Reading is a fickle hobby that tends to have highs and lows. There are times when you may be able to easily devour four books in a week, and then others when you don't pick up a book for months. It's a frustratingly common experience amongst readers to want to read a book, but just not be able to get through one.
I've always loved reading, but in 2022 I found myself crawling through books. As a result, I ended up finishing the year not having read as many as I would have liked. I therefore made it my 2023 New Year's resolution to read as many books as I could. I'm proud to say that I've so far managed to read one hundred.
Getting through one hundred books was by no means easy to do. Over the year, I've adopted many tips and tricks that have helped me maximise the amount of books I'm able to read, as well as the speed at which I get through them. In this article, I will share my strategies. Hopefully, you'll get some benefit out of them too!
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Tip One: Read Whenever You Can
A big reason people often struggle to read many books is because they convince themselves that they don't have the time. However this is a flawed mindset: it's not about finding the time, but making the time. Widen your horizons!
Your reading time isn't limited to simply the space after dinner and before bedtime. You've got to be creative.
Read during the ten minutes that you're waiting for your bus. And in the half-hour between the end of the school day and the start of your club. Swap out the hour you would've spent re-watching your favorite TV show and use it to read instead.
When you look for it, you'll quickly realise that there are plenty of pockets of time during your day that you can use for reading. Even if it's only for a few minutes, the time and pages will add up. You'll be taken aback by how many more books you'll get through by doing this.
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Tip Two: Read on your Phone
Leading on from reading wherever you can, is the next tip: read on your phone. Although to some people, the notion of reading on their phone is akin to sacrilege, it's actually a surprisingly effective way of getting through more books. Drop your prejudices and give it a try!
One of the biggest advantages of reading on your phone is how convenient it is. No one wants to be lugging around a chunky four-hundred-page book with them. However, downloading books on your phone means you can easily carry a whole library with you wherever you go. This makes it easy to whip out your phone and get through a few pages of your book while waiting for class to begin or during your commute to school.
Sites such as Project Gutenberg and Internet Archive offer thousands of free ebooks for you to choose from. If you find their options limited, then you may prefer the Kindle app, which has a wide selection of YA books and current best-sellers. While Kindle books do cost, they're typically a fraction of the price of physical books.
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Tip Three: Expand what you Read
If you're someone who frequently finds themselves falling into reading slumps, this may be because you're reading the same kind of thing over and over again. Reading is capable of being an exciting and dynamic hobby. But, for it to be so, it's crucial you diversify your reading habits.
Even if you're certain that nothing will ever top your favourite romance book, or that there's nothing better than a good sci-fi novel, you should still try challenging yourself to step outside of your comfort zone. You may be surprised by what you end up liking.
For recommendations of good books from different book genres, I'd recommend browsing the Goodreads Choice Awards lists. Every year, people vote on the best book in each genre, and Goodreads grants them an award. You can peruse the lists and pick out a book to read that you know has already been tried and loved by other readers.
Alternatively, you could check out the recommendations of BookTubers and BookTokers, many of whom post helpful videos such as a Beginner's Guide to Fantasy Books. Two of my personal favourite BookTubers, are A Clockwork Reader and caricanread.
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Tip Four: Don't be Afraid to DNF Books
Wading through the sea of books available out there can be tricky. Ocasionally, you're bound to pick up a book which sounds good in theory, but which ends up being terrible. It's important to not let this dishearten you and to remember that it's completely acceptable to DNF (do not finish) a book that you're not enjoying.
Although this may seem counter-intuitive if you're trying to read more books, it will help in the long run. Forcing yourself to read something that you're not enjoying is at best boring, and at worst, can put you into a reading slump (also known as every reader's worst nightmare). Remember - reading is meant to be fun, not a chore!
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Tip Five: Join Book Communities
The age of the internet is upon us and this means that it's easier than ever to connect with fellow book-lovers. There are quite literally thousands of book clubs and reading communities available online that you can become a part of.
Joining such groups is a great way of keeping motivated to read more books. Not only is it super fun to discuss what you're readng with other people and get recommendations from them, but it can also give you the push you need to get through your book, so that you can discuss it with your peers.
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Tip Six: Listen to Audiobooks
Audiobooks are a great way of helping you to read more books. They're highly convenient, particularly if you're someone who's always on the move. All you need is your phone and a pair of earphones, and you're good to go.
Many people prefer audiobooks to physical books as it can be soothing listening to someone reading the story to you. As well as being relaxing, listening to audiobooks also has health benefits: it helps to reduce eye strain and improves critical listening skills. It's therefore unsurprising that so many people swear by them.
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Tip Seven: Set yourself Goals
Setting yourself reading goals can be a useful way of encouraging yourself to read more books. Whether it's establishing a certain number of books you want to read this year or an amount of time that you want to read a day, having a goal can give you the push you need to get through more books. You may want to downloads app such as Storygraph or Goodreads, as both helpfully allow you to set a reading goal for the year and update your progress.
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Tip Eight: …Read More!
Yes, this tip seems obvious, but it's an important one. One of the great things about reading, is that reading one book often makes you want to read more and more. For instance, you may read and enjoy the first book in Cassandra Clare's The Mortal Instruments series, which will push you to read the rest of the series, and then the spin-off series, and so on.
Reading is addictive in the best way possible. Ultimately, there's nothing that makes a reader want to read more, than finishing a good book and wanting to find another one that hits the same spot.
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To finish, an ever-pertinent quote from Dr. Seuss: “The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go."
Happy reading!