8 Tips to Read More Books

“How do you read so much?” is one of my most frequently asked questions.  I always give the same 3-4 sentence answer, but getting the question so much really made me consider how I do power through all the books I do. I’ve realized there are so many reading habits that add up to a lot of reading success, and I wanted to share here in case you’re needing reading inspiration.

I work 40 hours a week, run this blog (involving Instagram, pinterest, etc.), cohost a podcast, work on a freelance social media account and also cook and clean a significant amount at our house— I don’t have that much free time, but I also don’t have kids. That’s just the situation to keep in mind as you read this, please don’t compare yourself to me in case I have way more free time than you! Any amount of reading you do is a great amount.

Also before we get into this post, I always like to plug my Bookstagram account in case you’ve found this post and are looking for more reading friends on the internet – let’s connect!

How I Read More in My Early 20s + Ways I Get Through 1-2 Books A Week

1. Read Before Bed Every Night

This is my no. 1 answer I give when people ask how I get through books so quickly. Setting myself up for an hour of reading before bed every night makes sure I am consistently getting through the book and keeping an interest in it. Going a week without reading a page in the book can leave me feeling uninterested in finishing it, but this constant cycle of reading keeps the book fresh on my mind.

This is also a generally good practice, and I’ve noticed a really big difference in my sleep after switching out endless scrolling to reading.

It’s always my goal to read for 40-60 minutes, but you can always set a goal closer to “read 20 pages” or even read one page.

Sometimes, I will read on my lunch break, but during WFH time, I really try to not do this as there are a lot of other things I can get done around my house. Once we return back to the office, I will likely pick this back up!

2. Make a Goodreads Account

My reading habits have changed from night to day after picking up this app! It took me a little while to get completely invested in it, but now I am absolutely hooked. It’s essentially a social media app dedicated entirely to books, book reviews and seeing what your friends are reading.

This is one of the main avenues I use for finding new books, getting an idea of if I will like a book and keeping up with what I have read. One of my favorite features is the ability to look up any book, and the app will actually tell me if my friends read it, plus what they rated/reviewed it.

The app has a ton of features like yearly reading challenges, but there are also different “bookshelves” for keeping up with what you have read, what you want to read and what you’re currently reading. I love using the currently reading feature to mark my percentage or page number in a book— this is so helpful for my book club to see how far along we all are in the book for that month.

You can connect your account through your Facebook to find friends, or you can also connect with people through the search feature. You can look me up with “Loren Provins,” and fingers crossed I will come up! I believe I connected through Facebook, so I can’t really find a username. If you want to become friends and you can’t find me, comment here so we can get connected.

3. Join Your Local Library

Joining a library takes off almost all of the financial hinderance from reading to your heart’s fullest content. The timed loan period also encourages me to get through the books faster and make them more of a priority. My library’s period is 21 days, but your library may be different.

I’m newer to the local library scene than most, and I think it’s mainly because I come from a really small town with a really small library. After moving to Knoxville, TN, my eyes were suddenly opened to the joy of the local library. I mean, the ability to rent any form of book (physical,  audiobook, ebook for kindle, etc!) for free?? It’s amazing. It’s especially nice that my library constantly has the latest and greatest books, and even if there is a wait on a lot of them, I’m able to constantly get at least on good one since there are so many I’ve missed over the years.

The Kindle/local library connection is an even more recent discovery of mine, and I LOVE it. I have a regular kindle, and I also have the kindle app installed on my iPad. The kindle app will update whichever device you’re reading on the begin wherever you left off on the list, so if I already need to bring my iPad to the coffeeshop, I don’t have to worry about grabbing my kindle and adding one more thing to my already crammed bag. Did I mention all of this is FREE? I love the library!

If you’re reading this as a college student, you can likely still become a member at your college town’s library. I used my dorm address to first become a member, and it worked perfectly! I found the local library had a lot more fiction availability than my school’s library.

4. Listen to Audiobooks

This might be a debatable tip, but it helps me almost double my reading time. I know some people don’t love or even like audiobooks, so this tip may not apply to you. Personally though, I am a huge fan of audiobooks, and I think some books are better in the audio format!

I use my library’s libby account to access audiobooks for free. This comes in handy when I’m driving, cooking, doing any chores and even at work if I’m doing a menial task for a section of time. I also listen at 2x speed so I can get through the books doubly as fast. Multitasking is one of my strong-suits, and I like that listening to audiobooks really plays on that strength I have!

If you’re completely new to audiobooks, the main thing I suggest is not trying to listen while you’re writing, reading or doing any other “brain heavy” activity. This isn’t doable for me, and it likely won’t be for you either, especially during your first time trying. I’ve heard friends make the same mistake and get totally turned off of audiobooks before they’ve given them a real chance!

My recent favorite audiobooks were Daisy Jones and the Six, The Dutch House by Ann Patchett and the Little Book of Hygge.

5. Join or Start a Book Club

If you don’t already belong to a book club, I highly recommend starting one or joining. It’s the best way to stay connected to a small or even larger group of your friends. Even during a pandemic, a book club is still totally doable— google meet is a great free option for connecting virtually with multiple friends.

It’s important to keep in mind that starting a book club doesn’t have to be difficult. It just takes a a few friends, a selected book and a timeframe to read it in! We usually do one book a month, but during November and December we let one book work for both months since we were really busy with the holidays. I’ll link a few of the books we started with.

6. Subscribe to Book of the Month

I started Book of the Month (BOTM) several months ago, and I have really enjoyed it. I used to struggle with spending money on books, it always felt such a waste to me. BOTM really changed my opinion on that, and now I look forward to picking out my book each month.

If you’re wondering what BOTM is, it’s basically a book subscription service, where you get to pick one book from five of the best of the best across major genres. It’s usually $14.99, but they sometimes run specials to get your first book for $9 or even $5.

I would love so much if you used my Book of the Month referral code!

7. Have a Weekend Reading Session

Another simple tip, try to fit in one marathon reading session every weekend. This really contributes to powering through a book that you’ve spent an hour before bed every night reading. I usually fit this into Friday night or a Sunday morning. This especially works for a good thriller or romance that I’m really caught up in! Which leads me to my next and final tip.

8. Read Good Books

This might seem obvious, but I think it’s a really good reminder. You do not have to read “intelligent,” high-brow books! Any kind of reading is good reading. I don’t love nonfiction, so I don’t often read nonfiction. Whatever doesn’t keep you sucked in, you do not have to read! Something I’m personally bad at is quitting a book once I’ve started it and realized I didn’t like it. This is my reminder to all of us that it’s perfectly okay to not finish a book, especially if it means it’s holding you back from starting another, better book. Even if it’s just Harry Potter for the eighth time, read what brings you joy!

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Those are my eight best tips for being able to read more. Reading is so happy for me and truly allows me to escape for a few hours a day, and I’ll be so happy if this post helps you make even slightly more time to dive in to a good book as well.

In case you need some reading inspiration, I’ll link a few of my favorite books I’ve read recently!