If you’re like us the desire to read more books is always at the top of your New Year’s Resolution list. Well, we’re one full month into the New Year. How’s it going?
Hopefully, you’ve found the time to get out to a blazing start. We did! And we’re about to share the keys to the kingdom. First, however, let’s examine our motives?
Why Would You Want To Read More Books?
The answer to this lies in your love for reading, or at least the idea of it. As it turns out, there are many good reasons to crack open as many books as possible in 2020. Here are some of the ones we’ve managed to pinpoint.
To Learn
Every time you crack open a 70,000-100,000-word tome of material, you’re bound to learn something you didn’t know before. It doesn’t matter if you’re reading fiction or non-fiction. You get a different view of the world, usually backed up with analogies, illustrations, facts, and data. It’s impossible not to learn something!
To Be Entertained
Some of us are entertained by well-written non-fiction on topics of personal interest. Others just love to read because it’s a better way of getting involved in a story than watching it play out on Netflix or at the movie theater. Reading is entertainment, and we could always use more of that in our lives!
To Hit Personal Goals
Some of us just love hitting personal goals, and once we set reading as the goal we wish to achieve, we want to make sure those numbers are as high as humanly possible. These days, that’s more doable than it was before, thanks largely to speed-reading and audio books. (More on those in a bit.)
To Outdo Your Crew
Many have gamified reading by joining sites like Goodreads. While over there, chances are pretty good you’ve joined groups and made “friends” with people of similar reading interests. Why not try to outdo each other with a reading challenge to see who can read the most in the New Year? You can have prizes for a monthly winner and one big one for the year’s champion. What’s more fun than that?
To See Another Perspective
Books open up worlds with unique insight. We are able to “see” through the eyes of another when we open up a really good book. This helps us to expand our horizons and develop a deeper respect for our fellow human. It never hurts to understand each other. In fact, our world could use more of that.
Now that the desire to read more books this year makes perfect sense to you, it’s time to jump right into the tips. Here are 11 ways that you can guarantee reading at least 100 books in the New Year.
1. Read at the Bookstore
Most towns of a reasonable size (75,000 or more) have a bookstore of some kind where people can go and hang out. If not, there’s a chance you have a Starbucks or coffee shop that keeps a basket of freebies for you to have fun while spending your time there. Some have even employed free book bins on-site.
Even if you don’t have a physical book handy, you could just download a book to your phone and read it while you’re there. But if you do have a bookstore you can kill time in, go read a book or two and track your progress. Every time you find yourself in that store, find the book on the shelf and pick up where you left off. You might be able to read 10 or more books each year if you go there frequently.
2. Get on Library Audio Book Waiting Lists
Audio books count, darn it! Your brain processes the words in the same way if you’re listening intently as it does if you’re reading. However, audio books can also be very expensive, unless you start reserving your copies through a local library.
Check out what your city’s library has available in the audio department and claim your copies. Of course, you’ll want to jump right on them when they become available. Failing to get through the book could mean another long wait before you get it back into your queue.
3. Browse YouTube for Audiobook Freebies
It might be a tad unscrupulous, but there are many audio books for free on YouTube. If you have a good Internet connection or you pay for the YouTube Premium service that allows downloads, then grab your copies while you can and give them a quick listen.
4. Change Up Your Reading Pace
One great thing about audio book listening platforms is they usually allow you to adjust the reading speed. Say a book is 10 hours long. Listening to it at twice the speed (2x) would cut it to 5 hours. That can be a bit daunting for some ears, though. Scale it back to 1.5x, however, and you can get through that 10-hour book with 2.5 hours to spare.
5. Juggle More Than One Book at a Time
At any given point, we’re employing many of these strategies on multiple books. That means we may get through nine complete books one month, but we started another 3-5 that could end up finishing before year’s end. Keeping the 9-a-month pace, that means some months could be 12-14 books once the ones we started in January are finally finished.
We also do print books, eBooks, and audio books. Mixing up the combination of books always gives us something to read whenever we’re in the mood to read.
6. Learn to Speedread
Speedreading is a cool skill you can develop once you learn how to de-emphasize certain less weighty words (i.e., a, an, the, and, but, for, etc.). It’s not that these words are unnecessary. They’re just easy to gloss over, and the context of the meatier words will usually help you fill in the “gaps.”
If that doesn’t make much sense, consider taking an online course. And yes, there are some free ones that are worth your while. You can access one here.
7. Employ Speedreading Technology
Don’t trust your brain to do the speedreading on its own? Consider employing an app like Outread to help. Some of the Amazon tablets also offer this feature. Generally, they work by only a few words being emphasized at a time with the rest scaled into the background. You set the words-per-minute rate. Then you try to keep up.
It can be fun but dizzying. You may not wish to read the whole book that way, but it can help jolt your reading productivity when you feel yourself getting lost in the walls of text.
8. Make the Most of Waiting Rooms
Everyone will find themselves dealing with an annoying wait from time to time. Maybe you’re getting an oil change or new tires. Perhaps you’re at the doctor and have no idea when they’ll finally call you.
Wherever the wait is, and however long, bringing a book with you is a great idea. If you don’t want to carry a dog-eared copy around with you, use your Kindle or Apple Books app on the phone to catch up.
9. Keep a Book by Your Bedside
Reading before bed is a nice way to wind down for the night. It’s also a good way to push along your reading progress before you turn out the lights.
10. And One in the Bathroom
Same concept as the bedroom, but be careful here. Prolonged sitting can lead to medical annoyances and issues.
11. Read in Between Tasks at Work or School
Sometimes reading makes for a great mini-reward when you’ve accomplished something at work or school. Keeping a book at your desk or pulling out your phone for a quick dive into your favorite reading app is a great way to keep your brain active and engaged.
Ready to Read More Books a Month?
Employing the tactics we’ve presented here will guarantee that you read more books in 2020 and the years ahead. Now it’s your turn. How many books do you plan to read this year? And are you on pace or off? Sound off in the comments section below!
Aric Mitchell's work appears regularly here at 4tests.com and across the web for sites, such as The Inquisitr and Life'd. A former high school teacher, his passion for education has only intensified since leaving the classroom. At 4tests, he hopes to continue passing along words of encouragement and study tips to ensure you leave school ready to face an ever-changing world.
