Of Reading

Recurring lockdown has got you looking for new hobbies? Looking to get into reading? If you are, maybe you will find these tips useful.

1. You have to start somewhere

Let’s address the million dollar question – where to start?

There are no wrong answers. Binged watched a TV series which was based on a book? Start with that book series. Having a familiar storyline will help you ease into the world of reading.

Personally, Animal Farm by George Orwell is the book I recommend to people just starting up. It’s an important, must read piece of literature, and Orwell’s writing easily digestible. Train to Pakistan by Khushwant Singh is another.

2. Reading is a habit

Keep in mind that you don’t become a voracious reader overnight. It will take weeks, sometimes months to develop a reading habit. Try to block out time from your schedule. It could be as little as fifteen minutes. Start slow – you don’t have to run before you crawl.

3. Read widely

Don’t limit your self to a select genre. Fan of science fiction? Read romance. Into academic reading? Read poetry. A die hard atheist? Read theology. The aim of reading is to broaden your understanding of things around you.

4. You won’t remember all you read

Don’t beat yourself if you forget what you read. Most readers do. The goal is to imbibe as much as you can, even if it just a little at first.

Remember the words of American poet Ralph Waldo Emerson, “I cannot remember the books I’ve read any more than the meals I have eaten; even so, they have made me.”

Doesn’t matter how great your memory is, you will need to re-read, sometimes multiple times, every book to truly understand it. What I like to do, especially while reading non-fiction, is to mark important parts (with a pencil, I am not a heathen who uses a pen) to facilitate quick re-reading.

5. Don’t read just to bump up your ego

Having many “Have read” books under your belt feels amazing, but remember the aim is to learn, not to brag.

Keeping in mind what Charles H. Spurgeon wrote, “Little learning and much pride comes from hasty reading…In reading let your motto be ‘much not many.’”