If you read 50+ books a year, how do you do it?

I’ve always read lots and very fast. Did an English degree and am an English teacher. When I had DC 1 people seemed to take pleasure in telling mei would no longer have time to read! Bonkers - read more than usual as not working. To me it’s not a chore - it’s like breathing.

I didn't manage to read much when I had small children, I used to manage to read maybe a page before I would fall asleep at night!

But now they are older I do read around 50 to 60 books a year. I have a full-time job and hobbies /volunteer ing and busy for children but I carve out any spare bit of time for reading.

I usually have a Kindle book an audiobook and a nonfiction book and fiction paperback on the go at anytime

I don't much a lot of TV and I have a health condition that means I do have to make sure I rest regularly.

I'm also a really fast reader, I have to be as my job involves reading lots of dense and complex text.

I read, on average, 100 a year - maybe a few more. I’ve always read voraciously since childhood and I can’t go anywhere without having a book on my person. It’s been easier since kindle arrived, though I don’t have an actual kindle, just the app on my iPad/phone. I still love 'real' books, though.

Mostly I read before going to sleep, for at least an hour, and I used to have a regular train commute which also meant reading time. I don’t do that any more and my reading has definitely suffered as a result. I’ve noticed that anxiety and worry do tend to mean my concentration takes a hit and makes reading more difficult, although funnily enough, I read very intensely during the Covid lockdown. But I don’t have dc and my time is mostly at my disposal outside of work, so that helps enormously.

I read pretty quickly too, having compared this with DH, who doesn’t read nearly as much as me. However, I can’t do audio books at all. If I could, I’d be well into 200+ a year!

Shortest book I read was 163 pages & longest was 1688 pages. On average most of the books I read last year were between 300-500 though.

Could you invest in a kindle if you dont have one? I bought a new one last year, and it has a light so I can read it the dark if dh is sleeping and we're in bed. I'm just thinking if you are sitting with your children to fall asleep you could read then? I signed up to kindle unlimited which is great but obviously you need to read the books to get your moneys worth.

A 350 page book only takes around 2.5hrs to read, so easily done in a day instead of watching TV or scrolling on a phone.

@ArticWillow that’s one of the reasons I like a kindle. So if I’m multitasking eg commuting or cooking, I can read an
easy crime novel. If I’m in a quiet place, then I can switch to something needing more concentration

My counter question is: if you read 50+ books a year, what's how many pages/ file size for e books.

I'd say the average book has about 280- 300 pages, that's easily done in a week or less. The books I read often have 3-4x as many pages... that's obviously a much longer read! Then there is language and content some are easier than others for example straight forward romantic novel versus a historical fiction with lots of background information. That would take longer as I get sidetracked fo fact checking. A romantic or crime novel I'm happy to skip a few pages if it's to tedious or predictable without harm.

I read 50 books a year without trying. I read every night for about half an hour, which is usually enough to get through an average length novel a week. I then will read 2-3 a week on a busyish holiday.

With a bit of intention I get through 75-100 books a year, but that includes reading on my commute (an extra 1-2h of reading a week), choosing to read instead of TV or social media, carrying my kindle everywhere to read instead 5 mins downtime, and reading a book a day on a lazy holiday.

The 75–100 includes around 5 audio books when I’m driving/in the shower/walking along/doing chores/getting ready.

Yes, me too. If I'm shopping, driving, cleaning the house, I'm also listening to an audiobook.

Def

I read 100 + books a year as I don't have many other hobbies! My kids are older so don't need me as much. I have a kobo/kindle/borrowbox on my phone so I can squeeze in extra reading time at the school gates, in queues etc. Also audio books whilst walking to/from work, doing housework etc. I'm a fairly fast reader as well but I think this is down to years of reading

I would read a lot less if I didn’t own a kindle, for sure

I don't usually read that many, but last year I was off work sick, and I read around 60 plus books. This year I've managed 3 so far. I don't think thats too bad considering I'm working full time, in uni and have two children and 3 cats to care for. I think if you want to read more you need to make an effort. Avoid doom scrolling, watching rubbish on tv. I find if the book is a page turner I fly through them!

Also my kids are teens now, so that helps 😀

I read in queues, on the bus/train, at lunch, occasionally when walking if it's safe, in the evenings instead of TV or during ads and boring bits, in the bathroom. Not usually in bed. I have my kindle for on the go, a main book and a bathroom reread.

I read 59 books last year as I started logging them. Thank goodness for Borrowbox. I am a fast reader anyway but I always read at night for about an hour and also in the morning around 30 minutes. If I am having dinner alone I get another thirty mins in. Weekends I read longer in the morning. So I guess I read for up to 14 hours a week and more if on leave from work.

My commuting book is different from my bedtime book. Sometimes I have two of each on the go at once, just to keep momentum up if there’s a day when I’m not in the mood for fiction.

Also choose the commuting book carefully – it has to have short enough chunks that I can usually stop at a suitable gap once I reach the station.

I am a fast reader and I read my kindle pretty constantly eg whilst commuting rather than scrolling.

I don’t usually manage 50 in a year, but I pretty regularly reach 40. It isn’t particularly difficult, even with kids. I have 20-30 minutes each way on the train, maybe three or four days a week, and half-an-hour last thing every night. I don’t really read outside those times. Reading-before-sleeping is the most important thing and not just for numbers – I sleep so much better after I read compared to when I don’t.

You need to be disciplined though. No scrolling on the train. It’s funny because once you’re in the habit you look up and realise you’ve acquired a superpower because almost everyone else has their noses in their phones instead!

I hit 50 on my good reads list last year plus I also read around 100 short stories (3-10k words each).

I carry a pocket sized kindle and pull that out to read a few pages instead of scrolling on my phone during idle moments.

I also spent a while going through all my apps and disabling the majority of notifications leaving only important stuff. It only pops up when someone is directly trying to contact me plus stuff like my bank now. This means I spend way less time on my phone as I'm not "just checking" something after getting a random notification giving me a lot more kindle time.

Lastly I tend to have an audiobook playing whenever I'm doing something that requires my hands to be busy but not my brain e.g housework. I tend to play video games in the evening instead of watch TV and many games pair well with audio books too.

Sometimes I read 3 books in a week and then don't read anything for two months. Sometimes I'll spend a month only reading short stories. I never push myself to read if I'm not in the mood as that rapidly kills the fun for me. I just average it out over the year and it works out to approximately 1 book and 2 short stories a week.

Oh, sorry additional information:

my kids are older now obviously so I have more time. But even when my kids were young I always had a book with me. Kids swimming lessons - reading on the seats. Waiting outside brownies (too far to go home and back again) - flask of tea couple of biscuits and read for an hour or so.

sometimes I read trash or easy reads - Thursday murder club and the like - normally I have a couple of books on the go one easy read one less so.

i actually really love war and peace and once spent a plane ride to New York re-reading it.

i grew up with no TV and very little radio. I read a LOT as a child and I am now a pretty quick reader.

i also (try to) read in the language I d as k currently learning which is German. I have an app for that as I’m nowhere near good enough to read actual books.