Reading 2-3+ Books at Once Can Be Overwhelming

Before I begin this post, I would like to direct your attention to the following posts:

• 10 Tips for Meeting a Reading Challenge of 50+ Books
• 10 Tips for Reading More
• 10 Tips for Reading Multiple Books at Once

Even if you're used to reading multiple books at once, it can still be overwhelming at times. You have to keep track of so many plot lines, characters, settings, and so on. 

This can become even more complicated the more you factor one or more of the following:

1. You're 2+ books of the same genre
2. You're 2+ books by the same author
3. You're 2+ books with similar settings (time, location, etc.)
4. You're 2+ books with similar characters (either in names or personalities)
5. You're 2+ books with similar storylines

This list can go on and on, but I'll leave it with those 5 examples of how reading multiple books at once can be complicated.

If you're feeling overwhelmed by the number of books you're reading, here are 5 suggestions to try out.

Suggestion 1: Look at the books you're reading. Are there any you aren't reading as much as the others? Are there any you aren't enjoying (or even disliking/hating)? If you said "yes" to either of these, those would be the books you can set aside and DNF. (See my two posts on DNF-ing books here - DNF-ing a Book: Why It's a Good Thing and DNF-ing a Book: When to Do It and What to Do.) Remember that you can always pick books you DNF back up to give them another try.

Suggestion 2: Take a look at how far you are in each book. Similarly with Suggestion 1, if you aren't reading other books as much, set them aside until you have more time for them. You don't necessarily have to DNF the book(s), but setting them aside until you can give them more attention might be for the best.

Suggestion 3: If you need to put down all your books and take a break from reading, this is absolutely okay. Put all of your books back on the shelf (whether or not you officially DNF them), and give yourself some time to refocus.

Suggestion 4: Try other forms of the book(s) you're reading. If you're reading all physical books, try to get access to an audiobook or two of some of the books you're reading. This way, you can read different books in different situations.

Suggestion 5: Hinging off the last part of Suggestion 4, another suggestion would be to switch up your reading situations. Maybe read one book in the mornings in the living room, and another book in the evenings on your bed.