Used to be an avid reader? How to get back into books

Sometimes about really big things, but most times, the little mysteries are the best.

Our lost and found is currently filled with pants. I don't know what I've never seen this happen.

This is true. This is true. Mysteries have every size each week, this American life, wherever you get your podcasts. You're listening to LifeKit. From NPR.

Hey, it's Mario. I have this daydream where I go to the park and read under a tree. The sun is shining. The temperature is not too hot, but not chilly either. The ground beneath me is comfortable.

I have snacks on hand, I'm hydrated, and I am captivated by the book economy. It doesn't usually pan out like this. In reality, two minutes in, I'm sweating, my butt hurts from sitting on tree roots. I realize I forgot the snacks, and I can't focus, so I close the book, go home, turn on the TV. A lot of us make this mistake when it comes to reading.

We think it should feel romantic, like this landmark event in our day. You know, we have this imagination. Like, oh, reading time is like this luxurious thing. In my armchair, sipping scotch. Kevin Wynn is the author of the novels My Documents and New Waves.

In 2017, he wrote an article for GQ called "How to Read a whole damn book every week."

“You have to make it a more regular habit than that.”

Because if you just wait for all those times when you're drinking scotch, hopefully you don't drink that much scotch. Hope you're reading more than you drink scotch.

But yeah, if you wait for all those moments, you're never going to finish a book.

Whether you're reading daydreams, involve you at the park, in an armchair, at a lakeside retreat, or on the beach. What if you let those go and allow yourself to read whenever, wherever? Because you don't want to miss out. Reading is a joy. Marian Wulf is a cognitive neuroscientist at UCLA, an author of "Reader Come Home," the reading brain in a digital world.

An author gives us a chance to leap into the lies and thoughts and feelings of others, a chance to leap into thoughts that we've never had before. And the chance to even appreciate that in the midst of solitude, we are not alone. On this episode of LifeKit, we have four tips to help you read more this summer. And Marian says, "If you fall in off the wagon, you can get back on."

“"I'm telling you that will happen, but you have to relearn those muscles."”

It just takes time. That's coming up after the break. On June 11th, the globe's biggest sporting event comes to North America, the FIFA World Cup. The Super Bowl, and you might say, "Average is something over a hundred million live viewers, but the World Cup final." I think like five times that much.

The favorites, the underdogs, and the Americanization of the world's game. Listen now to the Sunday Story from the Up First Podcast on the MPR app. Picking up where we left off, our takeaway one is read when you can, wherever you are. The hardest part about reading a book is just like opening the book. Kevin wins, says instead of waiting for that perfect distraction-free cinematic moment, look for smaller chances throughout the day.

Standing on the train platform, there's a few minutes to read, in a long line for lunch. You can get a few pages in, read when you're early to school a pickup, or when you're waiting for your close to be done at the laundromat. And if you commute to work, well that's a gimme. Driving a work, it's all your book time. You get on the subway, it's time to open the book. I'm not going to play video games on my phone or listen to podcasts.

It's really easy to have that kind of discipline because it's sort of like a sequestered part of your day where you decide. I'm doing this thing at this time.

“Now to set yourself up for success here, you need to have books within reach.”

I have an upstairs book and a downstairs book and a car book and a bathroom book and a bath tub book. One need of jiles is the executive director of the Virginia Children's Book Festival.

I have books everywhere. Put them all over the place and always have one with you.

And pretty soon you'll pick one up and you'll start reading and then there you go. Now you might be thinking, how can my ear reader or my tablet being five places at once? Yeah, you're going to need good old fashioned paper and ink books for this. And you don't have to buy them all. Your local library will be happy to supply. In general, a lot of folks will download books to their laptops or their phones or tablets and read there.

But Marion says that is tricky to do. Distractions are intrinsically built in to our laptops and our phones. We really have our attention pulled away. We are a wash in distraction.

And even if you turn those off, you might still go looking for other entertainment on your browser or on Instagram, just out of habit. You may also default to your typical screen behaviors, which for a lot of us includes skimming for information. You're going to skim no matter what.

“Because that's what we do. We want to get to the bottom and we want to scroll.”

We want to get to the next, the next, the next, the next. Now, skimming can be helpful when you're reading emails or when you're trying to stay on top of the news.

But the reality is that skimming is one of the greatest disruptions of deep reading.

And Marion says deep reading can be a beautiful way to slow down. At the heart of it is the point where we, the reader, go beyond the wisdom of the author to discover our own. Sounds pretty great, huh? To get there, take away two, try reading more paper books when you can. You'll have a better chance of minimizing distractions, especially if you're in a moment where you can't seem to get into any books. By the way, Marion has also gone through periods where she couldn't practice deep reading.

