60 Ways To Read More Books in a Year

I’m experimenting with a year of trying to read more books and clear my TBR — and am inviting you to do it with me!

The core ideas behind my approach:

• We were born to love stories. This love has a far greater, primal presence within our minds and hearts than any of the other things distracting us. This isn’t just historical, this isn’t just going back to cave paintings and campfires — it goes back to childhood. We all know how to play make-believe. That’s essentially what we are doing here, using instructions an author left for us.

• The modern world is not geared towards nurturing this love of reading. Analogy: You know how people talk about obesity not just being a matter of habits and genetics, but being a product of the environment in which we live? It’s hard to live healthily when the price and availability of food/time/ingredients for most people = a likelihood of heading towards fast or processed food. So too is it like this for distraction. We live in a world of mobile phones, instant dopamine hits, and devices/services designed for addictive loops. Even if you don’t have ADHD by now, you’re likely to be closer to such a state than ever before (spoiler alert, I do have ADHD, and if you spend ten minutes with me you will prove to yourself that the condition exists / run away due to the uncontrollable excitement and speed in my voice!). We need any extra help we can get, just to focus!

• And what’s easier to focus on? Something your brain finds interesting, new, relevant. So…

• In my mind, any great reading experience should provide at least two out of these three elements: fun/a sense of play; emotion/feeling; realisations about the world/human beings.

• If a novel feels difficult to read, that doesn’t mean we give up on it - NOR, however, does it mean we keep going forever. We do what we can to get interested then we move on.

• We prioritise those novels that ignite a sense of passion and/or joy within us, regardless of how much literary ‘worth’ we think there is. From there, we can extend ourselves to challenging fare.

• It’s about getting rid of any sense of homework and obligation that school beat into us, and bringing back a sense of play.

If this sounds good, then signup to the newsletter below. I’ll send you a mini-book of 8 initial ways to jumpstart your reading habit, and will follow it up with a free year of articles and encouragement. We can do this…