How to Read Multiple Books at Once
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- Äas pĆidĂĄn 15. 06. 2024
- How to read more efficiently? How to read multiple books at the same time?
In this video I share five tips on how you can read several books in parallel while staying focused, remembering what you've read, and smoothly switching from one book to another.
I begin with exploring how our brain works, because this can help us to build a consistent reading habit. Then, we will explore five tips (steps) how you can start reading several books at once while avoiding some mistakes many beginners make (including myself).
These steps will help you read more books, build a reading habit and enjoy the process.
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0:00 Why I Read Multiple Books at once
1:00 Brain & Reading đ§
3:50 Tip 1: Multiple Genres
4:44 Tip 2: How Many Books You Can Read at once?
5:32 Tip 3: How to Keep Track of Books? (Make a List)
6:21 Tip 4: How to Switch from One Book to Another? (Summares)
7:31 Tip 5: How to Remember What You Read?
8:30 Final Thoughts
#booktube #howtoreadmore #howtoreadmultiplebooksatonce
I do parallel reading too, although I had no idea it had a name. I read 10 books per year (this is still a bit of an effort for me) and normally 3 at a time with a fourth or fifth one creeping in at times. Contrary to what this video suggests, I do not like switching at the end of the chapter. I like switching just about when something exciting is about to happen in the book, for example a confrontation of the protagonists. I do this so that next time I will pick up the book with excitement, eager to find out what happened. I agree, that it is probably best to avoid switching within the same genre, and I will normally be switching between a fiction and non fiction books. Also as I am bilingual I use my two languages as a tool of variety. I think this is my longest youtube comment ever. Likes please.
I'm a parallel reader too!! Great video, as always!! ahah And yes, i like variety (7 books at a time, is my number). I like a small pause to organize my thoughts about the books i'm reading and studying. I'm a psychologist, with an eclectic taste: from astronomy, to physics, biology, herbalism, etc. etc. I have 3 journals where i write my notes on what i read. And i like to rotate my reading too :)
Those pauses are so important! For years I was rushing to open a new book without taking a pause and fully absorbing what I read. I thought 'Ah, I will remember the most interesting bits anyway'. How wrong I was!
You mentioned biology! Any good books on that topic? I read Sapolsky's Behave. Are there any other good ones you can recommend?
I have started getting into classics (for around the past two years) with my upcoming read being Middlemarch, which lead me to talk to my English teacher about it with her saying Middlemarch would be more suited to be read serially. In addition the hobby of book-journaling, which I will start later this year once I start Middlemarch (and finish Vanity Fair and other activities such volunteer work and my A-Levels)!
I usually like reading 2 books. One fiction and one non-fiction. Maybe an additional third book, but in audio format.
I listen to audiobooks as well :) canât parallel read two audiobooks. I get confused
I can have about 10 books to read in parallel, and all in diverse genre, not only fiction. On all kind of support, of course, paper, in the morning while i'll eat, with an e-book reader. Sometimes.. On my phone. Computer. Listening to one (that's a really recent one in my case, as i like to ear podcasts, while walking outside). So they are so many occasion to read, and I'm used now, after many years, to read more than one book, still sometimes, one i just read almost without reading any others. Some are here, waiting for months, maybe years, just a matter of time. Some are even inserted for few hours, finished, as if they were not even on my list... Your choice, your way, is what is good. I don't mind about what others think about how am i doing. I'm not even asking myself, just doing it.
I usually get started on one book and then pick up another, and another. I have always considered this a flaw in my personality, a lack of discipline, adult ADD, whatever. Iâm glad to be listening to your video and some others l just came across today, that are helping me see this isnât a problem, and can be beneficial.
This was a wonderful video! I never realized this practice had a term, but Iâve been doing this for years as well. As another commenter mentioned, I too have quite an eclectic and diverse taste in books and topics which has made it easy for me to read multiple books from different genres and not get confused by similar plot lines, etc. I tend to read 4-5 books at a time, each with a different purpose/intention. For example, my primary book is the one Iâm dedicating most of my time to, a topic of study which I work through more slowly, a poetry book where I read a poem or 2 from daily, and a light-hearted âjust for funâ book typically nature/botany-related which I break into small daily sections I read before work. The key for me, as you pointed out, is consistency and prioritizing reading over other activities. I weave these books into my schedule and they become part of my daily habits.
