Finding Time to Read Every Single Day
Soccer practice, guitar lessons, dinner, homework. Then there’s work, exercise, time to talk to my husband. Every woman I know can relate to the never-ending list of responsibilities and duties that plague us on a daily basis. There are not enough hours in any day to do it all. And yet, regardless of how crazy my life is, there is always time to read.I cannot imagine a 24-hour period when I do not have a book in my hand at least once. For me, reading is not a nice bonus if and when I have time. It is a defining and grounding part of every day of my life. And it has been for as long as I can remember.
I distinctly recall at eight years old standing at the Children’s library desk. A well-meaning but unknowledgeable librarian asked if I really needed to check out all those books. After all, I wouldn’t be able to finish them before they were due. My mom jumped to my defense and responded that I would have finished at least one of them before we got home and we would be back for more in less than two weeks.
Fast forward a few years to my brother’s sporting events. I had a keen second sense of when he was on the court or field. I watched every play he was in. But the moment he returned to the bench, my nose returned to my book. My freshman year of college I felt homesick and overwhelmed at being so far away. I bought Foucault’s Pendulum in the college bookstore, sat down in the lounge next door, and lost myself in the first 100 pages of a fascinating completely foreign world. By the time I returned to my dorm, I felt capable of dealing with the pressures of college life again. As a Masters student in History I had to read. My first semester of grad school I read approximately 50 academic books (and I didn’t yet know skimming was not only allowed but assumed. So I read. Every. Single. Page.). Yet even when I spent ten hours with academia in my hands, I still fell into bed with a novel.
I find reading to be a cathartic experience. As a historian, reading remains a foundational part of my work. Finding new topics and new books which bring together academic themes in an engaging and readable way makes me happy. But, for as much non-fiction as I read, far and away the vast majority of the reading I do is fiction. I prefer novels across a wide swath of genres: murder mysteries, chick lit, vampiric romances, witty science fiction: I read them all.
I believe anyone can become a book lover, whether or not reading is already a regular habit. The most important thing is to find a book to catch your attention. I have a penchant for young adult science fiction: the greater the dystopia, the easier I am engaged. I have a good friend who has boxes of mindless romances which give her an escape from reality. Don’t apologize for what you want to read. Pick something you love and lose yourself, no matter how cheesy the cover or non-academic the topic.
In the past five years finding time to read has become progressively more difficult. Yes, I factor in two kids and a job, but in this instance, I am not talking about real life; I am referring to the time sink of social networking and the internet. It is so easy, with smart phones, iPods, and computers, to spend way too much time surfing the internet and checking everyone’s Facebook status. I fall into the same bad habits of most people I know. But recently I have made a concerted effort to turn off and unplug my life. Taking the train to work, I spend five minutes quickly checking email and making sure the world is not ending. Then I consciously put my phone away and grab a book for the remaining 25 minutes. I refuse to let myself see if there are any new Facebook updates during the ride. In the evenings I try to leave my laptop off. If I have five spare minutes, I look for a book rather than a computer.
Technology is not all bad however. Carrying a smart phone, rather than an extra book, to the playground, the Children’s Museum, or soccer practice is easy. I always have at least one background book (background book: a non-essential read I can pick up once every month and not worry if I don’t have time to finish it) loaded on my phone. When my kids are well ensconced in building earthquake-proof Lego houses at the Science Museum, I can stand nearby and read ten pages of Little Men rather than staring in the distance. With the ease of ebooks I have read classics like Alice in Wonderland and The Wind in the Willows – they’re free – that I wouldn’t have thought to read otherwise. Regardless of where I read, I find myself feeling untethered if I go for more than a day or two without reading.
I have friends who claim they don’t read. To me that is as antithetical as not eating. Reading is not a hobby I try to fit in from time to time. Unless I am past exhausted, I read for at least 15 minutes every night. Occasionally I will only read two pages. More often than not, I’ll lose myself in a story and have to remind myself that sleep is a necessary use of my time. After 13 years my husband has learned to fall asleep with my light on. Most days I fit in at least one other reading session during daylight hours. The days I finish a book on the way to work, I stop at the library and pick up something new so I have a book for the ride home. When water is boiling for dinner, I will read a few pages standing in front of the stove. On the rare days I get to school pick up ten minutes early, I will read for seven minutes in the car before meeting my boys. When the weather is nice and the boys are playing happily outside (yes, it’s rare, but it does happen) I will take a book outside and read while they play. If a book is engaging enough, I will leave the TV off and finish a story in the evening. It would not occur to me to not have at least one book in process at any given time.
