I often get asked how I am able to read so many books each year. Here are a couple of the rules I follow that help me to read at least one book per week.
- Use the local library: I get almost all of my books from my local library. If you haven’t been to yours lately they may have made some serious enhancements since your last visit. At my library you can place a request online for a book from 19 libraries in the state. I place a hold and within a few days the book arrives at my library and I get a notification telling me to come check it out. My library can even put my holds on its book mobile that comes to my neighborhood every other week! Almost every book I am wanting is available in at least one library in the state.
- Briefly read through all books before taking them home: I find a cozy seat and read the cover, the inner flaps, the table of contents, a few sentences from a few random chapters, and confirm it is a book I am interested in. If I have any hesitation about wanting to read it I just put it back and get something else.
- Have another book to begin reading as soon a book is finished: Once a book is done I flip open another one and read a few pages. I have found that if I just keep the momentum going en begin reading another book I am less likely to take a few weeks (or months) off reading.
- If not enjoying or feeling a book at that time, don’t read it: Pretty simple, but I think this is an important rule to mention. It is easy to try and force yourself to finish a book that you started, but I have found that if you aren’t feeling it, it’s better to put it away and try coming back to it another time. There are books that I had a difficult time reading and years later I came back to them and was finally in the right mood for them. Also, if you checked the book out from the library this becomes much easier because you don’t feel financially invested in it, just drop it back off and pick up your next hold!
- Read books from different genres: Reading something new and different can be nourishing! When I read a Robert B. Parker book for the first time I was hooked and it was a nice break from the non-fiction I had been reading for a few months. I cleared my palate with an entertaining detective series and then was able to get back into the various nonfiction books I like to study. I have since also gotten interested in reading poetry the same way.
- Last, but not least! Read a book: Pretty simple… Just grab a book and read it. If you only have five minutes to read that day take five minutes and read. You may find that it turns into 15 or 30 minutes of time. Read on your lunch break, read before bed, read when you first wakeup, just keep a book with you and read whenever you have some extra time. Before you know it, you will be finishing one book a week!