Do You Love To Read? How Do I Create A Reading Habit???

I think the first step is actively pulling away from the TV and turning the phone off, both cell and home.

Hi Jacque,

Kudos on looking into ways to love reading. Guess I’ve been a bookworm since as long as I could read, and I’m honored to be in good company with you for reading the World Book as a kid. Don’t know that I read it cover to cover, but I’d spend hours jumping from article to article, which will play into a recommendation below.

I don’t know that there’s a right or wrong way to approach reading. Personally, I’m always trying new methods to get more out of it. You may find that you will too. But I try to never make it feel like a chore and try to increase my enjoyment.

All that being said, here are some things I’ve tried along the way. I hope something in here will be useful as a method to adopt, adapt, or spur you to find a path that works for you.

–set a goal of reading a book per week/month/or a specific number per year
–carry a book wherever you go and utilize spare moments to maximize your reading
–pick a topic and read deeply on it; can also help to keep a second book going to give yourself variety; as alluded to above, you can practice circular learning if you worry about not remembering everything from one book, because if you’re exploring the topic in depth, each book will overlap to some degree, while offering something new. So say you pick a subject and a book to read on it; and from that book, you remember points A, C, and E. You finish that and read another book on it, and points A, C, and E are reinforced, plus you remember points B, D, and G. As you get more in depth, you’re going to reinforce what you remember, add some new points, and be able to look at the subject from several angles
–pick an author and read everything they’ve written, or everything they’ve written in a particular niche. For instance, years ago I read Agatha Christie, but I found I really only enjoyed books with her one detective, Hercule Poirot. So I read all her books with him in them.
–alternate long and short books; and here’s one thing I do every New Year’s Day–I read The Little Prince, because I love it and because I can read it pretty quickly, so that starts the new year off with an easy but satisfying victory
–alternate heavy and light books; I tend to read a lot of history, economics, and religion, which I enjoy, but sometimes I need a “palate cleanser.” My go-to is often kid lit, although I also like to read some fiction or something humorous before moving on to the next dense tome
–set a goal of reading so many minutes/hours/pages per day
–try reading an author or subject you’ve never tried before
–mix and match these or any methods you may like; it doesn’t have to be some monolithic system, nor should it be, it should be what maximizes your pleasure in the experience
–don’t be afraid or ashamed to drop a book if it’s not doing it for you; life is too short
–however, don’t be afraid or ashamed to give a book a second chance; different things speak to us more or less at different times of our lives

I’ve loved reading for as long as I can remember. In grade school I read just about every book in the library before heading up to junior high. Find something you love to read. For me it’s mysteries and if there’s a little romance thrown in, all the better! After many years of mysteries, that were terrifyingly intense, I’ve started reading Cozy Mysteries. They are usually a quick, fun and interesting read. I have several series that I’m into and as soon as I finish one in that series I read the next one in one of the other series. I find if I read too many of the same series in a row I get irritated with some of the characters.
I also loved reading to my daughters when they were young. We would find a series of books they liked and then read before they went to bed every night. To this day they love reading too, or listening to audible books. A great way to pass the time on a long commute.

Jacqueie I got reimmersed into Sherlock Holmes of course thanks to 2 video games,based on 10 of his cases.
I have a collection of 12 books by Conan Doyle on Holmes..find an author you loved maybe as a teen,even now..and read them again..never give up

I have always been a bookworm. I can read anywhere. It gets my mind off everything and my blood pressure drops. I know what you mean about infographics, etc… I love non-fiction books that offer info in bite sizes. I just got finished with Hidden History by Donald Jeffries. All of the chapters are divided into smaller chapters and you can pick and choose what you are interested in. It is about all the conspiracies you can think of since the 60s until now but is so well written and researched that you can’t put it down.