Open Books Chicago discussion

I thought it would be a good idea, as we are coming up on the month of everyone’s favorite holiday (Feb. 14th - International Book Giving Day, of course), that I share my goal of re-kindling my love of reading. It may seem odd that someone who has dedicated the bulk of his working life to the printed word need to consciously work on his relationship with books, but I have a confession. I haven’t felt my reading has been as plentiful or diverse as it used to be. Every good relationship goes through its ups and downs, but one that lasts a lifetime needs effort from all parties involved. In this day and age where more books are being published each year than ever before, I’ve come to conclude that the bulk of the work needed falls on my shoulders. I’m extremely lucky that, for me, this kind of work doesn’t ever feel like work.

How do I get back to the person who read widely and diversely? Where did the person who used to stay up well past bedtime just to finish another 10, 20, 100 pages? Why had the muscle responsible for my ability to tie a current bestseller to the most esoteric world literature atrophied? I’m sure he’s still there, but in January, I decided to go on a quest to find him.

You could call it a resolution, but we all know that resolutions are wont to be abandoned by this time of year (I admit, I’ve only really worked out once so far in 2013… for shame!). Knowing my track record, I decided to look at this quest as just that… a never-ending quest for knowledge, entertainment, context, and interpretation from one of my favorite things in the world… Books! I was going to hack my reading life, if you will. People hack computers, machines, musical instruments, and even their own lives… why not try hacking my favorite pastime to make it more enjoyable and re-inject some of the excitement that a busy life can sometimes over-shadow?

Below are just a few of the new rules I’ve adhered to this year, in attempts to kick-start my reading habits. So far, they’ve worked. Maybe a few of these will work for you! Happy… and passionate reading!

Kevin’s Reading Hacks:

1. Make Time for Reading Every Day – This may seem obvious at first, but most people have a habit of fooling themselves into thinking that they have time to read every day. I used to be the type of person who would say, “I read every day on the commute to work!” Sound familiar? The truth of the matter is that most days, I found myself in a much too crowded train to comfortably read, or far too involved with checking my news feeds, email, tumblr, Google+, Facebook, Twitter, etc…, etc… Sure, I was reading, but truth be told, I was lucky to have read from a book 3 of every 10 commutes. Now, I make sure to set aside a block of time every day to sit down with my current book and just read. I might sit in my favorite chair, go to the local coffee shop, hit the neighborhood pub, or just find a nice tree to sit underneath. Many people schedule time at the gym (I promise, I’ll get back to it soon!). Why wasn’t I scheduling time to focus on one of my favorite activities, apart from any other activity? The time differs every day, but so far, I’ve only missed one day this year due to unforeseen circumstances. I only have one rule regarding when I schedule my reading time:

2. Reading Before Bed Doesn’t Count – I often do read in bed. I often read before falling asleep at night, but I never schedule my reading time as a pre-sleep activity. Just like reading during my commute, this is extra credit as far as I’m concerned. Usually, when I read before bed, I end up dropping my book on my face or dozing off after only a few pages. I also don’t tend to remember the things I read at the end of my day, as my mind is buzzing from all of the things I did that day as well as all of the things I need to do when I wake from my slumber. Maybe you are different, but if all I do is pre-sleep reading, it doesn’t lead to a very enjoyable experience.

3. Set Goals – I’m not a fan of speed reading or reading just to hit a certain mothly/yearly book goal. If I wanted to read a record number of books, I’d simply choose the books with the lowest page count. I do, however, like to feel as if I have made progress when I sit down to read, so I’ve come up with a formula that works for me. For each reading “session,” I divide the total number of pages in the book I’m reading by 7. That is the number of pages I try to finish when I sit down to uninterrupted reading time. In an ideal world, this would mean that I would finish any book I start within a week. I don’t always meet my goal, and I often choose to stop at a logical chapter/section break, but having a rough goal in mind compels me to interact with my book in a more focused way.

4. Read Diversely! – One thing I noticed while looking back at the books I read last year, is that most of them were light on plot, heavy on character development, and dense reads. It makes sense, because I love these types of books. I don’t however, consider myself an expert in any “reading field” and I don’t really wish to be. As a bookseller and a person with a wide array of interests, I like to switch it up. I will always have a to-read pile several miles high, but this year I am focusing my queue to be a good mixture of light and dense, fiction and non-fiction, contemporary and classic, and I also am trying to read more genre fiction this year. I also always have at least one fiction book, one non-fiction book, and one book of short essays/stories/poetry going at once. I find this helps to accommodate my mood on any given day and reduces the number of days I don’t read anything.

5. Find the Others! – I refuse to believe that reading is simply a solitary act. I maintain my opinion that books are the ultimate social media. First, you are reading the words and thoughts of another person. It might be difficult to find the author of the books you read and have a conversation with them (or not… see other social media), but it’s easy to find others to talk to about books! Join a book club, read the reviews of others on sites that encourage interaction with other readers (like Goodreads), or head to your local book store and strike up a conversation with the staff, volunteers, or customers! I find that my enjoyment of a book (even a book I didn’t particularly enjoy) increases exponentially when I have a conversation with others about it. Just recently, I read Clarice Lispector’s Near to the Wild Heart at the same time as a friend, and we were talking, emailing, and txting about it for days after we had finished it. It was the most memorable reading experience I’ve had in a long time. FIND THE OTHERS!

Extra Credit:

Review Each Book You Read – You don’t have to write for the New York Times or Harper’s or even a blog, but I often find that writing down a few thoughts about the book is a good way to not only remember your thoughts in relation to the books you read, but also a great way to discover things you might not have thought about while reading the book. I’ve made it a goal to write a review for each book I read this year. So far, it has helped me to discover things about the book that I wouldn’t have explored without the additional reflection. It’s also caused me to research related books or books mentioned in the text. My reading list has become more robust as a result. So, grab a notebook and jot down your thoughts! They’re worth revisiting. Trust me.

My reading hacks are individual and tailored to my personality, but perhaps you can modify them (hack them) to your own needs and enhance the romance with the books in your life. I’d love to hear any tricks or habits that you have put into action in your reading life.

Now to find some time to finally go to the gym!

Those are all great hacks, Kevin! A bookseller I used to work with read 50 pages every day, without fail. I too find it problematic to read on public transportation with any kind of consistency so I recently adopted his habit of reading 50 pages a day. I like your way of dividing the total pages by 7 days, but that means I would have to read 188 pages of War and Peace a day and I am not ready to do that! In truth, I consider myself to be doing well to finish 25 pages of that a day. But having a specific goal of sitting down and giving my full attention to a book every day has made a big difference for me.

I too try to read diversely, and always have at least three books going at a time, not counting cookbooks. I also try to balance fiction, non-fiction, and genre/light reading. Sometimes I find the most amazing connections between the three completely kinds of books.

Last year a friend and I decided to read Infinite Jest at the same time and it really made a difference to me - it kept me on track and I could talk about it and sort through it as I was reading it, which was fantastic.

A friend and I formed a book group in 1990 that is still going and that has guaranteed that I read books I would not necessarily choose to read on my own. The two unexpected bonuses of that is that many of the books I absolutely had no interest in reading turned out to be life altering, and some of the best discussions I had were about the books I hated the most.

Now that I am no longer in the book industry I am more removed from what's new, so I have to make an effort to stay current with what's out there. A hack that I started for myself was to be sure to look at the NYTBR, Salon.com, shelf awareness, and other review/book themed publications on a regular basis.