How to Read 50 Books This Year
A Guide to Reading With Purpose
Reading is the skill that keeps on giving. Once you master it, you can learn anything.
However, most adults cannot bring themselves to attempt it for more than a few hours each year. That is because it can be difficult. Still, people do difficult things all the time. So why not reading? The answer is simple: they don’t know how to.
I’m going to walk you through exactly how I went from 0 to 50 books in one year.
Picking the Right Books
Don’t read to read. Read to help you succeed in your life. Before you walk into a bookstore, consider a question or problem you have. For instance:
- What is the meaning of life?
- Where should I travel?
- How do I improve my relationships?
Fiction or nonfiction, all authors are writing to address a problem. Knowing what you want to get out of your effort will help you find the books that offer solutions valuable to you. Most importantly, having an interest will keep you motivated.
Where and When to Read
Don’t be tempted to read in bed. Now is not the time to rest. There are issues you are trying to solve that require your utmost attention. Besides, any pages you misunderstand now due to weariness will only have to be revisited later. Decide where and when you are going to read with intention.
For your setting, I recommend sitting upright either at a desk or somewhere in the living room. Whichever you pick, make it a place that is well lit. A desk lamp is better than a window because you are less likely to be distracted or notice the time passing. The same reasoning applies to why you shouldn’t read outside.
The best time to read is at night. This follows from our earlier explanation as to why read in the first place. — Reading should complement your life. Don’t sacrifice tangible experience for abstract knowledge, especially when you can have both: one during the day and the other at night.
Preparation is Key
This next piece of advice is optional. However, if you want to maximize your efficiency, then even a few minutes of preparation can give you an advantage over most readers.
The challenge of reading a new book is that you are simultaneously tasked with both discovering and interpreting. However, by using online summaries, Wikipedia, or secondary literature, you can familiarize yourself with the material before you even open the book.
As a philosophy major and English minor, this technique has proven itself useful against both fiction and nonfiction.
To give an example, the philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche is notorious for being undecipherable. That is because his arguments employ a complex lexicon rooted in both philosophy and psychology. Anticipating this issue, I read Walter Kaufmann’s Nietzsche: Philosopher, Psychologist, Antichrist. This piece of secondary literature gave me a preliminary context that most readers lack when they begin. Later, when I read the source material, I encountered Nietzsche with greater ease.
On the topic of speed, in two months I managed to complete eleven of Nietzsche’s works (a feat most of my peers deemed impossible). But I assure you, it’s not.
Even the smallest bit of preparation can make all the difference. It is possible to read faster without sacrificing your understanding. In other words, you can have your cake and eat it too.
Two Methods: Snowball and Avalanche
There are two methods of approaching a new book.
The first is what I call the “snowball method.” The goal is to read consistently and in small amounts. This is optimal for books that are long or especially intricate.
I employed this method in tackling Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn’s Gulag Archipelago, which is a historical nonfiction that spans 2,000 pages across three separate volumes. When the books first arrived it felt like staring into the abyss. I worried that it would take years. But reading for roughly an hour each evening, I managed to finish in just over a month.
With experience, the “avalanche method” can be used to wipe out small works. Occasionally, we find ourselves with ample amounts of time and with little to do. Think plane rides, waiting rooms, or the occasional stormy weather. If you have multiple hours to spare, completing something 150 pages or fewer in a single sitting may be within your capabilities.
You need to be able to commit. Neither will work unless you can follow through on whichever method you decide. Unfortunately, discipline is something I cannot teach you. But if I can do it, then I know you can too.
My Secret
If you’ve found a book that interests you, picked the right location, done the preparation, and decided on your method, then you are ready to begin reading. Everything that I have discussed so far is enough to get you through at least a few books per year.
However, in 2020 I nearly quadrupled my reading capacity. Yes, you read that correctly: quadrupled. Comparing my 2019 and 2020 progress, I went from reading 15 to 50 books per year. That’s a difference of +35 books or a 233% increase.
By the way, most of these were so-called “classics” that require ample focus: Augustine’s Confessions, Dante’s Divine Comedy, Dostoevsky’s The Brother’s Karamazov, etc. Perhaps most impressive out of all of them was my completion of the entire New Testament, which took nearly two months.
Keep in mind that I lead a life despite all that reading. In other words, I wasn’t spending any more time than before. So, what did I do differently?
It may surprise you to know that the secret to reading has nothing to do with visualizing the pages. Instead, great readers engage with the text.
Great readers don’t read: they think.
Recall the last memorable conversation you had with a friend. The likelihood is that neither of you was paying much attention to the literal words being spoken. After all, they are just sounds. Whatever form they’re in, words only matter on account of the larger meaning being conveyed. All the rest is babble, of which we have no patience for whether it be from people or authors.
By extending this metaphor it becomes clear that all of the advice I have presented are things you already practice while socializing:
- “Picking the Right Books” — engaging with worthwhile people.
- “Where and When to Read” — meeting at an appropriate place and time.
- “Preparation is Key” — arriving informed on the relevant topics.
- “Two Methods: Snowball and Avalanche” — knowing whether to chat briefly and often or for a long period only once.
- “My Secret” — engaging in the conversation.
Reading isn’t a dead practice. Books are simply reserved for those with the willingness to unlock their potential. Anyone can, but not everyone does.
Truthfully, most authors don’t write for money or fame. They write because they have something important to tell you. And if I have made your task of understanding them at all easier, I’ll count this as having been worthwhile.
