How to read more books you love

Every year we set ourselves new reading goals, new books we want to get to, new genres we want to explore. But life still gets in the way, we still have to remind ourself to make time for our books. Here is my guide to reading more and more importantly, reading books you love!

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Don’t set yourself rules… they’re more like guidelines!

I know I’m about to lay out a load of reading tips here, but they aren’t rules, they’re suggestions… or guidelines, to help you read more. I think reading under restrictions and rules can be so limiting to the creativity your reader brain wants to explore. Sometimes it can be easy to forget to enjoy the book you’re reading when you know you’re only reading it to fit a quota of X classics read or X non-fiction books for example.

For me, this no-rules thing also includes my TBR. I scrapped the idea of a TBR years ago when I realised I wasn’t reading the books I really fancied. Now I will have a rough idea of what I want to read, but I’ll happily abandon that if something I fancy more comes along. I’ve actually decided to create a TBR jar this year to help me get through my backlog, so hopefully, this will help me find books I would never have found otherwise. Equally though, I won’t feel sworn to the book selected and if I really fancy a certain book, I’ll read it!

Read during the little moments in life…

Brushing your teeth should take you two minutes, that’s what, two pages? How about whilst you’re waiting for your dinner to cook or in between adverts on TV? Perhaps whilst you’re waiting for an appointment or going through the car wash? I make sure I always have a book with me to fill these little moments. I’m starting to make myself put my phone down more, which is usually what I would reach to in these kinds of situations.

Read before going to bed instead of being on your phone

I don’t need to be the one to tell you that using your phone before bed can be damaging and affects your sleep. I put my phone out of reach when I get into bed and read for around 30 minutes upwards. I love doing this because it lets me fall back into my book every night and have something to look forward to. It also means that no matter how busy my day, I will always make time for my book.

I’ve also started to extend this point to reading when I wake up too. I usually always do this at weekends, but lately, I’ve been adding it to my morning routine too. If you didn’t know, I wake up earlier than I need to every morning to get more done and I’ve now added reading into this. I find ten or so pages before getting out of bed starts my day off nicely.

Set yourself page goals

I know I said no rules… but again… this isn’t a rule, just a suggestion of pages. I’ve been trying to read at least 50 pages a day at the moment and I’ve been finding this has done wonders for my reading life. I’ve been getting more into my book and not just stopping at 10/20 pages in. I’ve been reading for way longer because my goal of 50 pages encourages me to get stuck further into the story.

I also find these really allows me to love the book I’m reading and appreciate the story every day. I feel like I really know the characters and am fulling absorbed in what I’m reading.

DNF books you aren’t enjoying

DNF stands for do not finish and the notion of doing this means putting down books you aren’t loving, in favour of something else. I know a lot of people struggle with doing this, but personally I find it very helpful for my reading life and productivity. What is the point in reading if you aren’t enjoying the words on the page?

I will always sing the praises of DNFing a book, but I know that a lot of readers have discovered a favourite read from a book they weren’t originally sure on. So I think my suggestion with DNFing is: if you’re reading a book and you like the writing style, but it’s a little slow, maybe keep going and see where it goes. But if you’re reading a book and you can’t stand the writing style and you have no interest in picking it up, it’s time to DNF it!

Don’t feel you have to read the books everyone else is reading

I seem to dislike a lot of the massively hyped books in this world, so I always try to read a mix of popular and relatively unknown books within my online community. The reason I’m adding this into the list is I have often found new favourite books through this method and it’s always helped me enjoy my reading experience. There can be too much expectation around massively hyped books and it can hinder your enjoyment when you think you have to like a book that sometimes you just don’t get on with.

For me, it’s all about reading the books that really excite me.

Listen to audiobooks

I drive to and from work every day and I always make sure to put on an audiobook on my return journey. I typically will listen to an hours worth of my audiobook each day by doing this, so it’s a really good way to fit more reading into an already busy day. I also find this helps me if I’m reading a book that I’m enjoying, but is quite slow to get through. Usually, an audiobook will help me read a bit speedier and enjoy the story even more!

Write down what you enjoy about a book

Finally, this tip reminds me of why I love reading. Whether I’m writing down a quote I loved, or why I really enjoy certain characters, it always makes me reflect on the book. It also really helps when it comes to writing book reviews. Sometimes though I find that with how busy life gets, it’s easy to forget why we all love books so very much. I like to remind myself that the story I’m reading came out of someone else’s brain and is absolutely amazing.