It's been my MO for years to read one book at a time. Or sometimes one physical book and one audio book. But this year, amazingly, I've switched it the other way and am maintaining multiple books. I'm not getting the dopamine hit as frequently (but shorter audiobooks help with that). The downfall with one book at a time was that I would inevitably hit something kinda slow or unsatisfying and I would find myself unconsciously avoiding the book before it clicked in that I should move on to something else. This added up to a lot of lulls in my reading throughout the year. Having a few going at once helps keep the momentum going. Here's how I'm doing it:
1. I'm doing the big read, so I front load the week focusing on Lonesome Dove
2. When I've hit my reading mark there for the week, I switch over to the other physical book I have going (currently The Splendid and the Vile).
3. I have a 7 month old son, so when I'm feeding him or rocking him at night I have a kindle book that's easy to pick up sporadically (currently The Making of a Manager). I can also have this on my phone or have my kindle in my work bag for random reading opportunities.
4. I keep a non-fiction, easy to follow audiobook going. Typically nothing more than 12 or 15 hours. This keeps the numbers tallying and my satisfaction high.
This is all new to me from how I've done things for the past decade or more, so we'll see if I keep it up, but for now it's been a really good change of pace.
I always seem to have a few books going at once. I think if I only read one at a time, It might not get finished if I got tired of it and then probably would not be reading. Also I try to use our library and definitely have time limit on those books. I have decided to take this month to finish as many books that are on my shelves with bookmarks in them. It is a good feeling when you finish a good book.
It's been my MO for years to read one book at a time. Or sometimes one physical book and one audio book. But this year, amazingly, I've switched it the other way and am maintaining multiple books. I'm not getting the dopamine hit as frequently (but shorter audiobooks help with that). The downfall with one book at a time was that I would inevitably hit something kinda slow or unsatisfying and I would find myself unconsciously avoiding the book before it clicked in that I should move on to something else. This added up to a lot of lulls in my reading throughout the year. Having a few going at once helps keep the momentum going. Here's how I'm doing it:
1. I'm doing the big read, so I front load the week focusing on Lonesome Dove
2. When I've hit my reading mark there for the week, I switch over to the other physical book I have going (currently The Splendid and the Vile).
3. I have a 7 month old son, so when I'm feeding him or rocking him at night I have a kindle book that's easy to pick up sporadically (currently The Making of a Manager). I can also have this on my phone or have my kindle in my work bag for random reading opportunities.
4. I keep a non-fiction, easy to follow audiobook going. Typically nothing more than 12 or 15 hours. This keeps the numbers tallying and my satisfaction high.
This is all new to me from how I've done things for the past decade or more, so we'll see if I keep it up, but for now it's been a really good change of pace.
I always seem to have a few books going at once. I think if I only read one at a time, It might not get finished if I got tired of it and then probably would not be reading. Also I try to use our library and definitely have time limit on those books. I have decided to take this month to finish as many books that are on my shelves with bookmarks in them. It is a good feeling when you finish a good book.