Tag: National Reading Month

How to Nurture Your Love of Reading During National Reading Month

~ The Regal Writer ~ Leave a comment

I realized only recently that March is National Reading Month, a month-long celebration of reading and literacy. Inspired in part by the author and cartoonist Dr. Seuss (The Cat in the Hat and Green Eggs and Ham), whose birthday is March 2, the event is sponsored by the National Education Association to encourage people of all ages to develop a love of reading.

According to literacy experts, reading has numerous benefits, including:

  • Building your vocabulary
  • Improving writing skills
  • Helping us understand the world we live in
  • Improving our mental well-being and reducing stress
  • Keeping up with current events
  • Sparking creativity and imagination
  • Developing critical thinking skills
  • Developing empathy for others and emotional intelligence

    With so many benefits, it’s a wonder more people aren’t in love aren’t in love with reading. One statistic I came across noted the average person reads only 12 books a year. Meanwhile, the top 1% of readers consume 80 books per year. I’m lucky that I’m usually able to read 30-35 books a year, or roughly 2-3 per month.

There are several ways to develop your love of reading:

* Increase the amount of time spent reading
* Increase the number of books you read in a given year
* Share your love of reading with others
* Ramp up the quality of your reading experience

I’ll tackle each one of these in detail.

Increase the amount of time spent reading. I get it. Life gets busy. There are too many responsibilities and obligations getting in the way of valuable reading time. If a hectic schedule limits your reading time to only two hours a week or less, consider ways to increase that time. It doesn’t have to be significant either. Even an extra 15 minutes a day can bring you some of benefit. Start by bringing a book with you wherever you go so you have something to do while you wait for your ride share driver or sit in a waiting room for a doctor appointment. If you take public transit, sneak in some reading time instead of staring into your phone. Or start your day with a brief reading session while you have your morning coffee or tea. If you look carefully enough, you may find openings in your schedule to enjoy a little reading break.

Increase the number of books you read in a given year. This might be harder than it looks. Again, hectic schedules often get in the way of our reading intentions. If your current reading number is the average 12 books per year, how can you increase that by one book? You may find that by squeezing in those mini reading breaks I mentioned above, you can add that one extra book to your annual total without much stress or fuss. Another option is listening to audio books. This might be especially beneficial if you travel by car or take public transit. 

Share your love of reading with others. It’s fairly easy to find other bookworms who share your reading interests. Check with your local bookstore or library for book discussion groups that focus on a specific author or genre. So if you love cozy mysteries, you might be able to connect with a group that loves those types of stories.

Or consider joining a reading club, which is often confused with book discussion groups. (This post by Dany Books blog does a nice job of explaining the difference.) Reading clubs don’t have a set author or genre. Members get together periodically to simply read together, usually a book of their own choice, followed by a social hour where they enjoy refreshments and talk about the books they’re reading. Check out The Silent Book Club, for example, which caters to the more introverted readers among us. The focus of reading clubs is on the reading experience, while book clubs focus on the book they’re discussing.

Ramp up the quality of your reading experience. This might seem a more nebulous task. Rather than increase the number of books you read, try improving the quality of the experience. Maybe it’s finding a quieter, more solitary place to read or lighting a candle to read by. Maybe it’s sipping your favorite beverage while you read, or reading alongside a best friend who also loves to read. Maybe it’s focusing on one favorite genre, say memoirs or graphic novels. Only you know what will enhance your experience of reading.

While National Reading Month might take place during a single month, the love of reading can be nurtured all year round.

How to Read Multiple Books at a Time

~ The Regal Writer ~ 7 Comments

woman lying on area rug reading books
Photo by Renato Abati on Pexels.com

March is National Reading Month. Here’s to a celebration of reading.

I suppose one benefit of self-isolation during this unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic is being able to catch up on your reading — that is if you don’t have a gig to go to.

With more time on your hands, and perhaps more books awaiting your attention on your bookshelf, it may be an opportune time to “divide and conquer.” One quick and easy way to do that is by reading more than one book at a time.

Whether or not you want to tackle this challenge depends on several factors: how many books are already on your TBR list, how soon you want to get through them, and whether you have the time to indulge in this activity.

Experts says reading multiple books shows a reader’s virtuosity and their multitude of literary interests. It also shows their wealth of knowledge and curiosity about the world.

