How to Read More Books Without Stopping
Director Max Joseph wants to read more than one book a year – he wants to read one a week. So he asked a few voracious readers for advice in a38-minute video that includes lengthy tours of European bookstores. Here are some of the best tips for those who never read and want to start reading more books.
Start tiny
Don’t set yourself a daring goal, not right away. As writer Eric Barker tells Joseph , pick one that’s ridiculously easy to find . Promise yourself that you will read two pages a night, so all you have to do is start reading and you will be ready in a couple of minutes. This will save you from stopping early.
Once you’ve developed an initial habit, you can increase your goal. But the real habit you get is when you start reading. It’s not so much about reading during three-hour marathons, but more about borrowing a book.
Read something funny
Start with something light and enjoyable. Don’t worry about “sinful pleasures” and don’t feel obligated to the classics. Learning to read more is not the same as learning to read more complex books. You must master the first well before you can master the second well. Don’t start with Moby-Dick if that’s not your thing. (But when you’re ready for it, Moby-Dick actually slaps like a long winter reading.)
Some good beginner books for adults that haven’t read in a while:
- If you like Orphan Black , The Legend of Korra , The Hunger Games and the new Star Wars films, read Season Five by N.K. Jamisina, the first in a trilogy about a planet where the population fears and hates the wizards who control earthquakes. on a planet where climatic phenomena regularly destroy civilization.
- If you like the Decembrists, Wes Anderson and Noah Baumbach, read Less than by Andrew Sean Greer, a tragicomic novel about a middle-aged writer who travels around the world to escape his personal life.
- If you like Monty Python, Harry Potter and Guardians of the Galaxy , read one of Terry Pratchett’s fantasy Discworld novels . Mort tells the story of a young man who took over the Grim Reaper’s possession. The Wyrd Sisters is a parody of Shakespeare in which the witches are right. The little gods are the gentle messenger of religion.
- If you like Lady Bird , Six Feet Under Ground and Transparent , read Jami Attenberg ‘s family drama The Middlestein . There is a chapter that all the participants in the bar mitzvah tell at once, and this is a riot.
- Read the memoirs of those you like, such as Born to Stand by Steve Martin .
- Read books based on which your favorite films or TV series were filmed. Particularly great original novels include The Handmaid’s Tale , Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close , The Wizards , and Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell . Or read the little graphic novel Doggie Dog by co-creator ( and creator of Tookie and Bertie ) Lisa Hanawalt, Bojack Horse.
Read in any format
Read in whatever medium you like. Joseph ‘s video “Wait, But Why?” Blogger Tim Urban tells him to listen to audiobooks in the morning. Writer Eric Barker says he removed all of his social apps – even email – from his phone and replaced them with the Kindle app. If you really want to develop this habit, try reading electronic, print, and audiobooks.
You don’t have to buy three editions of the same book. (You do not need to buy any – any publications – most library systems will provide you with audio books and e-books directly from your phone.) Take a few books in every format and you will always have something ready, regardless of whether your ears free or eyes, and whether you brought a paperback book or just your phone.
Read with partner
You don’t have to join a book club, but find one book to read with one friend. You don’t even need to set a specific time to meet and talk about the book – just pick it up when you see each other or when both of you are finished. Having a like-minded person to discuss the book will make reading more social and will also help you remember and process the book better. And if your friend comes forward, hopefully you will feel jealous and want to catch up.
If you live with a partner, not only read the same book, read to each other. I read aloud with my wife every night while we did our toilet duties, and each evening we devoted an additional 15 minutes to reading. Every time one of us gets tired of a book, we drop it and try another – after two or three tries, we always choose the good one. It takes us weeks or months to complete the novel, so at the end of the year we read maybe 10 books together. It’s better than watching TV together, because if you want to comment on a book, you won’t be discussing the dialogue.
Switch when you’re bored
Reading several books at the same time will also save you the hassle. If you get bored with one book, just take another. This first book will not disappear! It is better to find a book that engages you than to struggle with one difficult (or simply bad ) book and refuse to read altogether.
It is also the best way to read a difficult or long book. Moby-Dick took me a year because I kept reading other books and it was great. I had time to process the Moby-Dick and I never got bored because I just switched to another book until I missed Ishmael.
Read what you are set up for and over time you will find yourself in that mood again. This weekend, in the middle of a summer Sunday on the lawn in Prospect Park, I saw a crow overhead. Well, I saw some kind of black bird. And I felt nostalgic for the years I spent reading thick, massive paperback books of Game of Thrones and its sequels. I didn’t even realize that every summer I was in the mood for a fun fictional fugitive novel. Any suggestions?