63 Ways to Read 100 Books a Year

I've been looking back on some of my favorite posts from prior years tonight, and I thought this one was still kind of fun. It was originally posted in November 2011, and my personal situation has changed a bit: no 40-hour a week job, the grandkids are driving themselves around (the oldest is even a senior at Texas A&M now), things like that. So I have more time to read - but for some reason still read about the same number of books a year that I've always read. Anyway, I thought some of you might enjoy seeing it, and might even have some new tips to add to the end. Let me know, if so.

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My friends tell me I’m weird, that I don’t have a life.  I’m pretty sure they would say that about anyone who averages 125 books read per year, though, so I don’t take it personally.  Consider, too, that 125 books is a relatively low count when compared to the 250, 300, or 1,000 books that are read every year by some people I’ve met on the Internet (I suppose that means some people are just exceptionally weird).  And, honestly, if you push me hard enough, I’ll tell you how weird I think people are who don’t read more than five or six books a year…or (shudder) even read none.

Now let me tell you about my other life – the one that happens when I’m not reading – the one that takes up most of my time.  I work slightly more than forty hours per week on the job that pays for the books on my shelves.  I am an avid sports fan  (Houston Texans season ticket holder) who attends professional sporting events on a regular basis.  I have three very active grandchildren whom I help cart around all over town to their own activities, activities that often have me in the viewing audience: dance classes and recitals, pee wee league football games, little league baseball games, and the like…and I’m still happily married to the woman who loves to help me decide how we are going to spend our spare time.

So how does anyone read a large number of books per year?  Well, it’s pretty easy, actually.  These tips are guaranteed to up your reading count.  Pick the ones you feel comfortable with, and let me know if they work for you or not.  If you want to add to the list, please let me know and I’ll credit you guys with numbers 55 forward.

1. Read during your lunch hour, something especially easy to do if you eat at your desk each day
2. Read the first thing every morning - get up 15 minutes early and begin your day by reading a few pages
3. Turn off the television set - or, better yet, don't turn it on (See number 4, below)
4. Use your DVR to record the television you really want to see - quit channel surfing your evenings away
5. Don't get lost inside Facebook or Twitter for hours and hours of your precious spare time - it's easy to catch up when you log back in
6. Read while brushing your teeth - especially easy if you use an electric toothbrush with a built in timer
7. Read when stuck in lines at banks, government offices, etc.
8. Read while stuck behind long lines of traffic at slow stop lights
9. Listen to recorded books while commuting
10. Stay excited and informed about new books being published
11. Browse bookstores and grab whatever catches your eye - first impressions are important
12. Find two or three authors whose work you love - and read everything they've written
13. Change your reading pattern/rut - alternate fiction with nonfiction, biographies with travel books, etc.
14. Have reading apps on your smart phone - use them when you are trapped in a boring place all alone
15. Set reading goals and speak of them publicly
16. Keep a running list of what you read
17. Join a book club
18. Visit your local library regularly, especially the "new books section"
19. Read the classics from your favorite genre - books by the early masters of scifi, mystery, thriller, horror, etc.
20. Read from a list of winners and nominees: Pulitzer Prize, National Book Award, Man Booker
21. Read translated novels and painlessly learn what makes other cultures tick
22. Specialize in authors from particular countries or geographical regions
23. Read local authors
24. Re-read books that excited you as a young reader
25. Read the classics - guaranteed to be better than you remember them from high school or college
26. Find a bookstore specializing in what you enjoy reading most
27. Find a reading buddy or two whose taste and recommendations you can trust
28. Be a reading mentor to a child or young adult
29. Use your credit card points to add to your book budget - the Barnes & Noble credit card is perfect for book lovers
30. Read lots of book blogs, both individual and corporately sponsored ones
31. Become aware of your activities that do nothing but pointlessly kill time; pick up a book instead
32. When watching television alone, read during those endless commercial breaks
33. Always have more than one book in progress
34. Always know what your next book is going to be
35. Trade books with friends and family members
36. Buy used books to stretch your book budget
37. Become a book collector specializing in an author, genre, publisher, decade, etc.
38. Attend book signings at local bookstores
39. Attend public readings at local colleges and universities
40. Volunteer to read to struggling readers at local elementary schools
41. Volunteer to read to the elderly with failing eyesight
42. Read books about books - about bookstores, collectors, fakers, mysteries, libraries
43. Attend state book festivals - they draw large numbers of authors to one site
44. Treasure hunt in used book bookstores
45. Watch movies made from books and compare the two versions (books always win)
46. Collect signed books
47. Read debut novels from fresh voices
48. Participate in web-based book exchanges
49. Browse the shelves of friends and relatives; you might learn something new about them and yourself
50. Shop at Friends of the Library book sales
51. Always carry a spare book in your car - you never know when you're going to need it
52. Keep an e-book reader in your coat pocket
53. Take advantage of all the free, or very cheap, e-book offers out there
54. Read on your monitor screen when all else fails
55. Read while your small children are napping (courtesy of Jeanne)
56. Read while nursing your baby (courtesy of Jeanne)
57. Add valuable reading hours to your week by using public transportation for commuting (courtesy of Ted)
58. Download audio books to your iPod and listen to them while working out or doing chores around the house (courtesy of Sally)
59. Keep book of favorite quotes found while reading (courtesy of Susan Sanders)
60. Read while fishing (courtesy of Susan Sanders)
61. Read while monitoring kids in bath (courtesy of Susan Sanders)
62. Read books mentioned in other books you are reading (courtesy of Santosh)
63. Read while fishing - during those downtimes when the fish aren't cooperating (courtesy of Jenclair)