How to Read More Books When You Don’t Love Reading

For when you want to be the kind of person who reads more

Clearly, if you’re reading this then you’re not entirely opposed to reading. So let’s assume that even though your idea of a perfect night isn’t sitting down with a book for hours, you still want to be the kind of person who reads more.

I am an avid reader. As I am writing this, I have a stack of 17 books on my desk that my heart is convinced I will be able to read this month (my head is less certain but not willing to tell my heart no).

So imagine my surprise, when I somehow married a person who isn’t obsessed with reading. He doesn’t hate reading — his childhood copies of Harry Potter are displayed on our (mostly my) shelves, and he will read through any interesting articles I recommend to him. Unfortunately, my image that I had before I met him, of one day sitting next to my husband in the evenings as we each read our own books and then talk about them, has not happened.

Until recently.

I finally figured out a solution. We have been slowly restoring the 1930s bungalow that we purchased last year. Seeing how much research he was doing online about historical homes, I decided to borrow several books about craftsman homes from the library. The pile of books I borrowed might have been excessive, but since he found two books that he wanted to read, I considered this a success.

I’m excited that he asked me to sit on the porch and read with him once, and he’s excited that he is learning more about old houses in more depth than he could have found online.

My husband doesn’t necessarily want to “read more books.” But I’m a former English teacher who has spent a large amount of time leading pre-teens to enjoy reading. I couldn’t help thinking about ways that someone who doesn’t love to read but wants to read more books might be able to do so.

If you’re already a book lover, like me, share this with someone else who you know wants to read more. If you’re one of the people who want to read more, keep on reading.

Pick books about topics you are actually interested in. Don’t think that you have to read whatever is at the top of the best-seller list just because everyone else seems to be reading it.

If you love sci-fi movies, read sci-fi books. If you have season tickets for your favorite hockey team, read non-fiction books about hockey.

Listen to audiobooks. If you already listen to music or podcasts, swap those out for audiobooks sometimes. I actually really like podcasts, so when I go on long trips, I pick a non-fiction book because I consider that to be a very long, intensely researched podcast.

Listen to a sample first, though, before you commit to an audiobook. There is nothing worse than listening to 6 hours of an annoying narrator’s voice.

Get a library card. I know, it sounds strange to have a library card when you aren’t a huge reader, but you haven’t picked out hundreds of books for yourself in the past, so you need the safety of the library to build that skill back. It’s discouraging to spend $30 on a book that you don’t like after the first 3 chapters.

Go to the library. Borrow the ones that seem interesting. Read a few pages of each one until you find the book that you don’t want to stop reading. Then, return all the rest.

You can even buy that book from a bookstore if you’re worried that you will forget to return it on time. Do not waste money on books you will never read because then you will stop reading.

Find a buddy to read the same book that you are reading. You have friends that want to read more. Pick one who has similar tastes as you and read the same book. Schedule a day to have it finished to talk about the book.

One of you will most likely get super into the book and continuously remind the other to finish in order to talk about it. Or you’ll both complain about how terrible the book is, but you’ll finish it anyway so that you can talk about just how bad it was.

Either way, you’ll be more likely to read the whole thing.

Read books in your email inbox. Try a site like DailyLit that sends you small portions of books through email. DailyLit is a website that does this that I have personally tried. There are more sites that send chunks of books directly to your email (DripRead is another one).

You can choose the size of the except that is sent to you daily. You are already checking your email each day anyway, and you can spend 5 minutes reading a little bit of a book then.

No, this is not a fast method of reading a book. But, you can choose to have the next installment emailed to you right away if you can’t wait until the next day. And besides, taking two months to read a book still counts as reading more if you wouldn’t have read at all otherwise.

Make reading a book part of your evening routine. You know that you shouldn’t be on your phone right before you go to bed, but you’re on it too late anyway. What else are you supposed to do when your mind is still too active to fall asleep?

No surprise that I’m going to tell you to read a book. Be selective in what you choose to read before bed. This is not the time to read a thriller right before bed. Instead, go for something like a collection of short stories or essays or any other book that will not have every chapter ending in a cliffhanger.

Better sleep and more reading? A perfect evening routine.

You aren’t suddenly going to read 100 books in a year by listening to this advice. But if you want to read more books and aren’t sure how to follow through, then start with the first point — pick books about topics you are actually interested in — because there is no point in reading more books if you don’t like any of them, and go from there.

• Pick books about topics you are actually interested in.
• Listen to audiobooks.
• Get a library card.
• Find a buddy to read the same book that you are reading.
• Read books in your email inbox.
• Make reading a book part of your evening routine.

The benefits of reading just a little bit more will be worth the effort.