How to Read More in 2024 + My Reading Goals
I'm often asked, "How do you read so much?" Sometimes it means the asker thinks I'm some kind of freak with no life, but usually it means the asker is interested in reading more and they want to know my "secrets." I love getting this question because I love it when people want to get into reading. And, as a huge nerd, I love giving advice on how to read more.
First, it's important to note that I don't have much fighting for my attention outside of work and other survival activities, like eating and social obligations. I have a pretty typical 9-5 job and no dependents. If I had children to take to sportball practice or if I worked 12-hour shifts, I might not have enough free time to read as much as I do.
But there are a few things I do that have helped me keep up a reading habit in every season of life (thus far). If you have a "read more" New Year's Resolution, this one's for you.
1. Keep one on you.
I received an adorable tote bag that says "Always Carry a Book" as a birthday gift last year. But it's not just a cute slogan—it's a practice that helps me get through books faster than I would if I didn't always carry a book. There have been times when what I thought would be a 10-minute oil change turns into a 1-hour waiting game and I was so thankful to have a book in my bag.
If you carry a book everywhere, you might be able to sneak in a few minutes of reading time and you have an alternative to scrolling on your phone in your free moments.
2. Track it.
This one is primarily for those of us who are motivated by meeting a goal. Even if you don't set a numeric reading goal for the year, seeing how much you've read can be a huge motivation.
You might do this in a spreadsheet, a reading journal, by piling up every book you read in a stack beside your bed, or with one of the many reading tracker apps out there. My favorite app is The StoryGraph, but there's also Bookly, Goodreads, Italic Type, and more.
3. Read widely.
There are so many genres out there. I have a friend who really loves romance books but was getting a little burnt out on them. She decided to try thrillers, and turns out she loves thrillers. She could've stuck with what she knew and ended up in what we book nerds call a reading slump. But instead of falling out of her reading habit, she branched out and discovered a new favorite genre.
Explore a wide variety of genres and authors and see what sticks. Figure out which types of books you like and get excited about. Chances are, they'll come from more than one genre. No matter what you're in the mood for, you'll always have something to read.
4. Choose a format that works for you.
Maybe you don't read because you don't want to lug a heavy book around—try a Kindle or other e-reader. Maybe the hardcover books you keep buying are simply too arduous and you need to become a paperback girlie like me. Maybe consuming books via audio is best for your schedule or abilities. (May I suggest using Libby or Hoopla through your local library or supporting your local bookstore by using Libro.fm?)
By the way, if you're wondering...I hardly ever read audiobooks, but I'm on team audiobooks count as reading and any other assertion is ableist. According to science, it's all the same to our brains anyway.
5. Follow bookish accounts for inspiration.
I was in a bookstore yesterday (because of course I was) and I realized that, because I've been in the online book space for so long, it's rare that there's a new book in any genre that I haven't heard of or at least seen. Because I follow a lot of people who are constantly reading, I'm constantly made aware of books I might want to read.
For book recommendations and inspiration to read more, follow Bookstagram or BookTok accounts with a similar taste in books. You can search #bookstagram on Instagram or #booktok on TikTok to find such accounts. If you need recommendations for who to follow, reply to this email with your favorite genres and I can very likely recommend someone to follow. (And, naturally, I have a Bookstagram account and my TikTok is 80% a BookTok!)
6. Get recs from the locals.
A lot of people don't read because they don't know what to read. If social media isn't your thing and you prefer to get book recommendations from an IRL human, head to your local library or local bookstore. The librarians and booksellers there can offer you personalized recommendations and, trust me, they really want to.
7. Read with friends.
Do you have a friend who also wants to read more this year? Team up with them to do a buddy read. If you don't have any friends who read or want to read, your local library or local bookstore probably has book clubs. I've also been a part of a Meetup book club in the past.
In addition to a good old fashioned book club, there's the new school silent book club. I'm a part of a silent book club in Atlanta where we grab a bite to eat, briefly share what we're reading that night, and then set a 30-minute timer to read silently together.
8. Watch your time.
This is probably the most important tip of all and I should've put it higher on the list, but I'm not rearranging these now. Any big reader you meet will tell you that the major key to reading more is simply making time for it.
I hope that doesn't sound reductive, but it's true. In order to read more, you have to allocate the time to read, which may require replacing the time you spend doing something else. For example: Those two hours you normally spend scrolling your 'For You' page on TikTok? Try filling at least one of those hours with reading instead.
