Frequently Asked Questions

I’ve created a FAQ to address some questions that I’ve frequently been asked about my reading habits and some general reading advice.

How do you read so many books in a year?

Much like any person who reads a lot: dedication and prioritization. We all have hobbies that we do in our free time to occupy us. My first choice is typically reading (unless I’m bingeing a TV show).

However, I’ve also noticed throughout the years that there are times throughout a person’s day that are strictly suited to reading: your commute into work (via public transit, you can read a book, and if you’re driving yourself, you can listen to an audiobook), during lunch (at work or school), during ‘waiting room’ moments, and more.

All the “little minutes” spent reading accumulates to many finished books because I’m maximizing my downtime.

How do I get over a reading slump?

There are a few tried-and-true blanket pieces of advice whenever someone is in a slump:

Try re-reading a book.
Read a book from a completely new genre.
Switch your reading medium (if you typically read ebooks, pick up a physical book, listen to an audiobook and vice versa).

However, my specific advice is that if re-reading a book isn’t working for you, re-read a favourite section of a book. Sometimes if it’s a particularly kickass scene, I’ll get in the mood to find books that evoke similar emotions.

If all of those are just flat out not working, I suggest reading a novella! Novellas are short novels (typically under 150 pages). Reading novellas during a slump can be great because they aren’t huge time sucks if you do not like the book, and with less time commitment, they still yield a sense of achievement once you’ve finished them. The best part about novellas is that they still count as finishing a whole book, despite their shorter page number.

Some novellas I recommend are romances that fall under these two genres: HEA Erotica and Erotica Smut (more focused on sexy times). Other novellas I recommend that can vary in the genre are anthologies.

I want to read more, but I don’t enjoy it. What should I do?

Whenever I meet someone that voices their incredulity over how many books I read in a year, I always say that it because I read books I like and sometimes love. In school, which is when most kids either develop a love or dislike for reading, we are forced to read books that many don’t find engaging (at least, that was my reading experience in elementary school).

Therefore, not only is reading a lot an exercise in dedication and prioritization (as my first question states), but an exercise in patience in finding what genre you like most.

If you already have a list of books that you can’t wait to get into but just want to develop a reading habit, I suggest scheduling time into your schedule for reading. It can be anywhere from 10 minutes to over an hour.

Also, I find that apps and websites like Bookly and Goodreads can make the reading experience fun and more engaging which will make you want to spend more time reading.

Bookly is an app I recently discovered that allows you to keep track of the minutes spent reading–which is handy for physical books, as my Kindle keeps track of my reading pace for me. Bookly also allows you to create and manage your reading goals for the day, month and year by setting a target either in minutes spent reading, pages read or total books finished. The app also allows you to log quotes and thoughts with correlating page numbers. The image to the right shows what kind of stats the app gives you for free. (However, you’re only allowed 10 books on the free version).)

Goodreads provides you with the opportunity to log your books read and currently reading, as well as a central place to review all your books, keep track of your ratings and bookshelves/organization.