Is one of your New Year's resolutions to read more books? Excellent! But you have a tiny problem: if it has not worked other years, why would it work now? Well, that's why I write this post (the first one of the new year) to help you meet your goals.
These four ways have been tested by me over the years and they have worked pretty well. As of now, all that stands between my love for literature and me is my tight schedule and all the books I have to read for college. But fear not, I think I will help you achieve at least one of your resolutions for 2016.
1. TBR Jar or To-Be-Read Jar
It doesn’t necessarily has to be a jar, it can be a plastic bottle, a cup, a cardboard box ... The important thing is what it contains.
The first thing you have to do is get all the books that are just sitting and gathering dust on your bookshelf as they will be your priority to read.
Then you should write or print each title on a small piece of paper to fold individually and put it in the container you will be using.
Finally, you can decorate it with a label, ribbons, stickers, etc, and place it near your books.
Now you can do two things with this: use this jar to take a piece of paper a month and see what book you will read or take a piece of paper each time you finish a book, anyway this will help you avoid going through the process of choosing a book among the many you have not read and have the surprise of not knowing what you will read later. But if you don’t feel in the mood to read the option you took out... you can fold it again and pretend it never happened.
BONUS: This idea has been done by many people on many platforms (I saw for the first time on YouTube, but can’t remember what video in particular); so there are many ways to do it and you can find some on the Internet, such as to only put in 12 pieces of paper and that each one corresponds to a category, for example a book of over 500 pages or a play or a book of poems, whatever you need to get motivated. Here are some examples.
2. Read-a-thons
This is a fun way to motivate them to read more books. The way they work is by giving deadlines for a certain number of books to read or about a certain subject and then (or during) you talk about it with others.
The first thing you do is find a Read-a-thon that will be on a date nearby. Here is a link to a blog that has the best list of all the ones happening this year.
Then you join. This depends a lot on who is hosting the marathon as it may be a blog, a YouTube channel or group on Goodreads. Many of the Read-a-thons encourage you by offering prizes, but the real motivation is that it's a challenge for you.
Finally, connect with others. This is the part that many find really motivating because you can talk about it with people around the world that are pursuing the same goal as you in that moment. Many record themselves each day and talk about how much they read, others use Twitter or Facebook to keep track, others use the forums or blogs to discuss events, etc.
Personally, I like to take the challenges of the Read-a-thons but I'm not very vocal about it because I start feeling a lot of pressure and I stop reading if I have to be accountable to someone, but it is a great way to make friends and it works depending on what motivates you more.
3. Book Club
I know it sounds a little like something that only someone very pretentious or very old would do, but it doesn’t have to be that way.
First you find people to read with, or even just one person! It can be your best friend, your boyfriend or girlfriend, or if all else fails, a neighbor: the important thing is to have someone to read and discuss the book with.
Then choose a book. Preferably, one that everyone involved already has (especially if your reading list is very long), but it can be any book you guys like.
Finally schedule dates to meet and talk about it, it can also be through Skype or a phone call: the goal is to read certain amount of chapters for the next meeting and talk about the good and the bad, knowing that if you don’t finish reading you won’t be able to discuss the book.
BONUS: If no one close to you likes to read you can find a book club online. In Goodreads there are always people willing to read and make friends, and you can even find a group about the specific book you're planning to read. Emma Watson, the actress who gave life to Hermione Granger, just launched a Feminist Book Club on there that you can join, if that's your thing; also, last year Mark Zuckerberg (creator of Facebook) made one and Bill Gates (founder of Microsoft and philanthropist) always shares what books he’s reading or will read on Twitter , in case you're more motivated to do so by socializing with celebrities.
4. Other ways to read more books
If all else fails, do not fear! I have a few more tips for you:
- Create an account on Goodreads: if you haven't already and you don’t know what the hell I meant by that word throughout this post, it is a page where you can keep track of the books you have, the books you will read and that you have read, write reviews about them and make friends. Moreover, each year they motivate you to make a challenge for yourself about how many books you will read in the year, they keep count for you and they tell you when you’re a few books behind schedule.
- Don't be afraid to read graphic novels, collections of short stories or poems to accomplish your goal: All these count as literature and can motivate you and help you get in the zone to read a lot more books.
- Don't be afraid to stop reading a boring book: or a bad one, or one with a story that just doesn't catch your attention, life is too short to waste time, so book mark it and move on.
- Challenge yourself to read a certain amount of books per day and reward yourself if you achieve it.
- Make time to read and always carry a book with you: so if you have nothing to do you can read a few pages or chapters.
Do you have other ideas for me or for others to read more books during the year? Tell us in the comments.
I’ll write you soon!