Schedule time to read the same way you would schedule anything else that's important to you or your wellbeing. If you don't have any space in your schedule to spare, bring reading into another part of your life. If you have a work commute or time set aside to do laundry, listen to an audiobook. If you get a lunch break at work (and you should, by law!), bring a book—even if you only get to read for 20 minutes.
"Sprints" are a big help for me. Set a timer and read until it goes off. I know a few people who use the Forest app for reading sprints—it plants a tree while you're doing your focused task and if you leave before the timer is over, your tree dies. Dun dun duuun.
If that's too dramatic for you, the timer app on your phone works just fine for this. I have a timer on my phone labeled "stop reading" that I use (and ignore...) almost every morning.
There are also many BookTokers who go live for reading sprints. When you join their live, you're reading while they read, along others from around the world who have also joined the live. Just search "reading sprint" on TikTok and there's usually someone live, especially at night.
9. Look inward.
There are plenty of barriers that keep people from reading. If you want to read more, ask yourself: What keeps me from reading? Once you've identified the problem, then you can try to fill it with a solution.
You may not be motivated to read because it's usually boring, so your solution is to find genres or formats that aren't boring to you (see tip #3 and #4). If you're neurodivergent and have trouble focusing on physical books, audiobooks might be a better option. Be honest with yourself about what's preventing you from reading.
10. Read your way.
I know people who read 200 books a year. I also know people who set a goal to read four books this year (one per quarter). Please try not to compare yourself to what other people are doing—read your way and read what you want. As people in the book world often say about audiobooks and reading goals, all reading is good reading.
Read one book at a time or juggle multiple. Set a numeric goal if it motivates you or don't set one if it stresses you out. Don't read what you know you don't like and put down books that aren't working for you (I'm trying to get better at this). If you don't feel like reading some days, do something else and don't force it.
I hope your journey to reading more is full of pleasure and not competition, and you'll discover the joy of reading one book at a time (or five books at a time...it's all up to you).
My 2024 Reading Goals
Read 65 books. My "safe" numeric reading goal has been 50 books for a few years. Per my last blog post, I'm trying to do less this year in the arena of jobs and such, which should give me more time to read. I get really motivated by hitting this goal (but I pull back when I start being weird about it), so setting a higher goal this year felt like the motivation I needed to fill some of my new-found free time with reading.
Pull from my TBR. TBR stands for "to be read." I have multiple TBRs (physical books, ARCs from publishers, and a ton in my Kindle library). I'm aiming for at least 80% of the books I read in 2024 to be books I already own. There's a #readyourshelves challenge on Bookstagram that I'll participate in for accountability.
Diversify my fiction reads. My husband often calls my books "serious." He's not wrong. But I keep forgetting that I also like mystery/thriller, sci-fi, and the occasional light, silly read. My goal is to read a little more from genres besides literary fiction and "serious" nonfiction.
Check with the library before the bookstore. I've actually been doing a good job putting this one into practice already. I have my local library app and the Hoopla app and I check those whenever I come across a book I want (so, almost daily). All my TBRs are overflowing with plenty of options, so I'm trying to be more selective with what I add to my personal library. Lately, I've mostly bought books by authors I already love and books I'm certain I'll like.
Learn to practice the art of DNFing. DNF stands for "did not finish" and the internet bookworms turned it into a verb. This one's pretty simple: I need to do a better job quitting books that I'm struggling through. I always hold out hope that it'll get better or I'm too curious to see what's going to happen, even if I don't care very much. Life is too short and there are too many great books out there to suffer through a book I'm not enjoying.
Write more reviews. For memory's sake, I want to get back to my old practice of writing at least a short review of every book I read. My reading speed has been severely outpacing my reviewing speed, but I can at least give myself a few notes to go off of. That way, when I'm ready to review the book on Bookstagram or wherever, I'll remember why I liked or didn't like it.
Just sit down and read. Like I mentioned on my 'ins' list in my last post, I want to do more long reading sprints this year and less random scrolling online. I want to sit down with a book and stay there for an hour or three, and hopefully not worry about other tasks.
I sincerely hope this post is helpful enough to make up for how long it turned out. Although this is a subscriber blog, I've had a few people ask if they're allowed to share my writing. Absolutely yes! Feel free to forward what I write to anyone you think might resonate with it or benefit from it, including sending this post to anyone you know who wants to read more.