Starting a new book seems to take extra effort – I’ve found this in my own reading life, and I don’t think I’m alone. The concept of cognitive load emerged from the field of educational psychology in the 1980s, building on previous research about the capacity of our (meaning humans’) working memory. Working memory, which is limited, is what we rely on when holding facts, figures, images or other information in our minds temporarily while we complete other mental tasks. For example, if we’re asked to remember a string of eight numbers for five minutes, our cognitive load will be much lighter if we’re left alone during that time than it will be if we’re instead asked to complete other tasks. Since our real lives typically involve completing multiple tasks rapidly one after another or in an overlapping fashion or while coping with frequent interruptions, the concept of cognitive load and how to best manage it is highly relevant and now much-studied by psychologists and brain scientists.

Why does it take more mental effort to start a new book?

This is relevant to book readers because when you start a new novel, you’re (usually) entering a new and unique world. You’re meeting new characters, who in turn might live in unfamiliar locations or time periods. If you’re reading sci-fi or fantasy, you might need to learn about societies that operate in ways alien to your own. There are new names, relationships and backstories to remember, as well as becoming accustomed to the author’s writing style. And while processing all this information, in the background, another part of you is assessing whether you like these new people and this new world well enough to continue getting to know them. It can be much the same for nonfiction, which often also has characters whose names and particulars you need to learn, along with new concepts, vocabulary and settings. 

Is it always harder to start a new book than continue with one you’re already reading?

Of course, sometimes settling into a new book is delightfully smooth and instant. Something about the first sentence, paragraph or page immediately draws you in, and you just know this new world is one you want to immerse yourself in. That’s a reading experience we all crave and that most authors strive to create. On the other hand, we’ve probably all tolerated and then pushed past a few pages of initial bewilderment, perhaps caused by a mysterious narrator, a name we find offputting, or a confusing set-up and then found ourselves rewarded as the irritation gives way to intrigue and the comfort of a world that has become familiar.

I’m currently about 30 percent into Barbara Kingsolver’s Demon Copperhead and at this point, I’m all in and loving it. But when I first tried to read it back in June 2023, I returned it unread after a couple unsuccessful starts. Why did that happen, even though the book now easily grips my attention? I like to think that it’s partly due to my having gradually improved my attention span since then, using the Tiny Habits method that I began using late last February. Aside from how the novel opens with the main character narrating the circumstances of his own birth with a level of detail and description that none of us can know firsthand, there’s nothing particular that makes the novel hard to get into. Perhaps just that slight bit of initial disorientation was enough to throw me off before I began rebuilding my book-reading habit. On the other hand, I’ve read and very much enjoyed multiple books by Barbara Kingsolver before, which I’d think would have helped me get past any minor confusion in the first few pages when I started it in 2023. 

While the familiarity of the author didn’t work for me in this particular case with Demon Copperhead, choosing books by authors you’ve already read or enjoyed, or choosing from genres you already know you enjoy, is a good strategy to keep in mind when working on rebuilding your book-reading habit – this will minimize some aspects of the novelty, and therefore the cognitive load, you might encounter when starting a new book. Familiarity with the author was also a factor in bringing me back to this book after previously feeling challenged by it Having logged a lot more book-reading time since mid-2023, I felt confident that it was worth coming back to this well-reviewed book by a favourite author to try again. 

How to overcome the challenges of starting a new book

For anyone trying to rebuild their book-reading habit, it’s worth keeping this challenge in mind and planning around it, so that repeated struggles with starting new books don’t end up creating a prolonged between-books gap or discouraging you. 

So, what are some ways to increase the chances of sticking with and enjoying that new book you want to start? I recommend a twopronged approach that includes both preparation and setting realistic expectations. Try these strategies.

• If you’ve just finished a book, allow yourself time to transition, particularly if it was long or one you really fell for. Are you ready to immerse yourself in another world? If not, try reading some shorter or lighter material first as a textual palate cleanser. Keeping a list of short stories or already-read books on hand to dip into for this purpose can help.
• Take time to read a bit about the book before diving in. Even just skimming the book jacket, flap highlights, or the opening blurbs can help you start to form a new mental framework and get a grip on the new themes, settings and characters.
• Minimize external distractions to allow your brain to focus on absorbing the new information. Do what works for you, but consider that this may not be the best time to have music, TV or a podcast playing in the background.
• Start when you have time to read for several pages. This will allow you to become familiar with the book and help you look forward to the next time you can get back to the story.
• Make a few notes on what you read, including any nagging questions, to help you integrate the new information. If you’ve been introduced to many ideas or place names, list them and try saying them out loud. If you’re not sure whether Blesthamane is Celendra’s brother, boyfriend, tutor or enemy at this point, that’s fine – you’ll figure it out later. For now, it might help to just note your confusion.
• Read multiple books in a row by the same author, or in the same genre, location or time period. This minimizes the conceptual space you have to travel compared to moving from authors with wildly different writing styles or moving from one book set in the 1700s to the next one set in 2700. When you eventually decide to switch to something different, allow yourself transition time (strategy #1)
• Acknowledge that starting a new book can be challenging at first, and that’s normal. Don’t beat yourself up if it takes you more than one reading session to get into the flow.

April 22 update: I’m now finished Demon Copperhead and want to confirm my enthusiastic recommendation. If you’ve enjoyed any of Barbara Kingsolver’s other books, you’re likely to enjoy this one, too. My favourite thing was the main character, who reminded me of Catcher in the Rye‘s Holden Caulfield. If you appreciate novels that deal with contemporary social and political issues without being didactic or preachy, this one is a good bet (though some online commenters disagree with me on that score). I’m slightly embarrassed that I didn’t realize that Kingsolver was consciously updating/retelling Charles Dickens’ David Copperfield until I read the reviews afterward – but I haven’t read David Copperfield, so knowing that would have been unlikely to affect my reading experience either way. And now I kinda do want to read David Copperfield.