How to read more

So, I won’t claim to be one of these people on booktok who read crazy amounts every month. I do, however, read a little more than the average person (4-5 books a month) and I thought I’d make a little list of practical ways to read more. I’m not into this bookish snobbery of there being a superior amount for you to be reading, so this is really just here for those people who fancy reading a little more day to day.

1. Keep a book with you

Now, this doesn’t necessarily mean a physical book-book, but it’s a lot easier to read in a moment of down time if there’s a book in easy reach.

This could be as simple as getting the Kindle app (or one of the many non-amazon owed options out there) on your phone. Or getting an ereader of some kind because they are light weight. If you like to carry your iPad or tablet with you, there a plenty of apps that work on both. There’s even ways to read on your laptop.

This just about making it an option, which you can pick up if you feel like it.

2. Give audiobooks a try

Now, there are some people that just don’t get on with audio books, but they are a really simple way to consume more literature. We are busy people and this way you can listen to books whilst doing housework, at the gym, on your commute etc, my friend even listens (with one ear bud) when her kid is playing at the playground.

Also, if you’re the kind of person that, for whatever reason, cannot focus on a book long enough to read it, you can listen whilst doing other things and you can even 2X speed them.

3. Swap some moments of doom scrolling for a little reading

Don’t get me wrong, I’m of the mind set that a little doom scrolling is good for the soul, a few mindless minutes in a day definitely helps me switch off my brain.

But it can help to exchange a couple of those moments, like before bed, waiting in line, on your lunch break, or even on the toilet (if your my dad), for a few pages instead. If you don’t read often now, this jumping in and out of a story in shorter fragments might be tricky but you will get used to it.

4. Incorporate reading into your routine

For example, I do the classic one of reading before I go to sleep. That works for me because it gets me off my phone and away from screens, winding my brain down.

The easiest way to establish a new habit is, well, to establish it in your day to day life.

Got a kid who does a trillion sports? Read while they play. Have a bit of lazy time free on a Sunday? Read a little then. You can read during breakfast while your brain wakes up. Read on your breaks. Use that one evening where your partner is out at a hobby or whatever and grab some time then.

5. Read whatever the fuck you want.

This may have escaped you if you’re not in the sphere of booktube, bookstagram and booktok but there’s mean a definite trend towards reading whatever the fuck you feel like. Be your best feral self. Like weird monster smut? Like trashy romance? Like tacky werewolf fiction? Like a good detective novel? Like a thriller? Just read what you enjoy. Do you only like books with happy endings? There’s category for that, just search for some recommendation lists. If there’s a thing you like in books, I guarantee someones made a list for it somewhere.

Not sure what you like? Sign up for a subscription service like Kindle and try a few different genres in the included library during your fee trial to figure out what you like. Or make use of your local library. Or buy some cheap books from a charity shop (thrift store for non-brits). Or, think of what stories you liked as a kid, whether it was a book, movie or tv show and start with that genre.

It is so much easier to read more when you’re not slogging your way through a book everyone told you is a ‘must read’ or a classic that just doesn’t speak to you at all.

So, there you have it. I hope that helped.

I am not a book lover who is snobby about reading, because I think the other things that might distract you from moments where you could be reading, like doom scrolling, binging Netflix, falling down a YouTube rabbit hole, are valid and sometimes even necessary, especially if you enjoy them.

My point here is to adapt reading into your life in a way that’ll make it enjoyable and not a chore. It is meant to be fun, it is meant to be an escape, it is not something you *have* to do to be a better person.

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