If you were to ask pretty much anyone I know to describe me, I’d bet the word “Reader” would be in their top ten list. But as much as I’m committed to the act of reading, I’m never, ever in a committed relationship with a single book. I’m a book flirt.

I read multiple books at once. I always have a hardcover at my bedside, an audiobook on my phone, and at least two books on my Kindle. I try to have a constant flow of both nonfiction and fiction, including both literary and genre fiction (mostly mysteries or romances). In this way, I have something available for every mood and every occasion.

I recently discovered that someone in my life has been following my example. My dad, a retired English teacher, started reading multiple books for the first time in his life this year. When I found out that he’d become a book flirt, too, I was eager to interview him about his change in habit.

Like many of you, my dad always assumed that if he read multiple books, he’d get confused between them, or read less overall. But while he was in the middle of a very dense biography, he impulsively decided to start a lighter book. “I was reading something very heavy, and I found that I needed some diversion– something lighthearted, happier. I found that when I was reading something heavier, with a more solemn tone, I could balance it with something that was more lighthearted.” That broke the ice, and soon he was reading 3-4 books at once. Here’s what he noticed:

1. Reading multiple books means reading more books overall. He used to finish all his books out of a sense of obligation, but now: “If I want to put it down, I can, because I have another book that I can pick up and then go back and see if I want to continue with it. That has encouraged me to continue with books that I may have not necessarily wanted to finish.”
2. Reading multiple books improves memory. He said, “I find that I retain the characters very easily going from one to the next… I found that my memory for dates and for names has actually been stronger because of it.” I told him that I’d never thought of reading multiple books as improving memory in the same way that some people use crossword puzzles. He said, “In a sense it is [a puzzle], because you have to pick up the characters, you have to pick up the plot line, you have to pick up the complexity of the sentence structure, and when you’re changing constantly, it’s like an exercise program. [In physical exercise] you don’t do the same thing over and over again because it’s not good for your muscle memory.”
3. Reading multiple books builds vocabulary. “Some books– like Jane Eyre, which has extremely complicated vocabulary and sentence structure– those books I found easier to get through, because I could retain more in small bites.” When I asked him what he’s noticed in his everyday life, he said, “I think I’m more eloquent. When I look back at interviews I did when I retired, I marvel at the loss of sentence structure and loss of vocabulary that I’ve had in the last few years, and since I’ve started doing this, I think I’ve regained some of it.”
4. Reading multiple books is more fun!-– “It is a more entertaining version of doing crossword puzzles! There’s more variety.”

So, what do you think? Are you willing to try being a book flirt? And if not– if you’re a book monogamist– tell me why it’s better!