I keep a commonplace book too, but I like your idea of keeping an index card in the book as a way to actively engage with the content in the moment. I typically flag pages with sticky tabs to be revisited at the end, but sometimes I find myself forgetting why I flagged something or any thoughts/emotions that were triggered at the time of reading.
These were great tips, and very practical! Thank you for sharing!
Your choice of books is very similar to mine! It allows me to have a book for every mood / interest, or in other words, for every half of my brain (haha).
I cannot imagine now what is it like to read one book at a time. I think it would destroy my reading consistency and habit. :)
Wishing you and your loved ones Happy New Year!
P.S Thank you for sharing your thoughts and ideas here! I am so glad to meet a kindred spirit here. :)
I read multiple books too. Now Iâve realised Iâve always done it even without knowing. As I was reading book for school and at the same time something that I was interested me. But Iâve never done more than 4 at the same time. Now I even mix audiobooks into it and, I speak in two languages so sometimes I mix that too ^___^â
Great video. I like switching of the locations.
Thank you Tom! Many friends of mine also started reading several books at a time at school. I am a late comer to this. I started at uni when I did my bachelor's and master's :)
You mentioned audiobooks, how do you take notes/ remember interesting facts from them? I enjoy audiobooks as well but haven't found the right way to take notes smoothly from them.
If there is any advice, let me know! I am planning to explore this in the next couple of months on my channel.
Also, curious about what languages do you speak? :)
Wishing you Merry Christmas and Happy New Year :)
P.S. Thank you for all interesting ideas you shared on my channel this year . I am so glad to meet kindred spirits who share my passions.
@@VashikArmenikus
My native language is Polish and there are some beautiful books created by polish writers. English is my second but probably main way of consuming books and videos as I live in the UK now. And there is more content in English, so I am glad that I know this language (I wish I knew it better but learning every day:).
I am listening to audiobooks mainly when driving and that is around two hours every day. It really turns pointless idling when stuck in Londonâs traffic into time that I can learn or just enjoy a story.
I have started to explore note taking not so long ago and not only from books (videos, audiobooks). I thought before that my brain can handle it all, but it canât.
I am using OneNote as my external memory, or second brain. I have been doing it for less than a year so Iâm not very experienced yet, but it does work. You should explore it too, who know it might work for you.
In OneNote I have sections for different categories of my interest (there are many :) and within this I have pages for specific topics. I am still working on it to make it better and easier for me. I have one page that you could call âtemporary pageâ where Iâm recording everything that I think is worth remembering. And usually once a week I will sit down and move specific bits into the right place so I could easily find it in the future.
P.S. I only started with philosophy few years back before I was mainly fantasy and history reader. So, I am very new to this. If you have any recommendations for a newcomer, please share. Because I have made a mistake of reading Nietzsche to early, and my head is still spinning. ^___^â
Happy new year!
I do this mainly because I have my passion. The book I really want to read, but I have my social books. The books my spouse and friends and family want me to read. So Iâll read a few chapters a day and make progress through those social books. That gives me something to talk to and keeps me connected to my family and friends that read. And for myself, Iâll go to my bliss and enjoy the thing that lives in my heart when I am silent.
I'm a parallel reader as well, and your advice is very helpful. Thank you for this video. I really need to start a commonplace book. My main problem with reading is that I tend to forget what I was reading too quickly. I think, summarizing what I've read as well as keeping a commonplace book will help me to remember the things I learned more.
I use to think it was heretical to read more than one book without either losing interest in the previous book or forgetting what you have read in the previous one. So I ended up rather slowly ploughing through a book I started to find tedious without taking a pause find another book to stimulate my interest without feeling guilty I haven't finished the previous one. To be honest I think most people that read any type of book will just concentrate on one will not read more than one. I admit I never heard of the phrase parallel reading till these videos. One final point how many people restart reading a book later when they haven't finished it I would like to know.
