The Somewhat Counter-intuitive Reading Habit That Helped Me Read More

I am a slow reader.

Well, slow compared to the hardcore Bookstagrammers and Booktokers out there. I don’t think I’ll ever reach 50+ books a year, at least not at my current stage of parenthood.

But I have consistently surpassed my personal goal of 25 books/year for a few years now, and to me, that’s still a lot.

When I read, some of the things that slow me down are:

• Emotional damage. I’m sensitive. When I’m reading any kind of trauma, I have to take breaks. Three Little Words and The Glass Castle, nonfiction memoirs that include child abuse and neglect, broke my heart and enraged me to the point that I had to put each away to cool down. And it’s not just nonfiction: I was so excited to read Lessons in Chemistry, but completely surprised by the assault at the beginning of the book, so much so that I had to avoid it for a few weeks before I picked it up again.
• Something that bores me or isn’t really my style, but I have to read it. This is mostly for book clubs or school assignments. Especially as a high school teacher, I felt obligated to read books that interested my students so I could be a better English teacher and recommend fun reads. But that also means reading a lot of teen angst, which is something I’m not really that into anymore now that I’m in my late 30s. Any book that I’m reading for the sake of someone else is a book that I don’t want to DNF, so I push myself through… which slows me down.
• The book is SO my style that I want to soak in its beauty and never let it go. There are some books that I adore so much, where the writing style speaks to my soul, the story is so gorgeous, that I don’t want to rush through it and I don’t want to let it go. I will re-read passages, take moments to breathe and reflect, have conversations with others about events and characters. And that takes time, too.
• A book hangover. If I become so intensely immersed in a world and its characters that it breaks my heart to leave them at the last page, I’ve got to take a breather after I finish reading so I can recover.

I know these are all legitimate reasons for slowing down, and there’s nothing wrong with taking it slow. But as someone who enjoys reading and considers “avid reader” to be a badge on my identity, it bums me out when I am not reading.

How I Fight My Reading Ruts

I started changing my mindset about how I read when I considered how I consume other stories and media. Somehow, my brain is able to follow multiple storylines of gossip from friends, family, and coworkers. I pore over Tiktok so much that I feel weirdly connected to several creators I have never met. I usually watch at least 4 TV shows at a time with my husband every night. Not to mention all the kid shows that my children have going on in the background.

If my brain can keep track of all those people and storylines, why can’t I do the same with my books?

It seems a little counter-intuitive, but the way I get through these reading ruts is by adding more books to my plate.

Now, I typically read 3-5 books at a time, in various formats (audiobook, kindle/e-reader, and physical book) so that I can read in any environment and any mood that I’m in.

As a teacher, I’ve learned that inertia and stamina are huge when it comes to building reading habits. Inertia is the tendency to stay in your current state, whether it’s movement or lack of movement. Stamina is the ability to stay active for a long period of time.

As a reader, I want to keep moving.

Considering what gets me into reading ruts and pauses, the best way for me to fight it is to give myself ways of relieving tension without losing movement in reading. I strategically plan how I read. I try to pick books that balance each other out: varying genres, moods, and difficulty levels, so I can bounce around based on my mood and circumstances.

Let me give an example by sharing the books I’m currently reading:

I ended 2023 with a lovely reading period of Divine Rivals/Ruthless Vows, Making It So, Bookshops and Bonedust, Assistant to the Villain, and The Adventures of Amina Al-Sirafi. Fun reads to please my sci-fi/fantasy/romance/adventure-loving heart.

My January-February 2024 sweet spot looks like this:

• Braiding Sweetgrass (audio+e-book) : a nonfiction science/memoir to give me a taste of the real world so I don’t burn out on all my lovely fantasy books. I started this as an audiobook because I treat nonfiction books like podcasts and listen to them while I do chores or drive. I also added the e-book through my library after I realized that I would fall in love with this writer, and I wanted to be able to re-read passages and write down quotes.
• The Only One Left (e-book): a thriller to keep me grounded in the real world so that I could really enjoy fantasy when I started back up. Turned out, I LOVED this book and ate it up real fast. I read this one as an e-book and built up my stamina for “eyeball reading.”
• Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief (e-book+audio): I picked this up for the children. So many of my students have loved this, and I wanted to see what all the hype was about. As a lighter fantasy read, I thought this would be an e-book winner. But, it’s too young for me. I wasn’t feeling it. But it falls into that category of books that I don’t want to DNF because I feel like I’m reading to be a better English teacher. I switched over to audiobook, and now I’m reading it at 1.5x-2x speed to still read, but not feel like I’m wasting my time. Now, it feels like a fun light read for those days when I want to listen to an audiobook, but I don’t have time for the long chapters in Braiding Sweetgrass.
• What the River Knows (e-book): I had put this on hold at the library and planned on reading it after I finished my current loans, but. I couldn’t help it. After finishing The Only One Left and getting disappointed with Percy Jackson and The Unfortunate Side Effects of Heartbreak and Magic, I needed another eyeball read fast before I lost my momentum. It became available through my holds, and I picked it up before my reading slowed. It’s historical fiction with a touch of fantasy, and it’s perfect for me!
• Meet Me in the Margins (audiobook): This is another one I’m reading for other people. It’s the February pick for my local book club, and honestly, I wasn’t feeling it after the first chapter. But, I rationalized that having an excuse to socialize was better than DNF-ing this book, so I put the audiobook on 2x speed, and surprisingly, I’m actually enjoying it now!
• DNF-ed along the way: This Is How You Lose the Time War (audio), The Unfortunate Side Effects of Heartbreak and Magic (audio and e-book). I wasn’t feeling either of these, I wasn’t reading them for anyone, and slogging through them wasn’t worth it. Remember: You don’t have to read a book you don’t like!

The side effects of this reading strategy:

• It usually takes me longer to read a single book than it does a peer who is devoted to one book (unless I’m super hooked)
• I end up finishing all my books in the same 2-week window and having to start a whole new search for a literary sweet spot. No matter how much I try, I can’t break out of this pattern!
• And of course, I read more because I don’t slow down and fall into ruts as much.

If you can watch several TV shows at once, you can read several books at once.

The hardest obstacle for me to overcome when I switched over to this reading strategy was my fear that I wouldn’t be able to give each book the love it needed. How could I possibly keep the universes and storylines straight? What if I get confused and mix them up, or miss crucial details that I otherwise would have seen?

But then I thought of my typical TV watching week. I’ll watch Parks and Rec and Modern Family with my husband, throw in a movie every now and then, and watch The Crown and my newest K-drama obsession when everyone else goes to bed. Somehow, I don’t accidentally place Leslie Knope in the Korean countryside or Queen Elizabeth in the US suburbs.

I tried it out with two books at once, then three. Now, if I’m really adventurous, I’ll go up to four or five. A friend of mine said her dad did a similar strategy and would keep about 10 books in a basket, and read 1 chapter a day from each one!

So here’s a new reading strategy for you if you haven’t tried it yet: read more than one book at one time, and do varying formats. That way you’ve got something to read while you drive, while you wait in the doctor’s office, while you watch your kid during their independent play time, or any mood you find yourself in! Let me know how it goes!