How do you read so much?
Recently, somebody asked me this & I genuinely had to think about it. It hasn’t always been this way. The jump occurred last year!
2021: 107
2022: 89
2023: 87
2024: 85
2025: 179
So what’s changed?
I think the biggest thing that’s helped is limiting my social media use. I’m working on rewriting my relationship with social media, hoping to use it exclusively as a business & networking tool. I keep the socials off my phone & exclusively update my accounts on my iPad. Do I still scroll on my phone? Unfortunately. It’s better, however, that I’m scrolling through New York Times articles rather than Instagram Reels.
I’ve also started reading in other mediums that I used to turn my nose up at. I am a tactile human, if I’m reading, it MUST be on paper because I don’t feel like I’m reading unless I’m turning a page & feeling paper between my fingers. Then I met the Kindle app on my iPad when I moved back to Florida for 10 weeks & (unfortunately) couldn’t fit my massive library into two suitcases. While it wasn’t the same, it still helped me tremendously stay on top of my reading goals because of its portability & convenience. I have a Kindle now that I bring with me everywhere. Any time I have downtime, I pull it out & I’m whisked away from the break room or the grocery store to another world. My job has a 90 minute commute & there’s only so many times you can put on a one woman musical in the car, so enter the audiobook. I’ve always known public libraries are heroes, but the Libby app? A crown jewel of my commuter life! I’ve enjoyed audiobooks more than I ever thought I would. I always worried that I’d lose the plot because I didn’t have a page to turn back to & reference, but these audiobook narrators are so memorable that I haven’t run into this problem yet! Never thought I’d say this but I’m thankful for this commute because I never would have audiobooked without it.
As mentioned above, THE LIBRARY. A hindrance to reading all the books I want will always be money. In fact, the only card I haven’t maxed out is my library card! My library system is amazing. I can check out 99 books at a time, no late fees, and the option to suggest titles the library hasn’t purchased yet? Sign me up! In fact, my favorite read last year was a library book that I’d seen in Barnes And Noble but had to keep passing up because of my unemployment. I am so grateful to my library & I encourage everyone who reads this to immediately apply for a library card if they haven’t.
The biggest thing, however? It’s NOT ABOUT QUANTITY. In a world that’s facing a literacy crisis & turned attention to doomscrolling & brainrot, the simple act of picking up a book & reading is already enough. It’s not a race, either. Not everyone can speed read, & not everyone is lucky enough to have hours of free time they can dedicate to the pursuit of reading a bunch of books. Take a simple step today and just read SOMETHING. The back of a cereal box. The ads on the train or the bus. An article someone posted to Facebook. Maybe one of my recommendations? Even one of my old blog posts!
Happy reading 😉
Photo: a page from Knight Owl and Early Bird written & illustrated by Christopher Denise. Illustration copyright Christy Ottaviano books.
