How To Read MORE Books

How often have you thought to yourself, I should read more books? You put on the TV, you scroll social media, you stare out your window and think, hmm, I should read more often, and then go back to what you were doing before.

Your instinct isn’t wrong. Reading has real benefits and will make your life better in many ways. According to “Insider Magazine”, some of the most successful people are voracious readers. These include Warren Buffet, Bill Gates, Oprah Winfrey, Elon Musk, and many, many others. They credit books as being a vast source of information that is accessible to anyone, but that few people take advantage of. Sounds like a leading edge to me!

Beyond the fact that not enough people read, and it provides a competitive edge to you in your life at home and at work, there are several other reasons why you should be a reader. We all know we want to and should read more, but here are some specific reasons.

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Why You Should become a Voracious Reader

Different perspectives

Whenever you read, you see into another person’s experiences. If you think about it, reading the writing of another person is the closest thing we have figured out so far to reading a person’s mind. The recording of their thoughts and stories is literally straight out of their heads. Also, reading the stories of others puts you into the shoes of others. It’s good practice for your brain to seeing other people’s perspectives! You can apply this skill to your own interactions, and it will absolutely make a difference. Better yet? Your brain loves the practice, so the more you read, the better at it you get!

New information

This might seem obvious, but you get a lot of new information. Obviously, you can read nonfiction books of all kinds and get information that way, I think we all know that. But did you know you can learn from stories, as well? Regardless of how “out there” a story is, you can often learn lessons about how situations work out and how problems can be solved. Even a vast cast of characters in a space opera set across the universe has immediately recognizable situations between people that can teach us things, not to mention all the ways we can consider how to respond to new things.

More practice means you simply get better at it

Your brain loves reading. And, like anything, the more you read, the better you get. Also, the more you read, the faster you read! Which means the more you read! In order to read more, all you have to do is read more, and your pace will get faster and faster.

You get to discover more experiences

Here’s what I think. Your brain doesn’t really know what’s going on in the world unless your senses tell it, right? So when you read, your eyes are getting your brain to experience situations, which is making your brain work at believing them. So,

It’s relaxing, and your brain likes it, not like screens

Reading books makes your brain happy. Really, it does. Much more so than spending all that time looking at your phone or streaming videos on your computer. We’ve all heard about the way blue light can affect our sleep, but here and here are a couple of articles that summarize both the sleep-related research, and other information which you might find useful. However, books? No blue light. Even many eReaders are modifiable so that they emit different types of light over the day. I love my Kobo eReader for this. You can learn more about Kobo my clicking the banner below.

Finding the time

Ultimately, it can be hard to find time to read. Believe me, I get it. While I love to read and am passionate about making sure I have the time to read as often as I can, it can get hard to fit it into a busy schedule. I have written elsewhere on this blog about what I have going on, but briefly, I find my daily life to be very busy. I am a mom to two boys, I teach Grade 7 full time, and I am taking my Masters of Education. These roles, plus all of the bits and pieces that come with them, make self-care super difficult to put in. So, I have to strictly schedule things like working out, meditating, and, yes, reading, into my week to make sure that they happen.

Here are a few ways that I make sure to read more books.

Audiobooks

I have only gotten into audiobooks in the last couple of years, and wow, gamechanger! They give me the chance to listen to books while driving to and from work and while exercising, which increases how much time I have to read! If that wasn’t enough to love them, I’ve introduced my children to audiobooks and they love them! They can download them to a device and simply listen while they do other things, like draw or do Lego.

There are lots of ways to do this. We use Libby, which is an app which allows for downloads of audiobooks from the library. It’s easy to use and I can usually find something that I want on there. A downside is that I often have to put books on hold that I want to listen to, as there seem to be limited numbers for all the people who wish to use them. An alternative to this is Audible, which is a subscription service that provides audiobooks and podcasts on one, easy-to-use platform.

Another reason to love audiobooks? Not everyone can read text easily! If you want to read something in a language that is not your home language, but you do have some knowledge of how to speak it, it can be easier to listen to the book, rather than read the text. Also, sometimes reading text is just tough. Maybe you have dyslexia or difficulty with your vision. Audiobooks are a great way to read more if the physical act of read is just tougher for you! They open up the world of reading to everyone!

Dedicated reading time

Schedule your reading time. It doesn’t matter when it happens, just that it does. Like a lot of people, I read before bed, but there are lots of times you could read. Even dropping 20 minutes into your day to read could be lifechanging if you stuck to it. Substituting time that you are already using for habits that you want to break could help, too! If you feel you’re spending too much time on social media, you could take 20 minutes away from it to read.

Read with others

Join a book club! It doesn’t have to be anything too formal, though that would definitely work. You could read with your friends, read with your kids, join virtual book clubs…the possibilities are endless! Having someone to talk to about what your reading means that you want to have something to say. It’s that little bit of added pressure that will make you stick with your new reading schedule.

Make it a game

If there’s something I’ve learned as a teacher, it’s that turning almost anything into a game will get more buy-in. Reading can work the same way. Reading challenges are a great way to do this. You can join Goodreads, for example, and sign up to read a certain number of books in a year. You could decide to read something in every genre, or read the alphabet (each title starts with the next letter), or read something from a different country each month. The possibilities are endless! Creating a challenge out of your reading list is a great way to inspire you to keep going.

Just read more books

Ultimately, the biggest, most important thing I want to say here is to simply: read more books. It will change your life, changing your thinking, and change the way you see the world. I cannot speak strongly enough about the opportunities that will open before you and the joy you will get from becoming a reader.

If you have managed to turn yourself into a reader, I would love to know what the book was that did it! What was your first “book love”? Write in the comments below (I’m secretly fishing for more things for my To Read List! 🤫).