On Reading

I read a lot; a book or more a week, on average. My Goodreads account tells me I read 81 books this past year, which sounds about right.

You don’t have to read a lot, though. You don’t have to maintain a Goodreads (or any other book-tracking) account. I read a lot because I enjoy it and I’ve set up my days (and my life) so that I have more time to read. I keep a Goodreads list so people who are interested can get ideas about what to read next, but also because it helps me keep track of what I read, over time.

I read fiction on my Kindle Paperwhite, usually right before going to sleep each night, but also for an hour on Sundays when I meet with a group of people at a nearby coffeeshop (where we read together in companionable silence). Those meetups give me the excuse to socialize, chit-chat with fellow book-lovers, and read a little bit more fiction each week. But you really, truly don’t need to do any of that; this is very me-centric stuff. You don’t need a Kindle, you don’t need a reading group. They’re fun if that’s your thing, but that’s not what being a reader is about. Being a reader is about reading whatever, whenever, and in whichever context makes the most sense to you and your other responsibilities and priorities.

I listen to audiobooks, usually nonfiction, usually in the morning when I’m going through my workout, stretch, tidy the kitchen, make coffee routine, and then also on gym days, while running and such. The narration makes a huge difference in how palatable these things are, but I can usually muscle my way through even the most sprawling tomes because they’re a background experience rather than the absolute center of my focus (the way I listen to them, at least). This isn’t the best way to read certain things, but it’s great for books that are about 10–25% really solid, interesting information, while the balance is bulked-up with fluff.

You do not need to listen to audiobooks, but you can. And no matter what anyone tells you, audiobooks are books—you’re just absorbing the words through your ears instead of your eyes.

I usually have another nonfiction book going at any given moment, as well, either in tangible, printed form, or on my aging iPad. There are periods in which I absolutely fly through this ‘third book,’ because I’m doing work that allows me to step away regularly and I want something weighty to engage with in between bursts of productivity (rather than picking up my phone or opening up the news). But sometimes I’ll go months without revisiting this alternative reading option.

Which is fine! You can set books aside, you can read them in three-hour sprints, you can pick them up and set them down whenever you want. There are no rules except those we develop for ourselves. We’re our own book police and can use our powers however we choose.

I read a lot of short works throughout the day; probably 80% of them are essays published on blogs and other online publications, but the short fiction works shared on the web tends to be really interesting and a lot edgier and more experimental than the stuff the makes it into books (on average).

Short pieces count: you’re still reading. Text messages count! They’re all words. It’s fine. There’s nothing inherently better or more noble about a particular length of writing. A text message is exactly the right size for the content it contains and its purpose in our communication toolbox, just as essays are essays for a reason, books make the most sense as books, and so on.

Reading more (of anything) will tend to make reading easier, as your body and brain will learn to get into the right rhythm faster, and you’ll tend to soak up the information without having to consciously read each word and decode each sentence for meaning. This is a huge frustration for people who don’t read tons, but who would like to, I know. But believe me: it gets easier and becomes more casual the more you do it, just like anything else.

Reading culture (online groups, meetups, book influencers) is great in that it can expose people to new things they might enjoy, but don’t let the gatekeepery implications embedded in some such messaging (that reading is the be-all, end-all, that being a reader requires you meet certain strict criteria, that some books are legit and others aren’t) influence you. You can read whatever you want, however you want, and as long as those habits, routines, and efforts serve you, you’re doing it right.

Reading slow is great, reading only periodically is great, reading in paperback or hardcover, reading on your phone or on the web or the words on a billboard or text message—all are reading, all count. All reading is good reading.