How to Read More Books

Kids reading..jpg

So, I read a lot. This is a fact (though I have friends on Goodreads who are on pace to cream me). For a mom of two small boys, who is writing a book, consulting, and until recently, the owner of a more than full-time job, I do pack in a lot of pages. I don’t have any official tricks (you can see Tim Ferris for that), nor do I know if I qualify as an official speed-reader, but I do prioritize reading over…every other “fun” activity. I grew up in the woods in Montana and my brother (a book editor) and mother are both voracious readers, so it was just the thing that we did as a family. The way we spent time, noses buried in books (see above). We also didn’t have cable (it legit didn’t extend to our dirt road) so it was the primary form of entertainment besides nature. Here, some tips if you’re looking to log more pages. (If you want to see some of my favorite books, I have a Bookshop page.)

  1. Always pack a book.
    My mom hates the word “bored.” It makes her irate. As a kid, whenever we expressed boredom, she would respond that it wasn’t her job to keep us entertained. It went something like: “Life is boring, get used to it.” And honestly, she’s not wrong. I always, always have at least one book. I like physical books so I can thumb over pages and make notes, which means I also always have a pen. I get most of my reading done in the margins of my day—parked while waiting to pick up my oldest from school, when I’m standing over the dinner stirring dinner. Sometimes I read in grocery store lines. As a child, I read while walking down the street. I read the cereal box, shampoo bottles in the shower, every billboard. I’ll even put a book in my bag when I’m meeting a friend for drinks or dinner because you never know when someone will be running late. The reality is that most books are about 250 pages. You can finish a book in twenty-five 10-15 minute slots, which actually goes fast. Trust.

  2. Read before bed.
    My husband and I have diametrically opposed taste in TV and movies. This is fantastic, actually. Sometimes we’ll agree on something we want to binge together, but most of the time, he’ll pick a “film” based on the paltriness of its Rotten Tomatoes reviews. (Seriously, the lower it goes, the more likely he is to PAY TO RENT it.) He watches, I read, and then we try to go to sleep at the same time.

  3. Take notes.
    This doesn’t really hold for novels, which I unfortunately don’t get to read as much. For non-fiction, I mark my favorite passages, tab the page, and then when I’m done, I spend a couple of hours (yep!) typing up all of my favorite passages and then filing them away. That way, I can revisit books later—key if I’m interviewing them for the podcast—and quickly reorient myself with everything I read. Because I know I’m going to circle back, I don’t get too overly fixated on committing passages to memory.

  4. Make/keep a list.
    If you’re remotely Type A this can be pretty rallying and really feed that need to be productive. You can make an annual pledge on Goodreads (and also document books you want to read for those moments when you’re browsing in bookstores and need inspiration) or I used to just keep long-hand lists. And then I would come up with challenges, like reading “The Best Novels of the 20th Century,” etc. Hey, a little extra pressure works. (Throughout my life, I’ve also noted that I will read pretty compulsively for a month or so and then need to take a few weeks off—note your natural rhythms and then go with them.)

  5. Give up.
    Psyche! My mom told me recently that she’s finally mastered the art of giving up on books she’s not enjoying by page 50 or so. I don’t have that capacity at this point. I HAVE to finish what I start.

    I also made a video on Instagram about reading:

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