If you missed my post about the courses I'm currently following, you can read it here. In that post, I shared my reading list for the courses I'm now following and that list was pretty long. In today's post, I wanted to share with you how I read so many books and not only books for university. Like many other people experience, my reading fluctuates during the year. This year, for example, I started off strong. I reread the entire Iron Fey series from Julie Kagawa within the first week of January. This gave me a huge leap into my reading goal, which I had set on 50 books in Goodreads. A few months later, I read fewer books. This was during the lockdown because of Covid-19 and when I was moving. Since the summer I picked it up again and now (at the time of writing) I am 3 books away from reaching my goal. I also counted some plays or novellas for this goal this year, for the next year I want to set my goal higher because some of these books only contain 100 pages or so.
What helped me reach my goal was when I started this blog. As a book blogger, it helps a lot to read many books so that you have topics to talk about. Book reviews are one of the most fun posts to write (in my opinion), so I want to read as many books as I can to share and review. I do know of myself that I sometimes forget the books that I'm reading or that I do not make enough time to read them. Since I started tracking the books I read on Goodreads I was able to finish more books because I logged the books that I was/am reading. I also learned to finish books before starting a new one, even though I not always do this. But as the perfectionist that I am, I want to read all the books on my bookshelves and I am slowly getting better at reading my physical tbr first before buying (a lot) of new books. Of course, I do sometimes buy new releases, but so far nothing has gotten out of hand (yet).
So, what helps me read so many books while I'm busy with a lot of other things? First, I do like reading. When you're busy and reading is not your favourite thing to do, it might be hard to read more because it isn't a priority. So start by asking yourself if you think that reading is a thing you really want to do or if it's something you must do. For me, if I must read something, I am less motivated to read a book than when I want to read a book. This might seem logical but, there's a difference in motivation and thus how to actually make sure that you read the book.
When I must read a book for university (that I'm not really interested in), I tend to give myself a deadline, if I didn't receive one already. The deadline gives me the 'motivation' to read the book because I must read it for a seminar, project or exam, etc. Besides, I find logging the page numbers of the book you're reading a fun motivation too. Often after I read 50% of a book I finish it fast, I don't know why but when I'm over the half-way mark I am more likely to finish it within a certain amount of time. Getting started (and into it) is the hardest part for me.
Planning out the books I want to read helps me to read more books during the month. During recent months, I read around 3/4 books (besides books for university) a month. Making a short to-be-read list keeps me focussed on books I want to read soon and less distracted about other books. Since I'm active on Bookstagram, I sometimes get distracted by hyped books that many people are reading but having my own plan does limit these distractions. Choosing a book that you want to read can sometimes be very overwhelming because of how many options you have. It is incredible how many books are still being written, but it also makes it impossible to read every book.
I tend to lean more towards new adult/adult fantasy nowadays because I've read a few YA fantasy novels recently that weren't really what I'm wanting at the moment. So even though there are many YA fantasy books that are still on my tbr I am shifting my focus a bit to the books I know I will love. Which is another important point. Choose books that you are almost 100% certain that you will enjoy it. Because when you are not enjoying the book that you're reading, you will not want to read it. Or so I suspect at least. There will always be that book that disappoints you, but it is better to choose a book that fits you and your preferences. For me, The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin is a great example of this, because it is an Adult Fantasy novel, with many people giving it high reviews. I really loved the book, so I already decided to read the next in the trilogy too.
I hope you learned something from these tips. But remember that reading is not a battle, it should be enjoyable. So do not feel the need to speed read many books, you should enjoy them and take all the time you want while reading them. Nowadays we are overrun with the amount of choice we have. Don't feel stressed about it, read the books you want to read and have a good time!
Love,
Julia
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