how to read more

There has been a rash of “how to read more” posts over the last couple of months. Mostly they were from people who seemingly have never struggled to read books (don’t own a TV, employed as a book critic, live 500 miles from the nearest cellular/WiFi connection, etc). I, could not relate to a lot of them. So I thought I would write my own, as someone who contracted an adult-onset allergy to reading and concentrating in general.

I was a reader growing up. And then I got older, and then there was so very much great TV on streaming, and social media on the Internet. The 2016 election bricked my brain and for a few years I just stopped reading books straight up. Not by any intention, but just because I couldn’t tolerate it, with my brain constantly flicking to the news to be torn apart, and then flicking over to the feeds hoping to be repaired with context or jokes or whatever, repeat until exhaustion collapse.

But the last few years, I’ve been reading more and more. I’ve read 54 books this year so far (generously including parenting books). I did this in part by realizing that the way I consumed books had drifted a lot based on new technology and new ways I find information. I further realized that, while this drift may have helped me spend more money on books, often out of guilt and compulsion, but it did not help me read more. This is a distinction that, I think, a lot of industry people want us to forget about. But I need to remember it, because it makes me feel like a shell of myself to be adrift in a sea of books I bought that I hate.

So I started to put more effort into what helped me actually read more. These are my findings of what helps, mostly contrasted with what is specifically unhelpful.

All the advice in here presumes the way you currently do things is not working for you. If you buy nothing but bestsellers and that works for you, then you don’t need my advice! Vaya con dios.

Tips I don’t see recommended enough

Shop for books, the old-fashioned way

For a long time, I got caught in the trap of trying to read (and even buying before I tried reading) books that many other people thought were good—books on lists, bestsellers. This was a huge mistake, especially because I knew better.