How I'm reading more books (and faster)
Last year I read an abysmal amount of books, like only a couple. So this year I made a promise that I would read more books and get caught up on my reading.
This isn't the first time I've done this. I feel like I've tried and failed plenty of "Read 100 Books" challenges on and off throughout my life. Regardless of whatever I tried, my average was always around one book every month or two.
However, this year I made some big changes that have helped me read a little faster than usual. With this method, I'm now reading about four books a month, which is quite the increase. So here's what I did:
Bought an e-reader
I found an old, used Kindle on eBay for like $30. When I got it, it had like 100 terrible books on it that had titles like Romance in Tuscany and Wine and Marriage or whatever. I'm thinking the owner was some old lady. Fortunately, there's a setting to clear the Kindle and add a new account. You don't have to use Kindle. You could use literally any other e-reader, but I chose Kindle cause I used to own one in the past and was already familiar with them.
Get Libby
Libby is a free app that let's you use your library card to check out digital copies of books. The downside is that popular books have long waiting lists, but there's still a large selection to choose from. They even have magazines and audiobooks, too.
Once you borrow a book, you can download it to your Kindle. I like to borrow books for seven days because it forces me to hurry up and finish the book since I have to return it. When your book is due, it'll automatically be taken off your Kindle if you're connected to the Internet.
Change the font to OpenDyslexic
So on Kindle (or any e-reader) you can change the font. For some reason I've found the font OpenDyslexic helps me read text faster. I'm not really sure why, as I'm not dyslexic, but I am someone who sometimes has to reread a sentence when I'm reading too fast. Sometimes I'll read a whole page and wonder, "Wait, what did I just read?" and have to go back. For some reason I don't have that issue with this font. I can read super fast without my eyes stumbling over a word or thinking one word is a different word. It's a very forgiving font for people like me with overly caffeinated, easily distracted brains.
Make a list of all the books I want to read
Obsidian is where I keep all my lists and notes, and so I have a "Books 2025" note that's just one long checklist of titles. This way, when I finish a book on Libby, I can quickly move on to the next one instead of wasting time looking for books, reading reviews, going on Goodreads, getting pissed at the reviews on Goodreads, and generally just wasting time. I can simply move on to the next book on my list.
Giving up reality shows
Now this is a big one for me as I love me some trash TV. A ritual for most of my adult life is sitting on the couch after work and watching something stupid on TV. Usually I have my laptop open so I can multitask and watch TV while browsing Reddit or something. I would do that for up to three hours a day, which really adds up when you think about it.
I now spend only an hour watching TV and then quickly move on to something else (usually language learning or reading or working). Before I could easily spend three hours watching TV or binging through entire seasons of something in a few days. I don't think there's anything wrong with watching TV, it just takes up too much of my time. When I looked at my day and tried to think of things I could cut back on, TV-watching and aimless scrolling just seemed like the obvious thing.
And that's literally it. I now fly through books so quickly, I can't believe I used to waste entire months on just one book. Books in the 300-page range can easily be completed in a few days. However, I don't think speed was my issue; I think I was just distracted. There's so many things competing for my attention. But choosing between reading or passively watching another season of Love Island is not that hard of a decision. I just don't understand why it took me so long to make it.