How I Read So Many Books

Several people have commented on how many books I read, since I’m always updating the WeRead app on Facebook with 2-3 or more books per week. To answer that question once and for all, the answer is triathlons. What do triathlons have to do with reading, you ask? Well, I train for anywhere from 10-15 hours per week, not counting drive time to the gym and back and other related activities, which probably add up to something closer to 20 hours per week. During those 20 hours each week, I’m always wearing my iPod and listening to audio books. Yes, it’s all audio books. I don’t have the time to actually sit down and read a paper book…well, I do in one place, and that is pretty much the only place I read books that are printed on paper, but let’s not dwell on that too much. I’ll just say that you probably don’t want to borrow a paper book from me after I’ve read it.

Now, some people say reading an audio book doesn’t count as “reading” to which I say, poppycock. I’ve read hundreds, if not thousands, of paper books in my life (my first semester of college I read almost three feet of books placed cover to cover–most of them twice–in addition to my studies), and I get just as much out of listening to them as reading the words on a printed page.

So that’s it. There’s no secret, I just get really bored while swimming, biking, and running, and if I didn’t listen to audio books I couldn’t do triathlons, and if I didn’t do triathlons, I couldn’t read all these books. Lucky for me I love doing both at the same time.