Is it fine to read several books at once?
Yes, and many keen readers do it all the time. It works best when each book has a different job, say one long novel, one book of essays or non-fiction you can dip into, and one for travel or listening, so they never compete for the same mood. Keep the number small, usually two or three, and keep the stories distinct.
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Reading one book at a time, cover to cover, is a lovely ideal and not how most readers actually live. There is the novel on the bedside table, the essays in the bag, the audiobook on the walk to work. Nobody is checking. The only real question is whether your particular mix helps you read more, and enjoy it more, or leaves you with five bookmarks and no progress.
Give each book a job
The trick is not to run several books of the same kind in parallel. Two big nineteenth-century novels at once is a recipe for muddling the vicars. Instead, think in roles:
- The main read. One novel or long book that gets your best attention, usually at home in the evening.
- The dipping book. Essays, short stories, poetry or non-fiction in short chapters. Something you can open anywhere for ten minutes and close without losing a thread.
- The ears book. An audiobook for walking, cooking or driving, ideally in a different genre from the main read.
A combination we like: George Eliot's Middlemarch (published in eight parts in 1871-72) as the main read, Natalia Ginzburg's essays The Little Virtues (Le piccole virtù, 1962) for dipping, and a non-fiction argument such as David Epstein's Range (2019) on the side. Three different speeds, three different moods, no confusion.
Pair by mood, not just genre
Books also do different emotional work. A heavy novel goes well with something light and funny; a dense argument goes well with a story. If everything on the go is serious, the pile starts to feel like homework, which is one of the quicker routes into a reading slump.
Think of it like a meal: one main, one side, something to pick at. Two mains at once is just a lot of food.
Keep the cast separate
Problems usually come from overlap. Two crime novels with detectives, or two family sagas, will merge in your memory by the end of the week. If you do want to read two novels together, make them as unlike each other as possible: different centuries, countries, lengths and voices.
How to keep track
- One bookmark per book, always. Use a receipt, a ticket, anything, but never rely on remembering.
- A line at the end of each session. Write a few words on the bookmark itself: where you are, who just did what. It takes ten seconds and saves ten minutes later.
- Keep the books in different places. The novel lives by the bed, the essays in the bag. The place becomes the cue.
- Cap it. Three is plenty for most people. If a fourth arrives, one of the others has to finish or step aside.
When it stops working
If a book has been sitting untouched for a month, it is not "on the go", it is parked. That is fine, but admit it and take it off the pile, so it stops making you feel behind. You can come back to it later, or not. Our page on choosing what to read next has ideas for keeping the pile honest.
And if you notice you only ever read the easiest book on the pile, that is useful information too. Maybe the main read is the wrong book for this season.
FAQ
Does reading several books at once mean you remember less?
Not if the books are different enough. In our experience a novel and a book of essays rarely blur together, and a short recap when you pick each one up helps a lot. For more on that, see remembering what you read.
Can you read two novels at once?
Yes, if they are very different. A long historical novel and a short contemporary one is an easy pair. Two similar ones are where the trouble starts.
Is it better to finish one book before starting another?
For some people, yes: they like the focus and the sense of completion. If that is you, a single book is perfectly fine. There is no right number, only the one that keeps you reading.
Does an audiobook count as one of the books?
We would say yes. It occupies a different part of the day, which is exactly why it fits so well alongside a printed book. See whether audiobooks count as reading.
Sources
Written by the Zestasy editors. General information for curious adults, not medical, nutrition or training advice.