How to Read More According to Booktok

If you’re anything like me, you’re a bit of a paradox: you love to read, yet you don’t read much. Maybe books were your way of escaping to a better world as a child, but now, as an adult with a boring job and an uninspiring routine, you look for easier, more accessible ways to leave reality behind. Stories are my favorite thing in the world, and books one of my favorite ways of consuming them. However, I’d be lying if I didn’t say social media and streaming services get the most of my free time.

I suppose most people just accept that and move on to things that bring them joy and that’s fine. Some people like movies, some like Instagram, and some read dozens of books every month and hundreds every year. It’s not a competition and no one is losing.

Except for me. I am losing. Because I’m petty and competitive and I used to read a lot but now I barely manage 12 books a year.

Determined to change that, I went straight to the source and asked Booktok how they managed to read so many books every month. I received quite a few answers, and here’s the most effective advice I got. Will this work? I’ll let you know in December, when I account for all the stories I’ve read. Until then, let me know if any of these improve your reading habits.

CHANGE THE FORMAT

By far the best advice I’ve received and I don’t know why I hadn’t tried it yet. I know the most purist of readers would rather stick to paperbacks, but if you’re looking to up your reading count, other formats have their benefits.

Sure, a kindle doesn’t have that new book smell and you won’t experience the satisfaction of cracking their spine. However, e-books have the advantage of changing the font size. If you’re a slow reader (like me) you can trick your brain into believing you’re reading several pages by increasing the font, thus staying engaged longer.

Audiobooks are a great alternative for those of us who have no time, though we’ll talk about that next. They also have the bonus of being a full performance, which feels a lot more lively with the right actor.

One of my favorite ways of upping my reading count are comic books and graphic novels. They’re much faster to read and you can one-shot them in a single sitting. They’re also great if you enjoy stunning artwork.

Finally, can we please accept that fanfiction is as good as a book? You have entire novels available to you for free and they can be accessed anywhere from your phone. Oh, and there are chrome extensions and apps that can easily turn fanfiction into audiobooks. If you’re into complex AUs, unabashed fluff, or good, old-fashioned smut, fanfiction has words, tells a stories, and make you happy. As far as I’m concerned, it counts as a book!

ADD IT TO YOUR ROUTINE

Routine seems to be a big part of the voracious reader’s life, but I find that to be tricky. I don’t do well in routine and I know non-neurotypical people struggle with it, so I’m not going to tell you to find 20 minutes every night to read a book. If you have great determination and strong will, I’m sure you can do it. I, however, have depression and can’t relate.

What is working for me was fitting stories into the boring sections of my already established routine. Lately, I’ve been brushing my teeth and applying makeup with an audiobook in my ears, which squeezes an extra 20-30 min of reading time I wouldn’t otherwise have. Find these moments of quiet and make good use of them: when you go to the bathroom, or when you’re cooking for your family, or walking your dog, or driving to work.

You already have a routine you can’t break out of, why not fill it with something that makes you happy?

MAKE THE BEST OF YOUR INSOMNIA

Finally, one of the most popular answers I got was using insomnia to your advantage.

I’m not going to be a hypocrite and say you should put your phone down and pick up a book instead because phones are bad for your sleep and they mess with your circadian rhythms and so on and so forth. Would that be good advice? Yes, but it would also make me a hypocrite. As far as I’m concerned, insomnia is for endlessly scrolling through TikTok and thinking dark thoughts. That’s it.

If you manage to let go of your phone and read a book instead, I’d love to know your secrets. In the meantime, my strategy is to read shorter books and graphic novels during my insomniac nights. I might also let an audiobook play, or just waste three hours scrolling through AO3, looking for queer fluff that will lull me back to sleep.

I’ll let you know how that went!

Did I miss anything? How many books can you read and how do you do it? Let me know!