How to read more

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Audiobooks

I can’t stretch this enough. I always have access to my phone, where I have a subsciption on Nextory & a ton of E books & audiobooks. I listen to them when I’m o walks with my dog, when I’m writing, cleaning or doing other things. There is always time to read. I always listen to x2 speed on the audiobook which means that I get way more reading done. Usually I finish 2-3 books a week.

Priorotize

Make reading a habit. That may mean that you need to spend less time on social media or doing other mindless tasks, but it’s worth it. Trust me.

Always have a book with you

There are times when we are doing things as waiting for a doctors appointment or other things that may take time. Take that waiting time to read. I always have a psycical book & my phone with me, if I find the time to read I can pick up any of those two.

Keep track of your reading

Another fun thing is to keep track of your reading. I keep track of it in my journal, bullet journal, planner & on Goodreads.

Join Book groups

By joining book groups you can expand & share what you read with other people that enjoy reading as much as you do. There are several Book groups on Good reads & on Facebook, where you can share your love for books & see what others think of the books that you’ve read.

Buy smart

Buying books can be expensive, so what you can do is to buy them second hand or borrow them from the library.

Booktubers

If you’re struggling to find what you read, check out booktubers. As a Booktuber myself, I think it’s a great way to find new books if you feel that you can’t decide what you want to read.

Set a personal goal

Each year I set a personal goal for my reading, sometimes I go way over the goal, sometimes I fail. But it’s okay. Keep pushing yourself!

Read multiple books

This strategy works well for me.  Reading multiple books at once helps keep my mind and thoughts fresh. I get bored easily, so reading multible books at a time is a wonderful way to keep me focoused.

Annotate

Whether a physical copy or digital version, marking up a book (underlining, highlighting, notes, etc.) provides multiple benefits. First, if ever you need to reference the book, you have already curated the main points. Second, if you read the book again, you can review what stuck out to you the first (or second, third, etc.) time through. It’s fun to see the difference in perspective you sometimes have. Next, if you ever pass the book onto someone, they can see your notes and highlights, and compare their perspective to yours. Lastly, the interactivity helps you retain information.

Reading sprints

Some days my attention span is less than others. During these days, I set 20-minute timers and read in 20-minute sprints. This helps me not get too burnt out, and allows me to feed my wandering mind after a dedicated sprint (where I may spend five to 10 minutes doing something else). 

Until next time, Happy reading!

Annotating an ARC

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I got the wonderful opportunity to get a free ARC [ Advanced readers copy ] from Carol James Marshall, her new book Barflies. I wanted to show you how I’ve been taking notes of the book. Usually I write down the page number, what date I read those pages & qoutes with some of my personal thoughts were. It’s really simple. I’ve tried to annotate within the Play Book App, but it’s not for me. I enjoy this a lot more. Also, by writing it down in my bullet journal, it will be with me for a very long time.

Example:

Date: 20/5

Page 12:
I thought that the character in this particualr part was very true to his own values, which shows in the way that he reacted to this incident.

FYI } This is not something that is directly from my notes.

How do you annotate the ARCs that you get?

Üntil next time, Happy reading!

TOME TOPPLE #8 ANNOUNCEMENT

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TOME TOPPLE READATHON #8 IS HERE!

13th-26th april

Challenges:
– Read a more than 1 Tome

– Read the Tome that has been on your TBR the longest

– Read an adult novel – Read a Tome that is part of a series

– Read a Tome genre you usually wouldn’t read

Books mentioned:

Afterworlds – Scott Westerfeld https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1…

The outsider – Stephen King https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3…

The clan of the cave bear – Jean M. Auel https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4…

Don’t forget to like & sub!

Until next time, Happy reading!