I read atleast 3-4 books at one time. Right now i'm only 3 books as I finished one and I just need another book!
I was brought up to read one book at a time front to back, my parents are faste readers and my dad dad is like was in a book a day well when he was a live he would not sl33p until that book was read type, and my mum gave it up to look after me long story, and my dad used to be a continued reade buying a lot of books like me Iâve got 300+ books so Iâd say itâs in my blood, I was always thought to read one book at a time, now when I try reading multiple genres I get fed up before I start and yet Iâd love to do that, I donât mean I get fed up of reading, why canât I ever get used to reading multiple books Iâve been trying to do that since 2020.
One of my favourite channels on CZcams. Thank you so much for your work of breaking down the process in a simpler format.
Wow! Thank you so much for your kind words :) I am so honoured that my channel is in your favourites :)
I always read 3 books at the same time. I don't seem to have any trouble with getting them confused. I love the index card idea, though. Thank you Vashik for your excellent channel!
Do you read books on the same topics at the same time or you try to read books on different topics? Thank you so much for your lovely words about the channel â€ïž
I wonât to learn to read multiple books because Iâm buying more books faster than I can read them but some how I just canât get used to it and Iâm going on holiday in the 4th September and I can only take one book and yet I like physical books only.
Thank you for these points. Decided to read two books at once recently. It is working good. I quit one when I get bored in feel need for a change. When I read a part I need to spend time to think about and absorb. Happy to hear you say the books should be different as I decided this was how I would do this.
Glad those tips were helpful! Let me know if there any topics/ideas that you would like me to cover on this channel :)
Amazing video! I really enjoyed watching you! Thanks for this!
Great tips Vashik. I switch back and forth between reading one book at the time and multiply books at the time. Sometimes a book can really pulls me in and itâs hard to find time to the other one. I read 50-60 books per year. It means I waste a lot of time of you can make it to 120. All the best!
Thank you for your kind comment! I think 50-60 books is more than enough to read in a year. I always remind myself that it's not about quantity but about quality and consistency. If you're reading consistently and you're enjoying it then it's job done. What I've heard a lot about is people say 'I've not read a lot, because I'm trying to finish book X' before I proceed to the next. It's taking breaks from reading that scares me most.
Hi Vashik, thank you for another helpful video! I'm so happy you are back to YT after small break đ I also read multiple books at a time - currently three (classic, poems and non fiction), but I feel that oftentimes I not in the mood for any of them. Guess I've try with bigger number.
And I'll definetly incorporate in my reading routine summarizing read chapter in index card. Now I am just flipping through the pages of previous chapter đ
Happy New year to you!
Dear Alicja! It's so nice to hear from you :) Hope you're doing well, and excited about 2023!
I used to do the same - flipping through the pages of the previous chapter, but then, somehow discovered index cards. It was a game changer for me :)
Thank you so much for your kind words of encouragement and support :) I launched this channel to meet people like you and seeing your comments makes me feel I've made the right decision :)
Wishing you and your loved ones Merry Christmas and all the best in 2023! :)
Very warm regards from very grey England. â€ïž
I do this too! Sometimes i want to read classic literature or philosophy and sometimes i just want to unwind with some fiction
What's your magic number of books you can read at the same time? :) I'm currently reading six :)
I do pretty much the same in my parallel reading. The index card is new. Thatâs a good idea. Thank you.
Let's thank Vladimir Nabokov for the index card idea! :) I got it from him:0 Thank you for your kind comment!
@@VashikArmenikus Thank you for Pale Fire in your video! My favourite book! Please, do video about Nabokov, my favourite writer!
I wish I could swap books with you and go for a coffee! I read 4-5 books at a time too... but lately I have been really interested in academic articles ever since I graduated with my Masters a few years ago. You'd be surprised how many amazing thesis's and articles are being published by great undiscovered minds.
