First up, a welcome to all the new subscribers who’ve joined in the last couple of weeks, it’s good to have you hear.
I’m Alan and I write this newsletter which originally started out to mark my turning 50 and was 50 Things from 50 Years. When I was reaching the 50th thing I asked subscribers what I should do next and the overwhelming response was - Don’t Stop - so now I write about all manner of things, but normally on a one theme one newsletter basis. Anyway back to your scheduled programming.
In the Discord for subscribers of
someone asked how they could read more books, now as you’ll know if you’ve followed me anywhere for awhile I read a lot, and mostly that’s in the form of books. Both traditional paper, but also ebooks and occasionally audiobooks (although now that I travel less I listen to less audiobooks). So you might think I have some thoughts about this and I do, and I thought that rather than just responding to the post there I’d share it more widely here. I’m sure that there are others and perhaps particular tricks that you might have so I’d love to hear what they are in the comments.To read more books you need to read more. No 5h1t Sherlock you might say, and no I’m not being facetious about this, but if you think about all the things you do in the course of the day do you actually set aside time to read? An hour before bed or perhaps at another point in the day. I tend to set aside some time each afternoon after I’ve finished work and before I get to anything else to spend some time reading. In part this is because I no longer have a commute and this was when I often used to read, so now I have a commute on the sofa with a book and a cup of tea (other beverages are available) and I’ll read for an hour. If I finish work a bit earlier I’ll read for a bit longer and vice-versa, some days it doesn’t happen at all but most days I’ll get a bit of reading done.
The other time that I’ll read is just before bed, although I have to say that quite often my closing eyelids get the better of me and I know that I’m not taking in what I’m reading so I’ll stop.Stop Reading What You’re Not Enjoying. If you’re reading something and your not enjoying it, then stop and go and read something else. My general rule is 100 pages or 20% (if an ebook without page numbers), you can also try 100 pages minus your age. The limit is up to you. I was recently reading a novel and had gotten to over 50% and I realised that although I was enjoying it I had stopped doing so. I’ve put it to one side and I will probably go back to it another time, as I know this is a common pattern to me personally, but at the end of the day life is too short and unless this is required reading for a course to similar then if you’re not enjoying it stop.
Read What Interests You. It doesn’t matter if it’s fiction or non-fiction, spy stories or romance, if it interests you read it, if it doesn’t don’t bother.
Don’t Waste Your Time on Social Media. A bit like n°1 above, get off of Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Tik-Tok or whatever else and read. Look at the stats of the time you spend there and think that you could spend that time reading instead.
Look for Inspiration on What To Read. In addition to reading what interests you, look at what other people are recommending. I like Ryan Holiday’s reading newsletter. Ryan would say that being a better reader has made him a better writer, and he writes good books too, but I really like his newsletter. Each month he recommends the best books he’s read and although I don’t follow everyone of his recommendations, I have found some amazing books that I probably would never have ever read if Ryan hadn’t recommended them.
Another great place to look for recommendations is in your local library or bookshop. Both will have a section somewhere of staff recommendations and normally their spot on. Start in the categories that you already like to read and spread out from there.Make Notes. I read with a notebook and pencil and make notes as I go. Passages that are of particular interest or that strike a chord with me I’ll make a note of or underline and go back to later. In ebooks I use the highlight function and then extract these using a service called clippings.io to import them into an Evernote database. I also highlight other books that are mentioned as possible future books to read, even though in reality I may never get to read them as it’s an ever growing list.
Have a Shortlist of What You’re Going To Read Next. This is probably one of my biggest issues. I have a lot of books, my brother-in-law once said that I have more books than I could ever possibly read before I die. Whilst this might be true, although I’ll have a damn good try, it presents the problem of abundance not always being a good thing and being spoilt for choice can sometimes mean that when I finish one book I don’t know what I’m going to read next. I solve this by having a shortlist of a few books that are my “next-up”, so that when I finish something I’ll move straight on to something from that list. It doesn’t always work but it does more often than not.
Always Carry a Book. Or an ebook. Wherever you are carry a book with you. That way if you’re unexpectedly delayed or something crops up that gives you an unexpected gap in your day you can pick up your book and read. This can also be and ebook reader app on your phone or an audiobook, but don’t get sucked into doing something else on your phone if really what you want to do is read.
Don’t Multi-task. Whilst this might seem like a perfect way to read more, it doesn’t work that way. You can’t actually read and watch TV at the same time. You’ll do neither properly and what you do read won’t go in. Don’t do it.
It’s Okay To Not Read Too. Like most things we need a break now and again, and sometimes the key to reading more is reading less. If you’re really finding that you’re not enjoying reading, it’s okay to stop for a bit and come back to it after a break. We all get fatigued by anything we have to do a lot of even those things we really enjoy, so if that’s the case take a break. If you’re a reader it won’t be long before you get the itch to start reading again.
It’s also okay to be reading more than one book at a time, by that I mean have multiple books and switch between them. I find that having both a fiction and non-fiction book on the go means that I can switch books when my mood switches.
Okay so that’s ten tips for you on how to read more. If you have any that you’d like to add please do so in the comments. I’m also going to set up a chat in the substack reader on the same topic if you’d like to explore it more there.
Next week, I'll give trying to recommend some books for you a go. I’ve always found this to be somewhat difficult as in some ways this is a deeply personal thing in terms of my tastes but also it could be a very long list or a very short list depending on what criteria I think I should apply in terms of recommending them. Anyway we’ll see what happens.
Thanks for reading.