How One Engineer Read 63 Books in a Year: The Answers to the Questions He Always Gets

Eli Bendersky, the software engineer behind a popular technical blog, finished 63 books in 2019—a personal record. He has tracked his reading since the blog's launch in 2003, totaling just over 700 books, though that figure overcounts unique titles by 10–15% due to re-reads. Given his readers' curiosity about his habits, he has shared his answers to the most common questions.

The Simple Secret: Making Time

When asked how he finds time to read so much, Bendersky's answer is direct: he makes time. "I'm convinced that anyone can find time if they really want it; it's just a matter of priorities," he writes. He is quick to point out he doesn't consider himself a record-breaking reader, acknowledging many people read more in both quantity and quality.

More practically, his reading time comes from several combined sources:

  • Audiobooks: They account for at least a third of his recent reading. He carves out time while commuting, working out, waiting at his kids' after-school activities, and doing chores. With an hour or more a day and a 1.25x listening speed, he can finish an average-sized book in a couple of weeks.
  • Prioritizing reading over other media: He uses his 30–45 minutes of free evening time to read rather than watching TV or browsing social media. This also extends to work hours, where he spends 20–30 minutes a day on technical books when he is deeply engaged. He prefers what he calls "slow media." "Given that I spend some small chunk of my day reading—meaning scanning text with my eyes—I strongly prefer this time to be spent on books rather than any other text organization format."
  • Reading with his kids: A recent addition, this lets him "steal" reading time while spending quality time with them. He finds some "young reader" versions of books can be better than adult books, conveying information clearly without padding to 300 pages.

Formats, Speed and the Value of Re-reading

Paper, audio, or ebooks? Bendersky's answer is a simple "yes." He prefers ebooks on a Kindle for pure-text books because they are lighter and easier to hold. However, he dislikes how the device handles graphics, equations, or code. For books containing those elements, he opts for paper.

Does he speed-read? No. An experiment years ago increased his words-per-minute but hurt comprehension and enjoyment. Since most of his reading is non-fiction, comprehension is crucial, so he reads physical books at an average pace. He listens to audiobooks at 1.25x speed, noting that while the original pace feels unbearably slow, higher speeds like 1.5x or 2x make concentration difficult.

Does he re-read books? Absolutely—about 10–15% of his recent books are re-reads. He has read many books twice and some three or more times. He made a resolution a while ago to prioritize quality over quantity, and re-reading is his most effective method. "Reading a book and letting the material simmer in the back of your mind for some period (a year or more, typically), and then re-reading is a very effective way to extract more information," he says, noting he almost always finds something new.

Does he finish every book he starts? He typically has around four books in progress at once—an audio book, a text book, a technical book he reads when concentration is easiest, and often a "lighter" book to interleave with heavier reads, plus a book going with his kids. He almost always finishes books because he vets them carefully beforehand, but he has no issue abandoning a dud midway.