I don't think there is another way, just really concentrate on the sim for his reading time; I go on "normal speed" and cancel anything else he tries to do. If his needs are green it generally takes only about 2 hours, and 2 "read book" clicks to read it. Then as soon as he puts it down on the coffee table I click it again to see it comes up "reread", and then put it away.
The really annoying ones are the ones that don't have the green circle to indicate how far they've read.