How To Read More and Better: My Lightweight Reading System

1. Collect book recs in notebook or notes app, so there’s always a book around the corner.
2. Read book summaries, author interviews, and free samples before committing to books. Read the book if there’s more to gain from reading the actual text, which is often enough. Too many good books to read them all.
3. Spend my free/alone time reading. For me, usually, that means a book every week or two. Read books, not blogs, because books have better writing. Have you noticed that? To be a better writer, read books.
4. Personal: Read a novel or more a month, so I can understand others, develop empathy, and learn to tell stories. Read a book or more applicable to my current interests, so I actually implement what I read.
5. Pick books I’m most excited about, not books I most “should” read. Drop books without hesitation if you lose interest. Books you’re not interested in can kill your reading habit. Any interesting book can become uninteresting given enough time away from it.
6. Remember reading ladder concept. It’s chill if you read easy books now, you’ll naturally want to read harder books later. That’s why reading comics is alright for kids. Lots of books are still hard for me, like philosophy books, but I’ll work up to them.
7. Use Libby to rent ebooks from library. It’s dope. I buy p often though, if I’m excited and don’t wait for book to be available.
8. Annotate books on Kindle to engage with the text. Highlight main concepts as if you’re creating a summary. Respond / summarize readings in your journal entries, if you journal, I journal most days. You probably won’t revisit any of these things, but they help with retention.
9. If you can find time, writing up 3 takeaways for each book you finish is invaluable. I was thinking about publishing them, like I did in November. So great for retention. Want to push myself to do this cuz forgotten most books I’ve read.
10. Put books/Kindle in visible place, otherwise you’ll stop reading. I put on my desk or nightstand.
11. Personal preference: Kindle > physical books. Can read before bed and then don’t have to get up to turn off lights. Big physical books are intimidating and can fall on face, in contrast to digital versions. Kindle => less clutter. Having less stuff makes me feel like a digital nomad and minimalist, which I want to feel like.

Hope some of these tips help you all read more!