Nose in a Book

The new year is almost here and a lot of us have started scribbling down our new years resolutions. While traffic in your local gym increases in the days following January 1st, why not focus on your mind as well as your body? Reading more increases your general knowledge, your language skills, your empathy, expands your world view, increases your vocabulary, improves your concentration, makes you more creative and can even be relaxing. Plus it can be fun! If you want to read more in 2014, here are some tips to help! I’ve recycled some from my 2013 list, but also added some new ones. 

Reading Should Be Fun! School sometimes teaches us that we all have specific reading levels and shouldn’t read below or above them. I’ve never agreed with that. Read what you want to read, whether you’re a kid slowly making your way through Charlotte Bronte or an adult reading from their son’s fourth grade reading list. It’s so much easier to keep to our goals when we make them more enjoyable for ourselves. 

Try the 50 Book Challenge Or 25 book challenge or even 200 book challenge. You can pick the goal that best suits you, or adjust it as you go. 50 books in a year is approximately a book a week and is the most popular goal. While January 1st in the most popular place to start, you can pick up whenever you like. You can keep a list of the books read on your tumblr. If you don’t feel like setting a challenge, you can still keep track of all the books you read to help you keep track of your progress. I have the reading journal pictured above, but you can use anything (journal, loose paper, your blog, excel) to keep track of what you’ve read. 

Read At Your Own Speed Book challenges are just for fun, and you shouldn’t worry about how many books you’ve read. Everyone reads at different speeds, and not everyone has as much time to read as others. The good thing about the challenges is that they keep you reading. It’s good to have goals, but it’s more important that you’re reading than whether you read 50 books in a year or not. 

Find a Way To Read That Fits Your Life Style Travel a lot? You might want to consider getting an e-reader. Are you a commuter? Audio books might be right for you. You can check out Audible, and their should be audio books available at your library (mine has them available digitally as well.) 

Try a Social Networking Site For Readers You can track the books you’ve read, are reading and want to read, enter contests, connect with other readers, read and write reviews and vote on lists. It’s a great place for book recommendations and to keep track of what you want to read next. The most popular options are Shelfari, LibraryThing and Goodreads. This article lists some more alternatives. I personally use Goodreads and highly recommend it. If you do join (or already have) you can add me here. 

Dive Into The Book Blog (Or Vlog) World From first hand experience I can say that having a book blog will help you read more. You’ll get in touch with readers who might have read your favourite book, or might even recommend your next favourite. With your dash and your blog filled with books, you’ll find plenty of inspiration to keep reading. Tumblr has always been the best fit for me, but you could also look to Wordpress, Blogspot or even Youtube. 

Follow More Book Blogs On Tumblr Fill your dash with bookish beauty! Here is my (flawed) list of book bloggers. You can also follow book vloggers, book bloggers on twitter or even keep up with your favourite authors, who might have twitter or tumblr. 

No One Ever Regrets Getting a Library Card Ever. I’m sure of it. Be sure to check out your public library’s website and their online catalogue. You should be able to reserve books and even take out e-books and audio books. My library has book clubs as well as other clubs (Manga, writing, lego) and even does events, like for The Hunger Games and Doctor Who. 

Always Carry a Book With You You never know when you’ll get a chance to open a book, and who wants to be sitting around in boredom when you could be reading?

Make Reading a Part of Your Routine You wouldn’t forget to brush your teeth (I hope) because it’s a part of your daily schedule. Work reading a book into your day, whether it’s after work, on the bus or in bed at night.

Always Be On The Look Out For the Next Book On Your Reading List I take pictures of books I want to read on my iPhone in bookstores, and then add them to my to-read list on Goodreads. I often scan bookstore websites for ideas as well. Tumblr makes it so much easier to always know what to read. 

What are your tips for reading more? 

Yes, this is how I spend my time. And I don’t really have enough books for this to be necessary, but I did it anyways.

I’m going on vacation with my family in less than a week and am looking for some bookstores (or library) recommendations. I’ve done a little bit of research myself but it’s always good to hear from people who live there. We’re going to:

-Washington DC (but have limited time so we’ll mainly be around the mall and maybe go over to the zoo)

-Charleston

-Myrtle Beach

-Savannah

Any help would be appreciated- thanks guys!