A guide on how to set and achieve personal reading goals and my 2021/2022 book lists

Some tips for successful reading:

Before we get to how 2023 is going, I want to briefly touch on habits that you can establish to set you up for reading success.

Establishing a reading routine:

1. Pick a time to get some reading in every day: Pick the time that the demands of your daily life can’t threaten your reading time. Try out a few different times in the first few weeks to see what works best. If you know you have appointments during the evenings, picking that time as your reading time is setting yourself up to fail. Instead, pick a time in the morning when the rest of the household is asleep or a later in the day time slot when you can catch a few moments of quiet time.


2. Pick a place to do said reading: A quiet corner of the house, a seat on the deck/patio, a nook in the living room etc.
   
   
3. Pick the ambience that nurtures uninterrupted reading: Soft music, a quiet room are great to set the climate for a good chunk of reading time. 
   
   
4. Make your read easily accessible: If you leave the book upstairs in your room while you spend your entire day downstairs, it doesn’t make it conducive to reading on-demand or even when you want to at the pre-planned time slot. Here are a couple of ways to combat this issue: 

<> Having your books in digital formats definitely makes it easier to whip a book out and continue reading from where you left off. Having a dedicated Kindle to read your book works. Having just the app on your phone also works.

<> A slightly more advanced trait for readers is parallel reading. I typically have three or four books I’m actively reading in parallel. I would read one on my kindle app at night right before bed, one in paperback format in our living room for a short evening reading slot, a couple of books in our dining area to read when I find some unexpected free time to fill with reading. You can do start with two books and all in the same formate (paperback only or digital format only) to keep it simple. Experiment with what works best for you. This definitely improves reading pace and makes a positive impact on your reading goal.


5. Drop a book early if it doesn’t capture your fancy: This is an important trait to hone for becoming a successful pro reader. Over the years, I’ve made this mistake as a rookie reader. Hanging on to a book that fails to inspire further reading only prolongs the misery. It hinders reading progress since you are unable to read at the pace you normally would on an engaging read.
   
   Also, the longer you hold on to a slow read, the harder it is to drop it. This is because we feel invested in the time we spent hanging on to the book without taking away anything from the contents themselves.
   
   My rule of thumb is to drop a read if the first chapter or two takes longer than a week to get through. I evaluate how the first few pages resonate with me. If I find I’ve taken away little to nothing from a read by way of excitement, motivation to continue reading or even any new styles of writing or prose, its a flag that the book will probably get dropped.
   
   I give myself a week and a half to do all this and at the end of the second week, return the book to prevent dwelling on a non-read for longer and also to pick a replacement as soon as possible.
   
   Like I said earlier, I’ve done this quite a bit this year compared to previous years. It’s ok to do this since it is key to staying motivated as a reader.