Hey Kris! Any tips and advice on how to find great thesis and articles? Are there great website that organise them well ? :)
Make more videos i love listening to you bro it's very natural
Thanks Jay! I am so glad you enjoy it! A new video is scheduled for today, and, please, let me know if there are topics you would like me to explore more on my channel? :)
Very informative video.
I long ago gave up on parallel reading as I felt paralized by choice. I would get stuck not knowing which book to pick. So I tend to stick to one book at a time.
Occasionally though I need a break from a book I'm reading that usually ends up being a break from reading period. When that next happens, I'll trial the tips you've highlighted rather than leave a book behind for weeks with little other reading.
I had the same initially, that's why I decided to set myself a limit on how many books I read at once. My magic number is six. :) If I select more than six I lose my focus, if I select less then I lose the pace of reading.:)
@@VashikArmenikus limits are definitely a good thing.
Funnily enough, I already have two books on the go this year! So I'm trialling your tips already âșïž
One carry over book from 2022 and one that's a bit of a tradition in the new year.
I think the people who find it hard to understand how people can read multiple books at a time are those who like to become absorbed in one book and deeply engrossed it to the exclusion of everything else. Nothing wrong with that, it is the way we often start to read books and reading therefore becomes a hobby for many. But it is not the only way.
I am reading war and peace and also thinking to read as green as grass by emma smith but as green as grass is a memoir/non fiction it dosent have chapters it just has page breaks so how do I stop reading the book when I read two books at once? use the books page breaks as chapters?
What is your recommendation of a reading position? I find that I can only really read in bed before sleeping. I want to start reading during the day at my desk but can never feel comfortable sitting at my desk reading.
I feel that too, I end up lying on my couch to read.
Hey Vashik! Great video! i have found myself organically doing everything you talked about in this video! I've just started practicing deep reading for the first time over the past six months, but committing to a reading list of classic books (with just a few lighter reads sprinkled in for fun) and am annotating my books for the first time. I have started a commonplace book as well. One difficulty I'm having is taking time away from reading to collate my annotations into the common place book. I read and annotated the Iliad over christmas but now I feel overwhelmed by the weight of all those annotations. Do you collect the annotations in your commonplace book chapter by chapter as you read? Or do you do that at the end of the book? I'm finding it's actually difficult for me to go back and deal with the annotations now that I've finished that book and have started others. Of course I'm annotating those as well, and so the weight of collecting the notes I'm writing is feeling like an ever growing task!
Hello Danny! I had exactly the same problem. I was annotating and then when it came to transferring my notes to the commonplace book.... I was getting overwhelmed. I started doing it chapter by chapter. This helps me to digest what I am reading, and not getting overwhelmed at the same time. I usually mark passages and some key ideas on the margins so I can quickly come back to the note when I finish the chapter.
@@VashikArmenikus Iâll have to try that then. That makes sense that breaking it into smaller pieces would help. Thanks!
Here I was thinking I was the only one. đ Glad to know Iâm not.
Its not that hard do read five books at once you just have to chose differend topics and re read two last padges
Pff, I always thought that people who read just one book at time seems to read not a lot. So can focus just on one book, usually it is fiction. But when you have a lot of topics, for example law, philosophy, religion etc., you cannot read just one book, because one of you sphere of interest does not sustain for enough time. Thanks for the video, for me "optimum" is 4-5 books at one time and it is fits.
Totally agree with you Eugene! Diversity in interests forces us to be parallel readers.
I can't even read one
I also read multiple books at the same time. It truly helps to read more - I can just pick the book I'm in the mood for. I usually pick 3 :)
One is in a language I want to improve, the other two are usually novels in completely different genres!
Amazing video. Thank you for sharing. đ©¶
Same here! Currently, I try to improve my Italian. I've got a question, how do you select what books to read in a foreign language?
I mean, I would like to read Dante in Italian, but it's a bit advanced, while reading books for Beginners is too simple. Any tips?
Wishing you Happy New Year! :)
@@VashikArmenikus I'm trying to improve my French. I pick fairly easy ones, for example classic literature for (older) children (Anne of Green Gables, for example). Going too advanced isn't really helpful because then you'll constantly need to look up words, which isn't motivating at all. Happy New Year!