My reading list at the moment:

Morning poetry, audiobook on my commute, random kindle book when I’m at lunch, and at home I read the “thinking novels.”

I find that if I over read I go through a period of not reading at all, but lately I’ve been reading something different throughout the day and I haven’t felt the crash I usually do. (Except with the audiobook, I’ve slacked on that one. Sometimes I just need music.)

I think I’ve finally cracked how to read a lot and not have your brain fry. It’s inputting different types material. Poetry is thought-provoking, but unless you’re reading an epic, a poem or two can start your day with your mind in a good thoughtful place.

For audiobooks I usually stick to nonfiction, so I’m getting an account of history. Something that’s interesting, but not something I always have to contemplate.

Now, I don’t always read during lunch, but when I do it’s what I call a “brain break book.” The novels that are there for entertainment value (but are still well written.) This gives me entertainment that’s not watching something on Netflix, which really fries my brain. Brain break books are still good books, but you don’t have to worry about following a overarching idea.

Then at night I spend an hour – hour and a half reading a set amount of pages from a more complex novel. For now that’s Angle of Repose, which I read about 50 pages of it a night because it’s a monster. If I read more my brain would stop paying attention.

I’ve been doing this for about two weeks now and I’ve surprisingly felt happier reading then when I don’t read all day. Because I’ll feel like a slug when I get home from work, and then I force myself to read so I’m not just being a couch potato.

I don’t read each every day, but if I do get to every one of them throughout a day I don’t feel overwhelmed by information. A little of each doesn’t make me feel like I’m over reading. A lot of one does.