Over the time I have realized that I like to read books, and fiction is my favorite genre with special emphasis to historical fiction. In a year I try to read atleast one book per month. To classify me as a voracious reader or not depends on the person passing the judgement. As the new year 2022 is ready to be welcomed, I would like to share few of my personal tips that may be useful to someone who wants to cultivate the habit of reading.
Read Daily
Rome was not built in a day. Neither can anything else build in a day or two. Thus to cultivate the habit of reading, you need to be consistent. For someone who does not have enough time or interest in reading, recommending to forcefully read for an hour or half is an unfeasible suggestion and task. So whichever book you pick, make a note to yourself that you have to read it for 10-15 minutes daily. On conscious observations, you can notice 10-15 minutes of time can be spared by all. You can even read before you sleep. This way you will not even achieve your target, but reading while lying on bed often lets you sleep quick.
Read on Kindle
Most people will not confer to this idea of mine. The lovely experience of turning pages, smelling a book, and creating or buying unique bookmarks is not possible while reading an e-book, but reading on Kindle has its own benefits. This is particularly true for new readers or the ones who wish to cultivate this habit. Apart from the many pros of Kindle, like it being easy to carry and allows the reader to simultaneously look for word meanings etc., the biggest benefit of Kindle is that it travels with you everywhere. Other than purchasing a Kindle, if you download the Kindle app on your mobile, you will be able to access it anytime and anywhere as long as you have your mobile with you. This gives the reader to read during travelling, during coffee breaks, waiting for people etc.
Judge a Book by its back cover
While there is whole lot of content and books available to be read, you must know what interests you the most. I have tried reading and developing my interest to read non-fiction books, but I genuinely loose track of the book very quickly. So know what triggers the reader in you. Do not always fall for the popular opinions. There are some who enjoy reading Booker Prize awarded books and take pride in reading only highest quality literature. But remember you read for yourself. Reading a book must give you pleasure and if a book is successful in doing that then its author may consider this no less than any award. Take suggestions, but before you purchase go through the reviews. A little research will let you know if that book is meant for you or not.
Follow Goodreads
The most important query and concern of a beginner or one who doesn’t read a lot, is how do I know which book to read, or my area of interest? For that I suggest exploring goodreads.com. This website is home to every book on earth and has book ratings and reviews done by readers from all over the globe. It is there that you will come to know the multitude of genre there are in the writing world.
Make a Reading Challenge
It is important to have a compass pointing to an objective than a map to take you where you need to go. Having an objective or challenge designed for yourself and by yourself makes it a clear and an enjoyable adventure. For a beginner, you may start with 2 books in a year. Intermediate readers may challenge themselves to read 6 books in a year, and so on and so forth. These are not boundaries, neither are these punishments, but rather these challenges are merely to give ignition to the reader within you. Over the time you yourself will start enjoying the book you are reading, appreciating the challenges you complete, and before you realize you may have already read more than you thought you could.
Read for yourself, read to expand your horizons, read to travel the world through your eyes and mind. Let me know which book do you plan to read in the coming year, or which books can you suggest me to read and vice versa. Though I have not updated my reading list completely, yet we can connect here on Goodreads too.
Aali Pant 