You have to get into the habit of reading before you’re free to challenge yourself further.
Read short story compilations!
Like you, I cant commit to novels.
On the other end, u/kikellea sticks to fiction series.
I cant do short stories, and one-off books usually make me disappointed that theyre over so quickly.
(Ive recently realized that I have a hard time plodding through a book that never once lightens up.
Some of the greatest tragedies have a sense of humor.)
You dont have to stretch beyond your favorite genres and styles yet.
Re-read books you love to help build the habit, suggests u/_rfm.
But at some point, you might feel hungry for a change.
Its hard to predict which books youll like.
But your best bet is to start with your favorite books, and find something similar.
Use Goodreads, says u/r_sails.
On Goodreads, dont judge books by the star rating but by what people say in their reviews.
These reviews are doing a legit service!
If yourehatinga book, go ahead and ditch it.
But if you think youre just too easily bored, build up a little endurance.
Set yourself a minimum to read, like one chapter, 30 pages, or four sittings.
A lot of books are quite boring in the first few pages or even chapters, says u/tuenap.
Sometimes its because it needs to introduce characters, etc.
to build up the plot.
You have to plow through to get to the good parts.
Carve out some time
Yep, scheduled reading time.
In crude terms, reading more books is aboutspending more timereading books.
you better pick up a book more often, and keep reading longer.
(Speed reading is terrible for pleasure reading.)
Heres how to actually spend more time reading.
First set a goal.
u/Xosomeblonde suggests just ten minutes or pages.
Set a timer when you start, and continue reading until the timer goes off.
The timer lets you stop considering distractions.
Is it time to pick up your phone or go wash a dish?
Nothing else gets done until the timer ends.
(You may, of course, keep reading when the timer ends.)
If youre competitive, then set yourself against your past self, says u/xosomeblonde.
Or make up a reward system!
For every page past my previous record, Ill get to watch ten minutes of my favorite show.
But one of the best methods is to stock up on library ebooks.
Get theLibbyapp for your phone, says u/ __stare.
Libby is a slick app for checking out library ebooks without going to the library.
The app has its own decent ebook reader, but it also lets you open some ebooks in Kindle.
(I had to do this when Libby screwed up the footnotes on a Terry Pratchett novel.
Pratchett fans know you gotta read the footnotes.)
Read books in whatever format feels best.
Many library systems offer all of these formats.
But youre not allowed to read articles in your designated book time.
You have to move onto another book.
