One of my favorite hobbies is, hands down, reading. I frequent the public library on a weekly basis, love perusing book stores, and run two different book clubs. With three small kids, I get asked a lot how I find the time to read. Here’s three of my best tips (more to follow next week, don’t worry!) for integrating more reading (for pure pleasure!) into your life:
Keep A Running List Of Books That Interest You
My top tip (and one that has had the most punch in my adult reading life) is to keep a list readily accessible (such as on your phone) of books that you come across that peak your interest. There’s truly nothing worse than having a slot of time to read, but then having nothing solid lined up! This way, when you find yourself at the library, a bookstore, perusing Kindle options, or trying to choose an audiobook, you’ll have an entire list at your disposal of books you’ve already vetted and feel prettttyyyyy sure will be a good match!
A few ways to get book recommendations are: asking a friend who has similar reading tastes as you what they’ve recently enjoyed, following Bookstagram accounts on Instagram of genres that interest you, listening to bookish podcasts, and going to your local library or bookstore and telling the librarians/booksellers 3 of your favorite books and asking them for personalized recs of similarly styled books. Most likely they’ll be thrilled to help a fellow reader out!
If You Start A Book And Don’t Dig It, Ditch It Immediately
As much as I love reading, I’m not a book purist. If I start a book (even one that was on my book list above!) and am not feeling it, I give myself absolute permission to put it down and start something new. We have finite hours in our lives, and even more finite reading hours, so to spend these reading something that feels like a chore is just not worth it. Feel no guilt here, friends!
Keep Books In All The Places You Frequent
How many times have you found yourself cooking dinner, having a lull, and reaching for your phone? Or standing in line in the grocery store for far too long and reaching for your phone? Or waiting for an appointment to start and reaching for your phone? Or trying to settle into bed and reaching for your phone? For all these times you’re “reaching for your phones”, try instead to reach for a book! Now, this only works if you have a book that interests you readily available. Which is why it’s important to keep books in your kitchen, your bag, your car, next to your bed…anywhere you frequent with a potential lull.
Sure, this may mean you have several different books going at once, but that just means more books are being read—yay! And you’ll seriously be surprised at how much reading gets done with 10 minutes here and 15 minutes there…it adds up!
Tips From Our Community
I asked on Instagram what YOUR best tips for getting reading done are, and here’s what you said:
“I love waking up early and read my favorite book, I think it’s the most relaxing way to start fresh.” —@the.yogic.naturpath
“Stop watching TV or scrolling on your phone!;-)” —@the.artistic.yogi
“Read 2-3 books at one time. Then you can pick up whichever strikes your mood!” —@looseleafdesignco
I’ll continue with Part 2 of this newsletter next week! In the meantime, would love to hear your best tips for carving out reading time! Respond to this newsletter or leave them in the comments below!
A Little Something Hygge
Speaking of reading, one of my favorite little pleasures in life is stumbling upon Little Free Libraries. These adorable little huts are put up in towns by individuals or businesses, and are a wonderful way to share books with others in your community. Plus—they’re just so hygge! We’re staying on the Connecticut Shoreline this summer and I’ve been delighted to spot them in the sweetest places—pictured below, a library at the beach accompanied by a reading bench and a library wedged between a bookstore and a coffee shop!
A Cozy Quote To Leave You With
“There are many little ways to enlarge your world. Love of books is the best of all.” —Jacqueline Kennedy