Hey Reader,
It has been months since I have had a discussion post on here so for today’s post I am going to give you a look into my reading life. One thing I get from other people is “you read a lot” and for the longest time I hated that. The statement felt condescending and laced with judgement. If I had a dollar for everytime someone said this to me I’d have so much to buy more books!
I find the phrase “you read a lot” subjective. For one I don’t see it so it’s difficult for me to see where they are coming from. I am surrounded by readers, I follow so many book bloggers and I am relatively active in the book community so when I hear that I read a lot my first instinct is to be defensive ” but so and so has read more than me!” I tend to feel like I have done wrong by reading X amount of books. There is that feeling that I need to justify myself, and for the longest time I did. now not at all
If you follow my #FaithReads2020 thread on Twitter then you probably are getting a front row seat to my reading updates. At the time I am writing this post I have read 65 books. Yes, 65. To some this is a big number, to others not so much. The biggest problem comes about when one makes comparisons. I am a fast reader. I live and breath books and I have identified ways that help and boost my reading. I do honestly do not expect anyone to keep up with me, and at the same time I do not pace myself with anyone else. As it should be. We all read differently and whether it is one book a month or 20 a month, it doesn’t matter as long as you are reading.
That being said, I am going to share the things that I do that see me reading more.
- I always have a book with me. Whether I’ll read it or not, I always carry a book with me. You never know when you’ll need it.
- Multi-Reading. I talked extensively about this here.
- Reading immediately after I am through with my book. What I mean is, the minute I finish a book, instead of leaving it at that, I pick up my next read and read a few pages or one chapter. This helps me avoid a reading slump and I know I have a book to get back to.
- Mixing up the books. (both size and genre)
- Reading what I want and when I want to. Sometimes there is pressure to read new releases or hyped books but I have learned to avoid that. Instead I read what I am in the mood for.
- Curving out reading time. I refuse to say I am too busy to read. On the days I am tired or exhausted, I give myself 30 minutes reading time. I have ingrained it into my routine that not a day goes by without me reading at least for half an hour.
- Reading in different formats. I realised early on that I read ebooks way faster than I do physical books. So you’ll find me reading both hardbacks and ecopies and audiobooks as of recently.
read april - Reading Challenges and Readalongs. It took me a while to realize which challenges that best suit me and when I did, I saw the difference it made in my reading. Not to mention, they are so much fun!
At the end of the day there is no magic trick or life hack to reading. You simply pick a book, and read. Repeat.
Do you have more to add to? Share with me in the comments.
21/05/2020 at 9:11 pm
Those are some really good tips!
24/05/2020 at 10:12 am
Thank you!
29/05/2020 at 2:13 pm
If only I had heard about tip #3 earlier.I am definitely going to apply it now that I’m almost done with my current read.
Thanks!
10/06/2020 at 1:58 pm
You’re welcome. Let me know if it helps.
08/06/2020 at 3:16 pm
I like your tips and will go and read that other post as well. I really wanna make the best of my reading time, so I hope I can take something away from this. Thanks for the advice. 🙂
10/06/2020 at 1:59 pm
That means a lot to me. Thank you! I hope it works out well.
18/06/2021 at 8:45 am
No. 5 is a solid tip for sure.
21/06/2021 at 9:10 pm
❤️❤️