📚 How to Parallel Read Books
Using this technique you can increase how much reading you do.
Today I sat down and watched one of my favourite films, A Christmas Carol with Jim Carrey. Some say Christmas starts when they see the Coca-Cola advert, but for me, it is when I watch or read A Christmas Carol.
In Edinburgh, opposite the coffee shop where JK Rowling wrote Harry Potter is a graveyard. Look through the graveyard. On the hill is a private school that Rowling based Hogwarts on.
Many years before JK Rowling, a young Charles Dickens was visiting Edinburgh and wandered through the graveyard. Legend has it he walked past three people, and when he turned around, they had vanished. As he looked down, he passed a gravestone; it was the name Ebenezer Scrooge.
I have no idea if this story is true, but I love it, so please don't burst my bubble if it isn't.
Many people ask me how I read the number of books that I do while writing, working, and bringing up three kids. First, I tell them it isn't a numbers game. You should not measure your reading on how many books you read but on what you learn from them, what you can remember.
Second, ensure you always have a book with you or close at hand. You will be surprised how many people want to read more but don't have a supply of books.
The other thing that helps me read more books is parallel reading. This is the process of reading more than one book at a time. Like watching television, sometimes you are in the mood for one genre or another, so I have a selection of books.
These books are of different types: philosophy, short stories, fiction, and non-fiction.
I also have a selection of formats. For example, I always have a Kindle book and a physical book that I read simultaneously. I have tried audiobooks, but they are not for me; they might be for you.
There are a few rules that I follow that help with this process. I limit myself to reading a maximum of five books at any time. Your Number might be less or more; again, it is up to you.
I always swap books at the end of a chapter. This helps you not to lose track of what the book is about. My marginalia also gives me something to look back on when I pick the book up again.
The last tip is that I keep a list, nothing fancy; it is on a post-it, but this tells me what I am reading so I do not lose track.
My last fun reading technique that you might like to use is to read a book in serialised form. As many of you know, I am rereading all of Dickens' works.
Dickens released his books in serialised form, three chapters at a time. I am trying to read in this way. So I read three chapters and then let it sit for a week before picking it up again. It feels more authentic as if I was a first reader all those years ago.
Do you read more than one book at a time?
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Until next week, stay safe
Sam 😊
Quote of the week
External heat and cold had little influence on Scrooge. - A Christmas Carol
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