If you don’t have the time to read a long novel or a work of non-fiction, pick up a magazine, a book of poems, or a graphic novel. While the latest edifying bestseller might teach you about current events, reading it can become a chore. Rather than feeling intellectual for the book on your nightstand which you mean to finish, use reading as a momentary escape; it doesn’t always (or ever) have to be educational. I learn a lot from the cozy mysteries I read.
My deep appreciation for the written word is a gift I came by naturally. As much as I read, my mom reads twice as much. My childhood was full of open books lying throughout the house. Until I became a French Lit major in college it was nearly impossible to find a piece of classic literature that one of my parents had not read. During our phone conversations my mom and I still introduce one another to our recent favorite books (Maud Hart Lovelace, the Betsy-Tacy series: the most recent amazing new/old find). At least three times a year my mom and I send a full box of books to one another to read and reread.
My husband is also a reader. We have competing bookcases full of wildly different books. He goes in for heavier science fiction. By now he’ll read a book and recommend it to me or not based on the number of battle scenes and the sheer geek science factor. His recommendations are usually spot-on. We both wait anxiously for the other to finish a shared read so we can dissect characters and plot lines. I can’t imagine having married a non-reader. Only someone who can appreciate books could have the patience for my obsession.
I hope that we will pass our love of literature on to our sons. They are both reading above grade level already (yes, shameless mom plug), but I believe that is because they assume you always have a book handy. And a bedtime routine is not complete in our house without a reading session before sleep.
If you allow yourself short breaks to read for enjoyment you might find you want to read more. You will realize you have learned about topics you didn’t set out to research. You might then take the time to look for the edifying intellectual books and already have time worked into your schedule to read them. I believe I am more knowledgeable about our world and our place in it because of the books I have read. I find reading and writing to be a natural extension of what I do. I can hold a conversation about the New York Times Book Review or about the BBC’s list of 100 Best Books or about the role of women in Egypt today. Because I read. Every single day.
Friend me on Goodreads or check out my blog A Novel Read if you want to see what I’ve been reading lately.
Category: Mind
My husband and I do the same thing with books. read and discuss and share. I too can’t imagine it being any other way.
Absolutely! My hubby is currently reading the Hunger Game series per my suggestion. He’s still annoyed with me that I never finished Stephen King’s Gunslinger series. He claims that when I finally get around to it he’ll have to start over again because he will have forgotten too much.
It’s exciting our kids are getting old enough to read and share too.
Love this! This is what I do too! I have found that taking my kids to the swimming pool for their lesson has become my time every week to head upstairs to the viewing gallery, find myself a seat and get my book out of my bag! At first a lot of the other parents gave me funny looks but as the time has gone on I see more and more doing the same as me. They can look up and wave at their child in the pool like I do but they’ve made the ‘wasted time’ into time where they can do something for themselves. I used to wonder where my love of reading came from but then I noticed that my mum is always reading and always has been (just not the kind of books I read) and both my Grandparents read a lot and I remember my Great Grandma reading a lot too……. no prizes for guessing that my partner and I have produced two avid bookworms ourselves….. oh and my partner never read much before he met me but he’s nurtured it as a way to use the fact that my bedside lamp is usually on for at least half an hour after I’ve gone to bed!
I do the same at kid’s activities. I have had people who don’t know me think I am snooty or unsociable for not socializing. But my friends understand. (I do try to put my book down and talk if it is parents I will be interacting with regularly.)
Using that time to read keeps me more balanced. I find I don’t resent all the running from activity to activity because I get some me time in the middle.
Good read! My love for reading started with my mother, who read to me every day during my pre-reading years. My mother made buying books a financial priority, believing it was investment that had many returns. I remember never minding going to the dentist because they had a great library of kids books. My mother read a new story to me as we sat waiting for the not-so-pleasant dentist’s chair. The distraction of books is only one of many of its side effects. I ready a study that discovered A toddler needs his mother’s attention on an average of every FOUR minutes! It’s no wonder I can never get anything done. Someday I will be beyond the Toddler reading stage for myself, though very happy to carry on my mother’s want for me to love reading and reap its great rewards.
I agree, it is easier to read with infants than it is with toddlers. They don’t have the patience to wait for the end of a chapter.
One trick I remember using was picking up a boy and reading a section out loud in a very dynamic voice – sometimes I even put my finger under the line I was reading for him to follow. It made my kids feel like they were getting mom time and after a few minutes they squirmed away to play something more active and I could read a bit more.
