How I Went From Reading 0 to 124 Books A Year

A Beginner’s Guide To Start Reading

“A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies . . . The man who never reads lives only one.” – George R.R. Martin

I was not always a reader. There was a time in my life when the thought of reading books for enjoyment was not for me. I think the prime reason I never read for pleasure was that none of my friends and family members is into reading. I am not proud to admit that all the book reports I have written in school were with the help of Wikipedia.

For me, movies and TV series were enough. Why waste time reading a book that takes days when you can watch the same thing on TV in 3–5 hours? Well, now I know it is not the same. The best example for me is Harry Potter. I loved the movies growing up. Every year I waited for the next part but I never even thought of reading the books. God, do I regret that now. There were so many incidents, characters and dialogues in books that are not mentioned in the movies.

Also, the details you can get from reading a book are not possible in a 2- to 3-hour movie. The inner thoughts and feelings of characters are expressed much better in the books. Also, not every book has a movie adaptation which means you will miss out on a lot of great stories and experiences. As you are reading this article, you already have some personal reasons for wanting to start reading or to read more books. You can easily do that while enjoying every minute of the process.

The first novel I ever read was in high school A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini. I read that book in one sitting. It was so good. That was the year 2011 after that I never stopped. Last year I read 124 novels and if I can you can too.

Here are some steps that helped me become a reader and maybe they’ll help you too. I tested this out on my friend who was also a non-reader and now she’s read 3 books in 2 months. That may not seem a lot but you can’t just start reading and think I’ll read 100 books this year, you’ll burn yourself out.

Find Your Favourite Genres.

It’s the hardest part. First, if you’re a complete novice I would suggest you go to Google and find the genes from there. There are lots and lots of genres but broadly you can divide books into fiction, young adult, mystery and thriller, fantasy, romance, horror, self-help, psychology and so on.

Select the category you want to read. Choose one or two genres that you think will hold your interest. Just as an example let’s say you chose romance (because I like this genre). Now open Google again and search for the best books in romance. You will find some articles just open any article and choose one book from the list that you find interesting after reading their brief introduction.

Discover Sub-Genres in That Genre.

Now you have completed the first step and have chosen a genre that you think you’ll like. You have read one or two famous, most-read books in that genre but there can be a wide range of books in a single genre. All books have different themes and it’s possible you enjoy one more than another. That takes us to our next step, discovering sub-genre within that genre. For example, in romance, there is historical romance, romantic suspense, contemporary romance, etc. You can try different types of books to find one you like.

You make not always finish the book you start because that book may not be able to hold your interest but move on to the next book—don’t stop reading altogether.

Set Your Yearly Goal

Setting a long-term goal helps in achieving what you want as it’ll give you a sense of satisfaction when you finish your goal. At the start, I would recommend starting small, like 7–12 books a year. If you can you can read more or less depending on the time you get to read on a daily basis. If you have a hectic schedule and don’t get much time than you can even start with 3–5 books a year. I read 125 books last year but now I’m reading for more than 7 years.

Reading is about self-care it’s not a competition.

It’s about losing yourself in a different world and loving it. If you don’t love it, the problem is that you just don’t like that world, find your haven.

Start Your To-Read List According to Genres You Find Interesting.

Plan your reading list in advance. This way you don’t have to think too much. After you finish your book you can immediately start a new one from your list. Also, add more books in the list than you are planning to read because you’ll not like every single book that’s in this list so you’ll need more choices when the time comes.

Now you just have to read. It’s a habit that takes time to develop but it’s worth it. Losing yourself in a book, in the characters is something different and you’ll love it. Sometimes it’ll be all you can think about and it also helps in the times when you’re not feeling like yourself. You can just pick a book and lose yourself in their life.

Some Extra Tips:

1. Don’t lose heart when reading different genres to find the one you like.

It may be a long process but it’s worth it.

2. Keep a fixed time for reading.

It’s important because if you do it daily at the same time your mind automatically pushes you to do it. Trust me you’ll find time to read once you get into it but keeping a fixed time will help not only in short term but also in long term.

3. Join book groups if you want to.

If you can discuss the book you’re reading with someone who gets what you’re feeling it’ll make it a more fun process.

4. Don’t compare your progress to others.

You don’t know how much time they get to read daily or for how many years they’ve been reading. Just go at your own pace and enjoy the process.

Keep discovering other genres you don’t know when you discover a jewel. It’s not necessary that you’ll like only one type of book. You may like romance but you can also love mystery or thrillers. So keep discovering, keep reading.

I hope this helps you because reading a book is such a pleasure that I can’t even describe it. It changed my world and has helped in many difficult times in my life. So try it and hopefully you’ll fall in love with reading too.