Falling Back in Love with Reading

Growing up, Percy Jackson was my favorite series ever. I wanted to go to Camp Half-blood. I wanted to meet Olympians. I wanted to be like Percy. 

When a new book in the series came out, I begged my mom to get it. I had to know what happened next.

It wasn’t just the Percy Jackson books. I remember staying up all night to read Old Yeller even though I dreaded the ending I knew lay before me. I did the same with The Million Dollar Shot, a book about a kid taking a free throw worth (as you probably guessed) a million dollars.

I loved reading. I loved the escapism. 

As I grew up, my love of stories never really went away, but my time spent reading dwindled.

School got busy, and while I loved English class, I found myself skimming books and not really partaking in the story. In college, I was an English major, but I didn’t do as much reading as I should’ve. (John Mulaney has a bit on English majors on that hits way too close to home for those interested.)

When the pandemic rolled around back in 2020, I thought that would be my golden opportunity. I invested in a Kindle. I discovered Libby (a great way to read free ebooks from your public library). I read a book on how to read books. I was ready to dive back in. 

The habit didn’t quite stick, and it took me 2 more years to figure it out. 

A friend (shoutout, Ethan) had been telling me about this fantasy author he really loved. I had dabbled in fantasy (Percy Jackson obviously, and most of the Lord of the Rings), but I didn’t really consider myself a fan of the genre. Early on in 2023, I decided to give his recommendation a go, and I read Elantris by Brandon Sanderson.

By the end of 2023, I had read 44 books (a record for me by a longshot) and was back into reading.

So, what changed?

Read Books You Actually Like

I found books that I enjoyed reading. More importantly, I bailed on ones that I didn’t.

It was easy for me to get into reading with fantasy. The stories are fun and whimsical, and the plots are interesting (and easier) to follow.

I couldn’t expect to get back into reading with some high-brow fiction that I dreaded picking up. I found something that I actually liked reading.

I don’t love every fantasy book either. The ones I don’t like, I give up on. 

I wish I had some sort of system where I could tell you when to give up, but it’s more an art than a science. Some people recommend 10% of the way through a book. Some people recommend a hundred pages. I’m trying to get better at listening to that little voice in my head when it says, “eh, I just don’t want to read that.”

Regardless, you should read books you enjoy and drop the ones you don’t. Life is too short to read bad books.

Audiobooks: Yes, They Count as Books!

I also started trying out audiobooks.

At the time I got back into reading, I had a 30-minute commute to work. I didn’t always want to listen to music on the drive, and I was hit or miss on podcasts. I finally decided to try audiobooks and fell in love with them.

If audiobooks aren’t for you, consider bumping the speed up a little bit. The default narration is normally a little too slow for me (book narrators often talk much slower than we’re used to at conversational speed). I bump the speed up to anywhere from 1.2x to 1.7x depending on how fast the narrator talks. 

And yes, listening to audiobooks counts as reading. It’s still a way to consume a good story.

Amazon’s Silver Lining

Finally, I discovered an Amazon feature called Whispersync.

Books that are considered Whispersync-enabled let you jump back and forth from the Kindle version to the audiobook version (via Audible).

Since I was getting into audiobooks, I would listen on my way to and from work and then switch back to the Kindle version when I read at my apartment, normally before bed.

The time spent listening to the audiobooks especially helped me get into new books. I find that when I don’t know the characters or the setting as well, I’m less invested, but just after a few workdays of listening, I’m already well into the book.

That led to an upward spiral for me. The more I got into the audiobook, the more I wanted to read the Kindle version, which then led to me wanting to listen again during my next commute, and so on.

Additionally, Amazon offers deals on Whispersync books, so if you buy the Kindle version, they’ll give you the audiobook at a (often deeply) discounted price.

Now I know a Kindle book doesn’t feel the same as a physical book, and I should shop more at local bookshops, but this really helped me get back into a reading habit. Plus, now that I read more, I will occasionally buy physical books from a local bookshop, and it’s like a treat.

Putting It Together

Those were the 3 biggest steps that helped me get back into reading.

Now, I oftentimes find myself thinking that there’s just too much to read.

An aspiration of mine is to work through r/Fantasy’s Top Novels List. I’m currently working my way back through the Lord of the Rings series (I never quite finished the last book).

Maybe all three of these pieces won’t work for you, but maybe one will. All it takes is one good book to fall back in love with reading.

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