I find it so hard to read with two toddlers. But find your tips inspiring tbh.

One thing that changed reading for me was Readwise. One of my favorite products. Super simple concept, I just highlight quotes I like, then I get a daily email of random things I've highlighted. Great way to retain info from non-fiction books, and to retain the feeling of special parts of fiction ones.

One of my main takeaways from this article is that the author ADORES Umberto Eco.

Which is understandable.

My setup is read a few pages while taking a bath, after walking the dog. I listen to the audio book verision (libravox app) while walking the dog. Since I walk the dog every day for an hour. It adds up. Large earmuff / noise cancelling headphones helps with the voice clarity. I also take my m4/3 camera with 14-140mm lens (28-280mm equivalent) with me. So I managed to get quite nice photos/clips of lots of birds/insects on my trail walks. Have a camera sling bag from national geographic (explorer bag) thats small and swings around so I can open it without taking it off. And have the dog on a leash tied to my belt, to keep my hands free. So can even get some runs / interval training in if I want to. So In one hour, I usually get about 2 miles in, walk the dog, listen to audio book and do some bird photography. I also sometimes take a dji neo 2 drone, can even capture beautiful sunsets. Pretty cheap and efficient setup. Can recommend.

I recommend readera. It is a non ugly app with can sync to Google drive which prevents you from losing your ebooks when you delete them which can also happen by accident. I can't describe how other apps on Android is so ugly.

Also, if you are just getting started then read easy books. You know the 100 classics from highschool. And you after you finish a book, you can find some great analysis of those books online.

One thing I learned is often when you are excited about those easy books, voracious readers are quick to tell you how much the book sucks. "Read this by an obscure author instead". Ignore that until you have read a whole lot of books in your list.

How to Talk About Books You Haven't Read - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47295304

While I like the idea of using small pockets of time for reading a few pages here and there, the practice I find more difficult. I need these few minutes for my brain to stop braining momentarily. I have tried carrying a book with me, but when I did crack it open I typically read a paragraph, reread that paragraph, and then conceded that I don't recall what I just "read".

Likely it's a me problem, but I'm mentally so tired that I simply cannot maintain an uninterrupted stream of tasks even if the interstitial spaces are filled with something I enjoy like reading.

I have a checklist to go _back_ to reading 30-odd books a year, and right now the top 5 items are:

1. Stop messing about with AI

2. Stop doomscrolling/interacting on social networks (HN is within my 15m allocation)

3. Stop watching _any_ Youtube video that doesn't teach me anything

4. Gloss over my 200 RSS feeds, don't be a completionist

5. Put on classical music, not indie or radio

It almost works. Almost.

Love this blog, appreciate the author.

> This is probably the most difficult part. I had to remove all social media and streaming apps from my iPhone. I removed Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, etc. When I started, I found myself picking up the phone and immediately noticing that something was missing, since the only things left to do were check the weather, read boring emails, or see my bank account.

These past few months, I have more resolve than ever to cut the chains. Willpower is a practice, and there have been successful steps towards the goal.

First, blocking the real sucks (X, Reddit). Then news (Canadian, won't bore you with the list). And then a innocuous yet stick set of apps that I would bounce to often, for little benefit or reason: weather, server stats, stocks. A new wrinkle? Inane conversations with LLMs. Blocked!

HN still because, well brothers and the rare sister, it's lonely out there and this place cracks me up. And not much longer.

Now on to entire devices. Desktop, laptop, destined for a locked-down iPad. Lobotomized iPhone, got a watch, and now, slowly, more and more reading.

What pushed me over the edge is the realization that I'm in grief. The Internet which once shaped my identity today, in no defensible way, resembles the silly place which once gave me solace. And yet, like a husk I cling to the teet of these manipulative networks and website hoping for one last, satisfying drink.

It ain't comin'. Books, then. Like my mother.

For staying motivated to read, I like to set up and read small clusters of books then write about them. Being able to put a bow on a reading project is easier to stick with than reading X books in a year.

I started a habit to read during my lunch/dinner breaks. I wear headphones, put on some lo-fi beats or jazz, and read a chapter or two until I'm done eating.

I really enjoy it and it's a nice reprieve especially at work.

I found reading during meals allowed me to dramatically increase the number of books I got through. It gives about 40 minutes per day, that can sometimes extend to a couple hours if the book is good, schedule allowing.

To me, having these blocks of times sound better than trying to read a sentence or two in the white space around other activities.

This is advice from someone who went from 10 books/year to 52 (1 book/week as described).

I think practical tips for someone already a frequent reader are probably different that for someone who reads 'a bit', a few a year at most. I'd be very happy if I got to 10/year consistently. But that would a) be more than 5.2x-ing; b) be a harder initial curve than the 10 to 52 region, I imagine.

> First of all, you don’t have to make time to read. What you need to do is read every single time you are not doing something else.

(Proceeds to describe how they made time for reading by removing other distractions.)

I'm trying to read more books, but I easily fall into the trap of staying up late reading good books, and I have trouble recovering from sleep deficit these days.

Audiobooks and tracking. I still watch a lot of YouTube and other social media so I haven't had to cut anything out yet I have many audiobooks on my phone loaded up that I listen to at 2x+ speed as well as have a spreadsheet of what I'm reading and how long it takes. Before anyone comments, yes I can understand it just fine as I've acclimated myself over years to do so, it's similar to blind people being able to understand at very high speeds too after years of practice.

> First of all, you don’t have to make time to read. What you need to do is read every single time you are not doing something else.

Mmh I’m not sure about that. I prefer to read for 1-2 hours rather than read 2 minutes here and 5 minutes there, especially for books that require some concentration to read, like dense stories and/or books not in my native language.

Great post — clear and practical. The real‑world examples made the point much stronger, thanks for sharing.