How I Make Time to Read

My goal this year is to read 52 books, equating to one book a week. I have been asked by Jamie and a couple of others how I find so much time to read between school, working, and wedding planning, so I thought I would share with you how I make time for something that I love to do when I don’t always have a lot of time.

At any given time, I am reading at least three books. I know that a lot of people hate doing that, but I’ve found that if I want to reach my goal, I have to read in at least three forms: an eBook on my iPhone or Kindle, an audiobook, and a hardback or paperback book.

eBooks

I will tell you any day that I much prefer a physical copy of a book than an eBook, but you can’t beat the convenience. It’s not very easy to carry an 800 page novel around with me. I also don’t always know that I will have some downtime and have time to read. So if I find myself waiting on people or just out in public and have some free time with not much else to do, I pull out my phone and read.

I also read on my lunch break at work. I get an hour break at the job I currently have, which is a good amount of time to read a chunk of any book! It’s convenient for me to just pull my eBook up on my phone and start reading.

I usually read classics in eBook form. I don’t like paying money for eBooks – I can’t justify the fact that I’m not getting something I can hold in my hands and display on my bookshelf – and I can always find classics for free to download from the Kindle store or from public domain websites. I also use my public library’s eBooks. I can check them out without even having to go to the library. It works like checking out a regular book: you get two to three weeks to finish it and digitally return it. I love it because I get sick of classics sometimes and want to read something newer but don’t want to pay for it either. Win win!

AudioBooks

I’ll admit, I used to think audiobooks were incredibly lame. I hated having someone read to me when I was fully capable of reading at my own pace on my own. I really got into audiobooks a few summers ago when I had a job that allowed me to listen to music while I worked. I got tired of listening to my music and listening to the radio and I knew that Andrew’s mom really liked audiobooks. So I thought I would give it a try.

And I loved it. So now, I listen to audiobooks when I exercise, when I’m in the car driving, or when I’m getting ready in the morning. Half the time I can’t settle on a radio station in the car, so I’ll just plug my phone in and listen to my audiobook. I usually finish an audiobook every three weeks.

I get my audiobooks from my public library as well. They’re free (!!) and usually there isn’t a long hold time for those either since they are not as popular as eBooks or hard copies. I listen to classics frequently if I can’t find something that sounds interesting without having to wait for it. LibriVox is a great place to download classics from as well.

For my eBooks and my audiobooks, I use an app called OverDrive. That is the platform I use to check out eBooks/audiobooks from the library and it’s very easy to use. Your public library may use a different platform or app. I also use the Kindle App on my iPhone to read eBooks that I’ve downloaded from Amazon.

Hard Copies

My favorite way to read, snuggled up under the covers with just the light before I go to bed. I don’t really have a schedule of when I read at home because my schedule is so crazy, but I try to read at least for half an hour before I go to bed. In reality, I probably only do that a couple of times a week. So there are some nights I will read for three or four hours and others just fifteen minutes or not at all. When I have a night that I know I don’t have any plans or anything to do, I always set a portion of that time aside to read. If I plan in my head that I’m going to read tonight, I find it much easier to do so.

So this is how I find time to read and to read often. If I stay on course, I should read over 52 books this year. :) You can see what books I’ve read so far here. Do you read a lot? If so, what do you do to find time to read in your busy life?

6 thoughts on “How I Make Time to Read”

  1. Good luck on your goal!~ I want to get back into reading hard back/soft back books again. I mostly read historical non fiction books like for instance, I’m reading a great book about Joan of Arc and her role in the retaking of the kingdom of France for the dauphin. Yeah, nerdy things :P

  2. I am waaaaay behind my reading challenge. I had a reading lull back when I was super stressed with work and I haven’t picked up where I left off.

    I’ve always wanted to try audiobooks. I actually have a friend who listens to audiobooks during his commute to and from work but I find that I have a very short attention span that I feel like I’ll only end up having to repeat stuff over and over again because I stopped focusing on listening, but who knows. XD

    I wish we also had a very accessible public library. Here, libraries usually mean old books, archives, and journals.

  3. Reading, time to read? Does reading blogs count? ;) You sure got an efficient way to read all your books, I should take you as my example ;) I get most of the time tired or I have to do other things so I get less time to read. Though in my vacation I was able to read some magazines and one book :)

    xxx

  4. I really loved this post and how you fit all of your reading in! I still haven’t gotten into eBooks, maybe one day, but I still like reading myself. I also took a while to warm up to the idea of eBooks, but I love them now. :D

  5. Hey! Thank you for the shout-out, and for answering my question. I really appreciate it. I hope that you reach your goal. Goals are nice to have aren’t they?

    I’m not sure if I will ever get into e-books. I honestly spend a little too much time on the internet and people always tell me why don’t you read e-books? Well, I don’t want to hurt my eyes any further then they’re already are. If that makes any sense? I have given one e-book a try as I had gotten a free copy from Elizabeth Wyke ( Indie author). It’s going to be awhile before I can fully pull myself into e-books. Though, I don’t think I would mind reading them.

    Like you, I prefer to read hard copies. 1.) You won’t get a virus on them, 2.) You won’t lose them and 3.) They don’t have to be charged like a phone or kindle does. I just love them, plus like you said you can put it on your shelves for all to see. What kind of classics do you read?

    1. I read any classic that I can pretty much get my hands on! I just finished Around the World in 80 Days by Jules Verne, and right now I am reading Moby Dick and A Tale of Two Cities. I also read The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood earlier this year. So I’ve not read a whole lot this year of classics, but I’m working on it!

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