9 Simple Ways To Read More

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I personally absolutely love reading, which I'm sure you've guessed since this is a book blog. However, I don't always find time to read. Things get in the way, or I just can't focus. I'm sure I'm not the only one who finds it difficult to read as much as I'd like to - I'm pretty certain every bookworm has faced this problem at one time or another. So I've compiled a list/guide of how you can read more. Here it is!

1. Eliminate distractions.

This one is fairly self explanatory. Do you go on your phone, laptop, or another device a lot? Turn it off or mute it, and put it in another room. Basically, just put away anything that could distract you from reading.

2. Set a goal.

This is a little corny, but it can help. Set a goal for yourself, depending on how much time you have and how fast you read. For instance, "I want to read for 30 minutes non-stop" or "I'm going to read at least 45 pages." It'll help prevent you from becoming distracted, and allows you to manage your time.

3. Read books you actually like.

Don't read book you don't like! Reading should be a fun activity you do in your free time, so if you're reading a book you don't like or find boring, stop reading it! If you're like me, it'll take you a lot longer to read a book you don't enjoy than one you do like, no matter how long they are. I, for instance, never finished City Of Bones by Cassandra Clare. I just wasn't into it. So if you don't like a book and don't think it'll get better later on, my advice is that you stop reading it and move onto something fun. You'll be much more eager to read if you actually like the book.

4. Carry a book with you.

Carry a book with you everywhere! To school for example, so you can read at lunch and between classes. Or on the bus, or to a café. Everywhere! You never know when you might find time to read. Even if it's just 10 minutes at a time, it adds up. It can also be helpful to carry two books with you if you're close to finishing one of them. Then you can just move on to the next one immediately!

5. Switch it up!

Are you really into dystopians? Read a contemporary. Do you love historical fiction? Read something sci-fi. You like romance? Read a mystery book. You like fantasy? Read a paranormal. Your brain eventually gets tired of the same thing over and over again. Switching up the type of book once in a while is a great way to fall in love with a new genre. There's plenty of different books out there!

6. Make it a routine.

Set aside time to read, maybe before you go to bed or when you get home from school or work. Make it a habit to read every day at that time. Make reading at that time part of your daily routine.

7. Don't try to multi task.

Don't listen to music or anything like that while reading. You'll get side tracked and won't be able to focus on your book. If you can't stand a quiet environment, listen to music without words. You can even go on YouTube and search up 'music for reading' and you'll find lots of instrumental music you can listen to.

8. Listen to audio books!

If you need to clean the house or anything, or are just too tired to read, listen to an audio book. You can listen while cleaning and relaxing and such, so they're great! Don't want to pay? Get one from the library! There is most likely a library near you that has audiobooks. You may need to rent them, or maybe you can just borrow them. I've never taken out an audiobook from the library, so I'm not completely sure on how that works.


9. Challenge yourself.

Set a reading challenge for yourself whether it's annual, monthly, or even weekly. A great site you can do this on is Goodreads. You can make an account where you can keep track of books you've read, want to read, and are currently reading. You can also create a 2016 reading challenge for yourself; every time you shelve a book as 'read', it adds it to your total of books read in 2016. I don't know exactly how many books I normally read in a year, so I set my 2016 reading challenge to 45 books. Creating a challenge for yourself really keeps you motivated to read more.


I hope you find this list helpful. I need to work on reading more myself. Not only am I quite a slow reader, but I get distracted easily. Hopefully this list will help you bookworms out there as well as me. ;P Let me know if you have any other tips! I'd love to hear them. Have a great day!