about 6 months before I threw in 3 books. And then within a year, I was reading so many at once, I could not keep up!

Happy reading!

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