How to Read More

Being able to finish a book without reading all of it will really help you keep your joy-of-learning momentum so you don’t get stuck.

As I do my monthly round-ups of what I’ve read, I realized I need to make a disclaimer and explain how I read most books. I hardly ever read books all the way through!

This might have been how we read in seminary

I think in order to read more and not get stuck on books, you can learn the skill of getting what you need from a book and being done with it. I think of it like going to a buffet and getting to try different foods without having to finish the dish or your plate. We have access to an incredible number of great books in the world, and I think the reason that most people don’t read more is because they spend way too much time feeling committed to one book and lose the enjoyment and momentum of new ideas.

Being able to finish a book without reading all of it will really help you keep your joy-of-learning momentum so you don’t get stuck. I have definitely gotten stuck on books before, and that’s why I realized I just need to call it done and move to the next topic.

Charlotte Mason said this of children, but I think it really applies to all readers: “The children must enjoy the book. The ideas it holds must each make that sudden, delightful impact upon their minds, must cause that intellectual stir, which mark the inception of an idea.”

If you are interested in learning about meditation, cooking, or religious liberty, you could sit down with a book one or two times and see if you can get everything you need in just a couple long sit-downs. If you are captivated and want to learn as much as you can, then take more time with it, but don’t force it past what you want to learn. (I think of a sit-down as the 45 minutes before bed, not sitting at the playground where you read one or two paragraphs)

I do think there are different kinds of reading like devotional reading, where you want to go very slowly and focus on your heart and thought process during it – this kind of reading is not information base. And then there is reading to enjoy the art form such as poetry and novels, and I’m still working on how to develop this kind of reading. But if you want to do more information-based reading and continue life-long learning, it’s best to ride the wave of interest and enjoyment and not get stuck.

I’m sure there is virtue in learning to sit and finish books, but I would be very selective in which books you do that with and only reserve that for the best of the best like Confessions by St. Augustine or Jane Eyre by Bronte.

Any book published recently does not deserve that much time, especially because many books published today are written at a 6th-grade reading level.