How to read more books in 2022
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Loading... - Drew Hamilton
- 09 Feb 2022
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For most of my teen life I read about five books a year — if I was lucky. I am talking about the books we were assigned in school; La Boîte à merveilles, Le Dernier Jour d’un condamné, Candide ou l’optimisme, and Il était une fois un vieux couple heureux to name few.
And then last year I was so astonished to read 50 books. This year I’m on pace for 70. I feel more creatively alive in all areas of my life. I feel more interesting, I feel like a better teacher, and my writing output has incredibly increased.
I’m a bit disappointed that I didn’t immerse myself in books sooner.
Why did I wait 21 years?
Well, in my beloved country Morocco and in my culture reading isn’t really that insisted upon. I didn’t realize my passion for reading till I got to university. I’ve had a professor named Filali, may Allah have his mercy upon her, she’d always urge us to read and she’d always talk passionately about it as if it were oxygen .. Well, actually it is .. oxygen for the mind.
Here’s my advice for incorporating more reading into your own life, based on the habits that I changed:
Centralize reading in your house.
To better illustrate this point I would like to share with you a little story of mine. Back in 2013, I moved to Marrakech to pursue my studies. My roommates and I have no TV. And as students, we hadn’t that much money to have internet in our mobiles all the time, so we needed to fill our time with something, and while some chose football and hanging out I chose reading.
What I want to say is that having a TV in your main living area is like holding a plate of chocolate chip in your hand; sooner or later you’d get a bite. So many delicious foreign TV shows tempt us, reducing our willpower to tackle the books. The same applies for cell phones and PC’s.
“So please, oh please, we beg to go throw your TV set away, and in its place, you can install a lovely bookshelf on the wall.”
Roald Dahl
Last year I moved my bedroom TV into our dark basement and I got a bookshelf installed on the wall beside my room’s door. Now I see books, walk by books, and touch books dozens of times a day. And the TV sits dormant.
Make a public commitment.
If there’s one thing you get from books besides strengthening your brain it is the priceless knowledge people have accumulated over the years. Talking about that, I have read Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert Cialdini, and I liked this idea mentioned by the author claiming that commitment is one of the big six weapons of social influence. So I thought why can’t I use this for my advantage when it comes to staying committed to anything I want to stick with, reading in this case. I started a book club and I, alongside other club members, would stay committed to reading one book every week. We would meet every weekend and discuss the book we agreed upon.
I take advantage of social sites as well; I’d make a bet on reading at Goodreads, friending a few friends, and then updating my profile every time I read a book. If you aren’t that familiar with Goodreads, you may create a Facebook or WhatsApp group with your friends that way each one of you would stay committed to finishing the book by the time you guys set.
Find books that align with your taste.
Don’t blame yourself when you struggle to read something you don’t like. You can’t easily get through a four-hundred-page Arabic novel while you don’t like novels and you certainly don’t like reading in Arabic. My point is, in case you like psychology then go for psychology books, and if you are into self-development books then go for them. The choice is yours to make. I personally prefer reading non-fiction books way more than fiction. That’s why I find myself at the end of the year that I’ve read about ten novels and more than fifty books on psychology, entrepreneurship, and self-growth.
Related to the above, here are some of the lists (of book recommendations) that I personally like: Bill Gates’s reading list; Derek Sivers’s reading list; and Tim Ferriss’s list. Read More…