For most of the rest of us, reading multiple books is a circus act, like stepping along a high wire, trying to maintain your balance while clutching a book in each hand and perhaps one on top of your head. Or like a clown who starts out juggling two or three items and keeps adding another item to juggle until he can no longer keep them all in the air.

Are you a multiple book reader? Or do you prefer reading them one at a time, with occasional breaks to read something else when you get bored with the first title?

But aside from the circus analogy above, there are several tips and tricks for reading multiple books without losing your sanity — or your balance.

1. Read different genres. This makes the most practical sense. Reading multiple books is easy to accomplish when one book is fiction and another is non-fiction.

2. Read different books in different places. According to Bookriot, setting aside different spaces for different reading materials can help you make progress through your personal library. For example, you might read something light and breezy on your commute to and from work and save the heavier, more serious topics for evening reading.

3. Read different mediums. For example, you might read a lengthy 800-page novel on your Kindle while a novel of 250 pages might be lighter to carry around.

4. Take frequent breaks. Switching between two or three titles allows you to take a break from reading a heavier-themed book so you can come back to it later with fresh eyes.

5. Think big and small. If you’re reading multiple books, vary the length of the books you’re reading, suggests Genie in a Novel blog. So you want to tackle the 1037-page Gone with the Wind? It may take a while to get through it, so supplement your reading with other titles with fewer pages and lighter topics.

6. Explore the benefits of reading. Reading multiple books enables you to enjoy the multiple benefits of reading, writes The Fussy Librarian. You can further your education with nonfiction or historical textbooks, explore the world with a travel book and feel inspired with a self-help book or a book of poetry. 

7. Have a reading buddy or join a book club. Either option can help you access different genres and authors that you might not have considered. While you’re reading with the group, you can only supplement with one or two of your personal choice on the side.

Want to read more about how people read multiple books? Check out this NPR program.

What about you? Do you read one book title at a time, or do you read multiple books? How do you manage them all?

For the love of reading: 20 quotes by women

~ The Regal Writer ~ Leave a comment

women s yellow long sleeve shirt
Photo by Wendy Wei on Pexels.com

It’s been a difficult few weeks, and my brain cannot seem to function properly these days. I haven’t written much this week. So…since March is National Reading Month as well as Women’s History Month, in place of a regular post, I’m sharing a list of quotes by women about the love of reading. Please enjoy and be safe wherever you are.

The world was hers for the reading. – Betty Smith

Reading is a discount ticket to everywhere. – Mary Schmich

In books, I have travelled, not only to other worlds, but into my own. – Anna Quindlen

Reading is the sole means by which we slip, involuntarily, often helplessly, into another’s skin, another’s voice, another’s soul. – Joyce Carol Oates

She read books as one would breathe air, to fill up and live. – Annie Dillard

I can survive well enough on my own – if given the proper reading material. – Sarah J. Maas, author YA fantasy

Some say life is the thing, but I prefer reading. – Ruth Rendell

Reading one book is like eating one potato chip. – Diane Duane

A well-read woman is a dangerous creature. – Lisa Kleypas, The Wallflower Christmas

Read a thousand books, and your words will flow like a river. – Lisa See

Literature is my Utopia – Helen Keller

I love the solitude of reading. I love the deep dive into someone else’s story, the delicious ache of the last page. – Naomi Shihab Nye

Some books are so familiar that reading them is like being home again. – Louisa May Alcott

Books are the mirrors of the soul. – Virginia Woolf

You can’t buy happiness, but you can buy books and that’s kind of the same thing. – Anonymous

Wherever I am, if I’ve got that book with me, I’ve got a place I can go and be happy. – J.K. Rowling

One of the many gifts that books give readers is a connection to each other….Books cultivate empathy. – Sarah Jessica Parker

Books are a form of political action. Books are knowledge. Books are reflection. Books change your mind.  – Toni Morrison

I think that when you can escape into a book, it trains your imagination to think big and to think that more can exist than what you see. – Taylor Swift

Reading and writing have always pulled me out of the darkest experiences of my life. Stories have given me a place in which to lose myself. They have allowed me to remember. They have allowed me to forget. They have allowed me to imagine different endings and better possible worlds. – Roxanne Gay, author of Bad Feminist

Which of these quotes are your favorite? Or do you have one of your own that inspires you?

Want to read more quotes about reading? Check out these other sites:

101 Quotes about Reading — She Reads
Best Quotes about Reading — Oprah the Magazine