Hate books? Rethink your approach to reading.

Whenever I hear someone say that they don't read books it bums me out. What I hear is that no one ever gave them a book they actually enjoyed. People who read tend to be wiser, more open minded and more eloquent than people who don't. If you clicked on this article you're probably interested in reading more, but struggle to do it. It will help if you unlearn habits you were taught in school.

Forget the classics

People who don't often read tend to think reading means picking up a book written by Charles Dickens. But reading books by long dead authors is well, hard and not much fun. The language is antiquated and cultural references are lost on us.

Good news though, new books are written every year! By people who live in the same world as you do instead of Victorian England. You know what's more fun than reading about street urchins? Reading lesbian MILF erotica romance.

But if I am going to read, I want to read great, important books! Ah but you're making a false choice there strawman. The real choice is not between reading tawdry paperbacks and reading Dostoevsky. It is between actually reading a book vs. having a smarty pants book that just collects dust.

Quit books

Sometimes you're trying to read a book and it's just not clicking with you. Like maybe you heard a book was a must read for fans of the lesbian romance novel, but you find it boring and lacking drama. Just stop reading it and go to something else. There's no such thing as an actual must read book.

Nonfiction books are particularly worth mentioning here. Sometimes a book could just be an article (as a favorite podcast likes to say) and you don't need to read the whole thing. I was recently enjoying a pop science book about how settling space will be much harder than most people realize. But then it started getting into the minutia of the 1979 UN Agreement Governing the Activities of States on the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies and I could feel my eyes glaze over. The law part just didn't interest me as much as the technical challenges. This would probably be to the chagrin of the authors who repeatedly point out that space settlement enthusiasts have a habit of ignoring very real and existing space law. Whatever, I don't have to do a book report.

It is counter intuitive but I get more reading done when I give up on books. If I find my self putting down a book after just a few pages, or start seeing a book as something I have to do rather than something I get to do, then it is time to set it aside and try a different book.

Read comics

Comics are a richer field then most people realize. Sure, superhero fare dominates, but that's not what I like to read. If you can find a subject covered in a regular book, you can find it in a comic book. Like say if you wanted to read about lesbian musicians, or lesbian stepsisters, or a lesbian reincarnation fantasy, there's a comic for that. Whatever topic that might interest you!

Audio books aren't reading, but that's OK

Reading a paper novel is reading. Reading on a tablet is reading. Reading a comic is reading. Listening to an audiobook is listening, not reading. Sometimes that is your best option though. Like maybe you've heard about this book where a lesbian romance is complicated by a secret twin switch, right up your hypothetical alley. Except your library only has it available as an audio book. Then that's how you're going to consume that book.

Sometime you want an audiobook for a drive or for a workout. Sometimes it is just going to be easier to go with an audiobook than reading. That's cool. If your goal is to read though, audiobooks alone won't get you there.

Visit your library

When you have reading habits such as mine (wants new books, inclined to quit books that bore, chews through comics) reading can become an expensive habit. That's why I rely heavily on my local library.

You're really missing out if you don't stop by your library, and not just for books. Things my library loans out include movies, video games, board games, telescopes, blood pressure kits, Chromebooks, musical instruments, projectors, and fishing equipment. They can also set you up with some streaming services. More than any of that though, libraries are just a great third place where you can get out of the house without spending money. And librarians are generally super nice people who won't even blink when a grown man asks for help in finding lesbian comic books.