I went for a long while without reading recently. I missed it, but wasn’t sure how to make time for it. Now, even if it’s only 15 minutes before I fall asleep, I gotta read! Great article!
I’m thrilled to hear I’ve inspired you to start reading again! Like exercise (or really any personal outlet) putting a hobby down is SO much easier than picking it back up again. Convincing yourself that reading is not taking away from other aspects of your day but is an important aspect on its own is key.
I was updating my Goodreads list and discovered that they have added a “recommendations” feature. It will recommend books you might like based on the ratings you have given books you already read. What a great way to find new books and authors!! (And I apologize if anyone is my friend and suddenly gets a list of the 100 books I just added
)
I found when my kids were toddlers to find excellent rhyming verse for kids. Their attention is held more when you purposefully don’t say the last word of the rhyme and they get to fill it in. -It’s about finding active ways to read rather than passive at this age…. although my eight year old daughter still adores being read to. I always make sure we have a book on the go (and my kids are 8 and 12 now) so we can all snuggle into my bed and just chill out together for 20minutes or so before they go to bed. We are currently on The Voyage of The Dawntreader by C. S. Lewis at the moment.
I love reading to my kids and will be really sad when they decide they’re too old for bedtime stories. We’ve been working our way through 39 Clues recently. Last summer we read three or four books by Andrew Clements. My younger son loves the cadence of poetry and we read a lot of Jack Perlutsky and Shel Silverstein.
The trick I listed above about reading out loud to a toddler was a completely selfish trick – it meant I didn’t have to put my book down if I was really invested in the story. I have lots of other thoughts about actively reading with kids – and I agree that rhyming is a great way to get a kid started recognizing words and being engaged in a book (just ask Dr. Seuss
).
I really enjoyed reading this. My husband and I have slightly different tastes in books, so we both help each other to expand each other’s reading horizons. I knew he was “the one,” though, when we realized we shared the same favorite book — 100 years of solitude. Finding time to read is so important. I try to turn off the computer at 9:00, make some tea, and curl up on the couch with a book for just a little bit before bed.
I love the idea of a soulmate based on the same favorite book. My husband and I have quite different tastes too. It is thrilling when we find an author we both really appreciate: Garth Nix and Neil Gaiman were two such authors for us. But I never would have read Alfred Bester or Dan Simmons had my husband not suggested them. Right now I’m reading a non-fiction book per his request. It’s not my usual fare, but I understand why he thought I should read it and would be interested.
WOW! Thoroughly enjoyed reading this article and clicked immediately, almost hungrily, onto your blog. What a phenomenal resource! It’s like getting all the pedigree of the New York Times through the filter of a trusted friend! I’ve already added three of the novels I found on your blog to my library wish list. A real gift because, while I love getting absorbed in a great read, I don’t take the time to read unless I’m totally captivated and think about the characters when I’m away from the book. I’m psyched to find my next favorites through anovelread. Thank you!
I’m so glad to hear it!! I need to get back to updating the blog. Goodreads has made me a bit lazy on that front. But I too love finding other people who share my interest in books.
I enjoy the New York Times Book Reviews and have the weekly review on my RSS feed. However, I don’t always want fine literature or the next bestseller; sometimes escapism is key.
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I am like you. There is no way that I could imagine life without books. Right now I am involved in a project at work that is pretty much hurry up and wait. Well the waiting has been going on for 2 weeks now so I spend that time (10 hours a day) catching up on blogs and reading. It’s enabled me to go thru 15 books already this year.
Great piece Jehnie! As a writer I keep telling myself to read more, more more more more….feel guilty that I don’t. Now, I’ve committed to at least 3 nights of read-only (vs TV etc.) and snippets during the day. I feel the release and relax by my nighttime ritual. I find because I work from home, time wasting on social media more than I care to admit, some of it work related because I post my articles.
My stepmother subscribed to the The New Yorker for me and it’s an intimidating pile-up, that, and the books and science magazines (my favorite, Scientific American Mind). I seem to focus on essay compilations and magazines more than novels because I’m writing essays and cramming in years of not reading enough of the modern masters. Anne Lamott and Barbara Kingsolver are my favorite essayists, so far.
As a kid I was a voracious reader. We weren’t allowed much TV so books were SOP in our heavy reader parents’ house. I don’t dive into fiction novels as much as I read essays and articles. Recently I raced through Dinty Moore’s Accidental Buddhist, was amazed at how fast I read it.