Life is busy, and many of us would like to read more, but how do you achieve that when you feel like you don’t have any spare time to do so ? This article might help you with that !
If like me you’ve set a new reading challenge on GoodReads for the new year, you might be looking for ways to reach your goal without this becoming a burden. As someone who moved from reading 1 or 2 books per year, to reading 30 books last year, let me share some tips with you.
#1. Don’t focus only on novels. Novels are nice, bu they’re not the only kind of books you can read. Whether you’re in a reading slump, or just lacking time, it can be a nice change to go for a manga, a collection of poems, or a novella, for once ! Even fanfics count, even if yes, these ones you won’t be able to add to your GoodReads reading challenge (which is a pity, if you ask me).
#2. Read more from indie authors. It might be quite expensive to read a lot, but what is amazing with the indie community (= self-published authors) is the variety of books you can find, and that you can buy books for a cheaper price, most of the time. It’s also not unusual to find discount deals and free ebooks if you’re following indie authors on Twitter for example. Please don’t think that because a book is self-published, it means that it’s of a lower quality. I’ve read so many indie books that were amazingly well-written, way better than some traditionally published books. Indie authors didn’t fail to be traditionally published, they were just looking for more independence and freedom in the way they share their words with the world.
#3. Don’t force yourself to read a book you don’t like. If you don’t want to feel like you’re wasting money, it might be nice to read books from a library, or prefer ebooks to printed copies. But don’t waste your time, forcing yourself to read something you’re not enjoying. This might lead to a reading slump, because this will make you sick of reading. There’s not enough time and too many great books out there to be doing this, so just let it go and pick another book.
#4. Try to set a reading routine. Even if you’re super busy, try to find a little slot in your schedule where you can sit and read. Habits are powerful once they are set, so even if it’s only 15 minutes per day, during your lunch break or before going to sleep, it’s already a huge step !
#5. Talk about the books you read with other people. It might be your friends, your partner, people on social media, or even a book club. Find a way to share your thoughts on what you read, and find people who read the same kinds of books as you do (or at least some). When you lack motivation, it can encourage you to read, so you can also share what you thought about the book with the other person.
Did you find any of these tips useful ? If yes, please let me know ! And if you have other tips to share with us, feel free to also put it in the comments ~
I hope you all have a lovely day, I’ll see you next Wednesday !
Marie.
Marie K. Ricci - Author | Translator 