Here’s how: To get more books and reading into your life

To break free from the constant scroll of memes, start with straightforward writing and pick a subject that already interests you. Focus on enjoying books

Story time, every time

• 
  Forget what the smart people are reading.

  Top 10 classics, the best books of the year, super cuts of the greatest books of all time, the JCB shortlist, the Nobel-winner’s library, the Booker longlist, Obama’s Kindle picks – they’re all curated by folks who already read voraciously. Those people are not struggling with monologues, trudging through the odd boring chapter, missing a Greek-myth reference or wondering if that quote is from Shakespeare or Yoda. Start with straightforward writing to get into (or get back into) the hang of a long read.  
• Start with the familiar.

  Pick a subject that already seems interesting, rather than a bestseller that’s hard to connect with. Here’s a hack: Enjoyed watching the excellent first season of Big Little Lies? Pick up the book by Liane Moriarty to keep that wealthy mommy-group dynamic going. Mesmerised by the futuristic details in The Martian? Andy Weir’s novel has even more to unpack. Great books don’t always make for great shows or films, but a great screen adaptation is likelier to have a great read behind it. Ask Reese Witherspoon, who options every great story for a possible adaptation. Or ask the widely adapted horror master, Stephen King. 
• 
  Add a few pictures.

  Graphic novels are a great in-between for anyone transitioning from a visual to verbal medium. Many of them are immersive, saying more in a single illustrated panel than an entire paragraph. Brunch loves Snowpiercer (you knew this), Fun Home, Kari, the Oishinbo series and How to Understand Israel in 60 Days or Less. 
• Stay slim.

  Keep the 800-page sagas for later. Start with smaller novellas, short- story collections or non-fiction works. The Pregnant King zips by in a few evenings. I Am Legend will take only slightly longer than the Will Smith film. Metamorphosis is only a few chapters long, though Gregor Samsa’s story will follow you around for life.  
• Keep it visible.

  Don’t stow the Kindle in an out-of-the-way drawer, don’t stack to-read paperbacks along a high ledge, don’t keep books in pretty corners that never get visited. Let books get in the way. Keep them on pillows, on bathroom shelves, right next to the TV snacks, on top of the mobile charger as a nightly reminder. Take the e-reader along on the commute. Save the reading app to your phone’s Home screen. Talk to friends about the book you’re reading so they ask about it next week. Stay accountable to the book. 
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  Switch habits.

  A podcast on the treadmill, newsletters with coffee, memes in the Uber to work, celebrity gossip after lunch, Spotify on the ride back, Netflix before bed. If the day seems full, swap one activity at a time with reading to see which one sticks. There’s no extra time in the day for books, they’ll just have to barge in. 
• Stop hacking and tracking.

  If it’s going to be about chapters finished per day, reading speeds, books completed per month, it’s going to fizzle out very soon. Focus on enjoying books and keeping the momentum going. Abandon the boring ones halfway, get a new book before the previous one is finished, read another book by the same author, re-read a favourite as a palate cleanser, start a book with Audible and finish it on the Kindle, and put your phone on silent when you read. The memes can wait.