image: journal with reading logs laid out over books if you've been keeping up with me at all, you know that lately i've been reading... a preposterous amount of books. while no one should ever willingly read as many books as i do, if you're interested in how i manage it, keep reading! so if you didn't see my last post, i read 19 books in the first two weeks of august. before that, i read 19 (and a half) books over the month of july. in a span of two months, i read almost as many books as i read for the entire year of 2019. no offense, mari, but that's kind of disgusting. even more disgusting? how the numbers are adding up for this year in total. image: a screenshot of my 2020 goodreads reading challenge. the image says, "you have read 114 of 75 books in 2020." this is to say that i thought i was stretching myself thin by aiming to read 75 books, but it's august and i smashed that plan out of the park. yeah. you read that right. 114 books. trust me, everyone around me is worried about me, too. either they're telling me i'm going to burnout faster than a blue giant star (astronomy joke, ba dum tss), or they're worried when i'm not reading. but as unhealthy as this seems, books have been one of the core happinesses keeping me going through this pandemic, and with mental health at risk, i say we must do whatever we can to put a smile on our faces even for a few minutes each day (within reason of course).
you don't get a prize for reading a lot of books. you certainly might not gain as much, or be happier if you read a lot of books. but if you're like me, and there are a LOT of books that you want to read and feel anxious that you don't have time for all of them, here are 5 tips i use to knock through my TBR faster than i can create it (most of the time). 1. know what reading format(s) you like there are so many reading formats these days that overcome a lot of disabilities and other obstacles! there are audiobooks, there are e-books, there are e-readers, and, of course, there's the beloved physical copy. despite all these options, not everything works for everyone! physical reading is a tried and true comfort, but sometimes they're inaccessible, and often times (i'm looking at you, priory of the orange tree by samantha shannon) they're just plain daunting. e-books are a wonderful new invention that have made books widely accessible so long as you have a smart device or e-reader, but screens can strain the eyes, lead to distractions, and simply not have the feel that you enjoy. audiobooks are a new addition to my life, as i never thought to use them before, and they're great for background noise when you're working, but sometimes your attention drifts and you can miss important parts. i highly suggest trying out all options to see what works and doesn't work for you! 2. take advantage of possible ways to get books once you've figured out how you like to read books, then it's time to go on and get them! for physical, e-, and audiobooks (by and large) for free, i recommend libby, an app that connects to your local library and allows you to access your library's digital catalogue. you can download e-books and audiobooks right to your smart device! on that same vein, i highly recommend checking out if your local library has a digital app. mine does, so i'm speaking from personal experience, but because i love have physical books to read, i am constantly requesting books. my local library is especially cool because they will ship books from other libraries to pick up at my location so it's a one-stop free book shop! (i also live down the street from my library and i can request up to 15 books at once... so ya girl goes a little crazy) if you have a little extra pocket change, two sites i highly recommend checking out are libro.fm and scribd. libro.fm is a great place to buy audiobooks if that's your jive, and the coolest part is that (unlike audible) you can support local bookstores by buying that audiobook through them. scribd is a subscription service that lets you listen to audiobooks and download e-books . my only warnings with scribd are that there seems to be a limit to how many audiobooks and e-books you consume monthly (i haven't run into that wall yet, but i have heard others have, and it varies per person), and you can't read scribd e-books on e-readers such as a kindle or a kobo (but tablets such as the kindle fire, samsung tablet, and ipad work). i've been using scribd a lot recently thanks to a two-month free trial (instead of the usual one-month free trial) i obtained from a book blogger's promotional code, so keep your eye out for those! note: there are other paid services available for audio and e-books, but i don't currently use them and therefore can't really consciously endorse them. 3. read what you want to read when you want to read them okay, yes, TBRs are wonderful... in theory. but i find (for me especially) that having a set TBR can pigeon-hole you, and that can stifle the reading experience. that's why i struggle for the most part with read-a-thons, and tend not to participate if you have to set a specific TBR. i suggest just reading whatever you want whenever you want. one reason is if you're forcing yourself to read book a before book b, you might miss the motivation or excitement that you had for book b while reading through book a. or you could just not be enjoying a book, but you feel tied to reading it because you declared it. but, hon, no one has time for books they don't enjoy — love yourself, and move on. this means that, yes, dear, you're absolutely allowed to DNF books, or put them aside and come back to them later. let your own motivations get you through a book — don't let outside pressures force you through a book. you're not going to enjoy it as much if you do! 4. identify the times you like reading/can read we've all heard night owls versus early birds when it comes to work and studying, but i believe that applies to reading as well! there are a lot of us (yours truly included) who can't just read whenever they have time. reading is a mood in that sense, but often times these moods come in patterns, and finding that pattern (just like finding out when the best time to study/work is) will help you get your best reading done. i know there are people who like to read after a long and stressful day, so coming home and picking up a book in the afternoon is the best. there's also, of course, the common routine of reading before bed, as it calms you down and prepares you for slumber. there are also people who like to read bright and early in the morning, because it gets their brain going. whatever works best for you! routines typically help figure this out but patterns are your best friend for this tip. 5. (try to) read more than one book at a time this is especially recommended if you like or don't mind reading different book formats, and also if there are different times of the day when you enjoy reading. this tip combines tip #1 and tip #4 to reiterate tip #3: whatever you're in the mood for at that moment, read it! i do, however, understand that reading multiple books at once is a challenge, especially for those of us who enjoy getting really invested in the story. but having different formats for books can help as you are mentally in different places with a book in each format. so... how does all of this work together for me, mari, to read 20 books a month?
(are you scared of me because i'm scared of me lol) i would like to reiterate here that by no means should you be reading as many books as me, nor should you push yourself to read more than you're comfortable with just for bookish clout. it's not worth it, and burn-out is real! i'm currently on kindle burn-out because a lot of my wikathon reads were available through my library's digital database, and it's slowed me down and made me feel adverse to reading. this post was meant with the good intentions of explaining how i read so many books. i'm sorry if i scared you. if it makes any sense, efficiency and utility are my obsessions, and it trickles into all of my hobbies and pastimes. as always, feel free to hit me up on twitter or instagram if you have any questions or would like to submit a complaint for being thoroughly traumatized by my bookish habits. i hope your reading ventures are as satisfying for you!
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hi, i'm mari, and i'm a STEM grad student, i watch baseball, and i read... a lot of books. i hope you learn some-thing new while you're here!
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