How I Finished 5 Books In 3 Months
Okay, it’s not as mind-blowing as some accomplishments but since a lot of people out there struggle with the goal “to read more,” I figured I’d share something that finally worked for me.
Failing Over and Over Again
For the past 6 years, I have set impossible resolutions to “read more.” It all started in 2014 when I felt utmost shame for not having read one stinkin’ book that entire year. I used to be such an avid reader, and books are what gave me “the cheatcodes” to wisdom and insight beyond my age. It was pitiful that social media had pilfered my focus and planted an insatiable dopamine addiction.
As years rolled on, I tried to adjust my resolutions. It started so ambitious, with a goal of 2 books a month (ha!). Eventually it dwindled down to a 2019 goal of 5 books in a year. I got close with 4, but still couldn’t make it.
I’m happy to announce that I am on book #6 of this year, and it’s only April! (And yes most of these books were finished before quarantine) I think I finally figured it out. Before, I was trying to tackle two goals at once: the habit of reading instead of checking my newsfeeds and the act of reading really dense books. My “someday” shelf includes thick books on international monetary policy, implementation of agile practices in century-old corporations, and racial-socioeconomic strife — y’know, light stuff! They are topics of interest to me, but they’re not easy books to digest.
Looking back, tackling both goals at once was just a setup for failure.
This year, I was dragged into the Young Adult fiction section of Barnes and Noble by a friend. As I looked around, a book cover with the silhouette of a very familiar character caught my eye.
Was that … Mulan? My eyes shot to the Disney logo. Okay, this is legitimate … is this just a novelization of the movie? I looked up at the tagline, which read: “What if Mulan had to venture into the Underworld?”
What was this?! I must read it! I bought it immediately and read it as soon as I went home.
Momentum
It was the most fun I had reading in years. I finished the book in 2 weeks, which was a personal record for me in the last 5 years. I was stunned that I finished it so fast. It was easy and enjoyable and thus, it was easy for me to pick the book up instead of scrolling through Instagram.
So I wanted to try something. I had built this momentum of reading: could it apply to a denser book? I picked up a book I had wanted to read thanks to the 1619 Project: Ta-Nehisi Coates’ “We Were Eight Years in Power.” It was a collection of essays about Post-Civil War Reconstruction Politics, the Obama Administration, and how race relations led to the election of Trump.
Yep, light.
To my shock, I ended up finishing that one within 2–3 weeks as well! Two books down and it hadn’t even turned February yet. It seemed like the momentum I built from reading “Reflection” transferred to the Ta-Nehisi Coates book (his masterful prose helped too).
After that, I built an alternating pattern: easy book, heavy book, easy book, heavy book. For me, it’s kept the momentum of reading going and helps me through some thick books. After “Reflection,” I wound up buying a bunch more of the Disney “Twisted Tales” series. Currently, I’m on my “heavy” book and the quarantine has turned me to tackle that “someday” shelf so I am now reading Howard Zinn’s “A People’s History of The United States.” It was a gift once upon an anniversary and I have always been intimidated from reading it until now and I’m making awesome progress so far.
What are your easy books? Hard books? Could alternating them help you read more? It’s worth a try! Plenty of people have written about how to read more, so this just one of many things to try.
Tips to Read More
These are observations and things I’ve tried that have helped me nurture my reading habit.
- Alternate between easy books and hard books, as mentioned before.
- Don’t be afraid of putting down a book that doesn’t interest you. There is no sense in spending precious time on a book that doesn’t intrigue you or spark joy.
- Give yourself permission to skim the parts you don’t care about. No one is keeping score. If chapter 2 is a chore and chapter 3 is where you really want to dive in, it’s fine to skim or even just skip ahead.
- Make your goals realistic (if goals are even your thing). You don’t even have to have goals if it causes anxiety that eclipses the actual enjoyment of reading. I tried one year of the vague, un-quantifiable resolution “to read more” but it didn’t work for me, personally. I am a goal-oriented person so it was difficult to figure out how I felt about my progress. However, it’s also almost impossible to go from 0 books a year to 20.
- Give yourself credit. I was bummed that I couldn’t reach that goal of 5 books in 2019 but I was proud of having finished 4! Also, those 4 books expanded and challenged me, so I felt accomplished. 5 still felt like a reach-able goal since I got so close so I simply repeated the goal of 5 again for 2020. (And I’ve exceeded it, whoo-hoo!)
- Don’t force yourself to read books that you don’t care about. Seriously, no one is keeping score! Not really into nonfiction? That’s fine. Only interested in self-help books? Go ahead! Reading ought to be fun and enriching, not a chore! (Unless you’re still in school, I guess)
- Pick a habit you are trying to replace. Aiming to “read in your free time” seldom yields satisfying results. Netflix, Instagram, TikTok, Hulu, the news, Youtube are all designed to snatch your attention. I decided to bring a book everywhere so that whenever I had to itch to be on my phone while in line, I could read instead. I started enjoying riding public transit more because that was “reading time.” Instead of scrolling on my phone before bed, I could sneak in a few pages. I gave Disney+ and Amazon Prime a break as I filled “TV binge time” with “book binge time.”
- Embrace your weaknesses. I used to be a somewhat fast reader but I’ve had to come to accept that I am now a pretty slow reader. That’s why the title of this post isn’t “How I Read 50 Books in 2 Months.” Again: no one is keeping score. It took me 3 years to finish a book before. It’s fine. The book is there for your pleasure, not the other way around.
Conclusion
Why haven’t I mentioned audiobooks? Audiobooks are fantastic, but audio learning is a weakness for me. Since I can’t easily retain audio, I don’t bother with them. I wish I could!
Reading is special to me because it’s such an intimate, deep, and immersive experience. Nicholas Carr’s “The Shallows” thoroughly dissects the Internet’s effects of physiological changes in the brain. In it is a chapter about the invention of writing and reading and how reading led to logical thought as both writer and reader force the chaos of thought into a linear flow.
Since this reading journey in January, I’ve noticed that it’s been easier to slow down and easier to focus, which is now becoming a rare and valuable skill. That has helped me both in work and in art, which is a great bonus.
If my easy/heavy alternation tactic doesn’t help, fear not! Here are some great advice and tips to try out. And I do recommend going into this with an “experimental” mindset. It took me 5 years fo trial and error to figure out what works for me. Hopefully you’ll find something that helps you too.
Happy reading!
Edit (Dec 31, 2020): Happy New Year! Here are all the books I wound up finishing this year:
Resources
How to Read More Books in the Golden Age of Content by Max Joseph (Video)
This brilliant video essay inspired me to keep trying at this goal of reading more. Max interviews bookstore owners and readers of all types to get various insights.
How to Read More — A Lot More by Ryan Holiday
This is where I got the idea for bingeing books the way we binge shows. Ryan is a role model in me in terms of reading and helped me appreciate how rare and valuable being a reader can be. Books give a depth that cannot be accessed through articles and tweets and my knowledge from books has helped me in my career and initiatives.
The Key to Life is Running and Reading by Will Smith
This speech is old but it’s also inspired me to seek wisdom from books: “There’s no problem that someone hasn’t already solved that can’t be found in a book.” Quick, but great!
How to Read More: The Simple System I’m Using to Read 30+ Books Per Year by James Clear
I love-love-love this super simple piece of advice to simply read 20 pages a day. Maybe setting a number of books doesn’t make sense for you as a goal, but the number of pages might? Make goals realistic and attainable!
Any other resources you recommend? What’s helped you read more? What’s your biggest obstacle? Would love to learn more in the comments!
Havana Nguyen is a User Experience Designer and comic artist. Visit her work here and read more writings on Medium.
