I’ve not been enjoying my reading very much so far this year. And that’s sad! Reading is an amazing hobby that is so good for us, but I feel that I, like many others, have taken some of the fun out of it.
Here are some ideas I have for how to enjoy reading again without all the disappointment and drama.
Read at a different time or place
Spice up your reading by reading outside of bed. I usually only read in bed but this slows me down and means I’m always reading when I’m at my lowest energy level. No wonder it’s less fun! Instead, doing a session outside of bed can really help. Or if you always read in the same chair, try another room or chair. Try a park bench now that it’s springtime for some of us.
Bring a book everywhere you go. Walking or exercising? Audiobook. On the bus or train? Bring your current read or read on your phone. Waiting at the dentist or hairdressers? Read! Long commute? Audiobook!
Try out another genre or style – or get really specific
If you always read romance, why not try a romantasy (a fantasy with a romance plot)? If you read mystery, why not try a thriller? If you read fantasy, why not try a sci-fi?
You can also diversify your format. Try an audiobook or ebook. Borrow from your local library to try out something outside your comfort zone without spending any money (risk free!).
Read a new voice. Black and Asian authors. Older authors. LGBTQ+ authors. Disabled authors. Translated fiction from around the world. You might be bored because you’re always reading white, western, able, straight authors! Trust me, diversity is the key to bringing the fun back!
I also recently defined niches of interest that are more specific than genre, which has helped me find new reads to try.
Critically engage with what you read
I’ve been keeping a critical media journal where I sit for a little while and write notes about the films and TV shows I’ve been watching. This habit is really fun but also serves to imprint the media I’m consuming on my mind. I don’t want to passively watch and forget! I want to form my own opinions, remember the time spent, and keep a log.
This can be done with reading too. A lot of people already have a reading journal, but are you critically engaging with the work or just writing whether it was 5 stars or not, spicy or not, and what type of book it was? There’s so much more depth to a novel, even a bad one, so take a moment longer to consider what lies within.
Some ideas for better engagement (and therefore a deeper experience):
- Underline or tab in the physical book – mark pretty prose, poignant points, things that shocked you, things that made you laugh, something you want to remember, something important to a mystery
- Comment on – characters, themes, expectations versus experience, author’s intentions, any relevant social political or historical context, did it achieve what it set out to regardless of your enjoyment?
- What is the book trying to say?
- How did it handle themes?
Stop limiting what “counts” as reading
Short novels, novellas, short story collections, whatever – they all count. Someone wrote it, and you’re reading it…simple as that! Listening to audiobooks counts as reading, and it’s ableist to believe otherwise. Listening to audiobooks while reading along with a physical copy isn’t cheating! I enjoy reading so much this way but I keep beating myself up, saying I’m cheating. It’s not! This is a hobby for me as well as part of my writing career: therefore I get to set the parameters of my experience.
And so do you!
Talk about what you read
Sharing your experience with a book increases your engagement and enjoyment. It helps you to see it from a new perspective when conversing with someone who has read it themselves. I’ve discussed Project Hail Mary with colleagues, my husband and siblings. We’ve either read the book first then watched the film, or vice versa, and this adds layers to our experience (never mind that we’re all different people anyway). I’ve also discussed Bat Eater in person and on my blog. And Flesh by David szalay with a colleague. All these books feel more real and interesting in my mind because of the conversations I’ve had with others about them.
Some of my colleagues are part of a book club which is of course a perfect place to talk about books, but don’t think you can’t just talk about them casually too.
Change your metrics for success
Lastly, when we focus on how many books we read a month, or how long they were, we forget about more important things. Like, are we enjoying ourselves?! Are we learning new things? Are we taking longer because we’re growing as readers and reading outside our comfort zone? Are we reading a higher calibre of book than we used to, and so it’s slowing us down? Is the average rating of books we’re reading higher than years before because we’re taking our time and choosing with intention? Are we deciding to DNF books more often because we don’t want to waste our time not enjoying a book, and so the completion stats are lower? Are we just tired, stressed, or busier than years before?!
There’s so many factors that go into your reading speed, experience and stats. Change what success looks like for you. As long as you’re reading when you want to, you’re doing just fine! By putting pressure on it, it takes all the fun out of the process.
It’s about the journey, not the destination…
Sincerely.
S. xx
S. R. Crawford 