She wants to read a favorite of hers, the glass bead game by Herman Hess. It was just painful, and what I had to do is what I'm going to tell your listener. For two weeks, I forced myself to read 20 minutes a day, only 20 minutes. As if I was just going to force myself to try to be that older version of a reader. And I will admit it took me two weeks, and then it was like coming home to my old reading self.

Coming up, how to choose a book you can't put down. On June 11th, the globe's biggest sporting event comes to North America, the FIFA World Cup.

The Super Bowl, and you might say, averages something over a hundred million live viewers, but the World Cup final,

I think like five times that much. The favorites, the underdogs, and the Americanization of the world's game. Listen now to the Sunday Story from the Up First Podcast on the NPR app.

“All right, take away three. If you want to read more, you've got to pick the right books, right for you, and right for the moment.”

Kevin Wind tries to match the books he reads to the amount of time he has available. Usually reading a couple novels at a time, a non-fiction book, and then maybe a comic book. They just feel so different, and then like when I found myself with like, you know, 20 to 40 minutes on the commute, that was enough time for me to get through a bit of an awful. Because books have different textures, and they demand different kinds of attention, it's smart to adjust accordingly.

Like you might want to read something lighter when you're at the DMV. Different books demand different faces, and some books can be quite, you know, quickly. The fact is, Siddharth, it can be read a lot faster than Narcissus and Goldman or Glassbead game, or poetry. Poetry requires a different pace, too. Now, if you're trying to read a book, and you've been struggling to get into it, ask yourself, "Do I even like this?"

Tracy Thomas is the host of the literary podcast The Stacks.

For my work, I have to read books and finish books that I do not always like.

I can tell you usually within 10 to 20 pages if I will like a book. But your reading hobby is not a job, and you don't have to finish that book. I think if you're falling asleep while you're reading it, that's a good sign that maybe you don't like it. I think that if you are constantly checking your phone while you're reading, that that might be a sign that you don't like it.

“I think that if you want to do anything else, but read that might be a sign that you don't like what you're reading.”

And Tracy says, "Putting down a book you don't like?" That's called cultivating taste. Alright, last up, take away four. You're back in the habit of deep reading books that you actually like, and you want to keep that momentum going. Why not try setting some goals?

When NPR produced her Monty Corona was a kid, she loved reading. But as an adult, she got away from it. I made a really simple goal, read a book a month, 12 books a year, and by writing down each book I read, I was able to see how easy it was to reach that goal. I increased that goal a little bit every year to make it so that it's something that I'm working towards.

You can also set goals based on the types of books you read. For example, if you're a big fan of long, worn piece type classics, it might be more interesting for you to read only three books a year, and actually just count the number of pages you're reading. Or if you're someone who wants to read more science fiction,

maybe you notice you cavitate more towards nonfiction, and you really want to change that.

While you're at it, why not start a reading journal or a spreadsheet to track your progress?

“You can read each book, add notes, and favorite quotes.”

It feels really good to be able to see exactly how many books you've read. Oh, this is the one that I really liked this year. This is the one that I gave five stars to. This is the one that I rated the highest. It is a way for you to sort of reflect later.

It is not meant to be something where you are competing with others, or you are trying to prove something to other people. Think of it more as a reflection, not necessarily a competition. Though Monzie says reading does not have to be entirely solitary. You could join a book club.

I love going to authors' talks, I look a libraries. There's also a huge trend of quiet reading nights at certain places where you can just go sit and read, and you don't even have to interact with anyone. You can also just read in a public space where other people also happen to be reading.

Going back to our first tip, don't wait for that perfect moment.

Just get started. Okay, time for a recap. Take away one. Read when you can, wherever you are. Take away two.

You'll do your best deep reading on paper, not on a device. Take away three.

“If you want to read more, you've got to pick the right books.”

Try matching the books you read to the time you have available.

And if you don't like a book, put it down. There are so many other options. And take away four to keep the momentum going. Try setting some goals. Maybe starting a reading journal.

But if that feels overwhelming or like it's going to stop you from opening a book at all, skip it. Remember, the priority is simply to read more and experience the joy that comes with it. For more life kit, check out our other episodes.

“We have one on how to make a small home feel bigger, and another on whether you should buy gold right now.”

Also, we love hearing from you. So if you have episode ideas or feedback you want to share, email us at [email protected]. This episode of Life Kit was produced by Sylvie Douglas. Our digital editor is Malka Greb, and our visuals editor is CJ Rekeland. Meghan Kane is our Senior Supervising Editor, and Beth Donovan is our Executive Producer.

Our production team also includes Andy Takele, Clare Marat Schneider, and Margaret Serino. Engineering support comes from Sino LaFrado, act checking by Tyler Jones. Special thanks to Barclay Walsh. I'm Mary El Segatta. Thanks for listening.

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Ideas about the next era of manhood. That's on the Ted Radio Hour podcast. Listen on the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts.