I Have Read 150+ Books Till Now. Here Are My Tips To Start Reading Books

I have been a Bookworm for more than 15 years.

When I counted 6 years ago, I had read 150+ books. Now the total may be near 200, but I am not sure.

Anyways, here are my personal tips on how to read books.

Tip 1: Becalm Your Mind

Running requires well-trained legs. Archery requires excellent eye-hand co-ordination. For reading it is a calm mind.

Reading requires a calm, moderately focused mind. If you are horny, angry, hungry, sad, too excited for something, stressed due to work, etc. while reading you will struggle badly. If you want to prove me wrong you can try reading with a restless mind. You just won't be able to process what you're reading. The book's pages will turn but you won't remember what you're reading - I know, I've tried it!

Luckily I have a few tips for calming the mind, too.

The first tip I can give you is to eat Satvic food! It might seem like eating and reading aren't directly connected, but trust me they are.

They form a chain like this:

Satcvic food ---> Calm Mind ---> Excellent Reading

Secondly, I suggest you avoid overeating since it leads to laziness and drowsiness - both of which will hinder your ability to read. Just eat a bit less than your appetite. You should literally feel like you could have eaten more!

If you want to go a level higher - I'd even go so far as to suggest you avoid non-vegetarian food, spicy food, junk food, fast food, etc. They lead to much mental agitation.

Having said that there is one case where I cannot help you: When you're suffering from chronic pain. When you have constant pain you are constantly distracted towards the site of pain and reading becomes difficult, if not impossible.

Tip 2: Don't Fool Yourself - You Can't Enjoy Every Book!

You will NOT enjoy each and every book. Just like you have a favorite movie genre, you will have a favorite category in books. And often they will be the same.

Examples: If you like watching crime movies, you will like reading crime novels.

If you like watching romantic movies, you will like reading romantic stories.

If you like watching erotic movies, you will like reading books on erotica and sex!

If you like watching documentaries on wildlife, you will like reading books by Bear Grylls on his adventures!

If you like math and physics, you will be able to read Introduction To Quantum Mechanics by Griffiths!

It also goes like this:

A person who doesn't like romantic movies might never finish the Twilight book series.

A person who isn't interested in technology might never finish a book about Bitcoin and AI.

You get the idea - read books according to the movie genre you like. I guarantee that you will finish books written about your favorite genre in no time! 😉

Read books according to the movie genre you like!

There is also another slight variation to this tip: Read books about solution to your life problems.

Examples:

If you're struggling financially you'll like reading a book on finance, like Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki.

If you want to learn how to sew so you can make your own dresses and maybe make money off it, you'll very easily finish an introductory book on sewing.

If you want to learn mathematics so you can teach your nephew on the weekends, a math textbook will be suitable for you!

You get the idea.

I have always done this. I almost always read books about topics I like at that moment. I was curious about Bitcoin 2 years ago, so I bought a book on it. I wanted to learn about Michael Jackson so I bought books about him - I have 3 as of writing this!

People think that bookworms can read any and every book - that they just love reading. They couldn't be more wrong. A bookworm always reads books he/she is passionate about.

Tip 3: Read Books According To Your English Comprehension Level

This simply means: Don't read books with complicated English.

Even if you choose a book in your favorite genre, you will hate it if the writing style is too complicated. For example: If you like horror stories you can easily finish books written by Stephen King. His writing style is friendly and easy to understand, and he writes in modern English.

Contrast that with The Turn of the Screw written by Henry James in1898. It is a horror classic that I have read years ago. I honestly don't remember what I have read since I didn't understand the English well!

We can argue that it is a classic and I did injustice to it and I would agree. But the point I am trying to make is - don't read books by authors whose writing style is far too complicated. Avoid such authors, at least until you get into the reading habit. You will either never finish their books, or you won't remember what you've read.

Everyone's English understanding level is different. Some can handle advanced English, while some will struggle even with basic English.

Most of us will not be able to read legal documents, research papers and books written in Old English. Don't try to fight me - I know you have never read any business's Terms And Conditions!

Learn From My Mistake:

I bought Charles Darwin's original The Origin Of Species in 2014. Since Evolution was in my Biology syllabus I thought that it would be fun to read the original text itself and maybe I'd learn a bit of academic stuff for exams. Boy was I wrong!

The book was published in 1859 - 138 years before I was born! The writing style is so unnecessarily complicated that I couldn't finish it. A sentence that could be written in 10 words is written in 20 words! Don't even get me started with outdated words that I had to look up! The book required more energy and time than I was interested in spending reading it. I had no option but to postpone it until later (next janam most probably!) This is why you should not try to read books written too long ago. Sadly, The Origin Of Species is still biting dust in my home today.

Every author writes a bit differently and you may not like reading about your favorite book genre if the writing is too complicated.

Tip 4: Avoid Idiots

Like I have said in the 1st tip - Reading is a mental activity and you need a calm mind to read books (or anything really) in general.

If you have people in your life that are toxic or love drama, you can forget about reading books. This is because we are constantly thinking about their words and actions while reading. Toxic people will never let you have the mental calm that is required for the activity under discussion. Even if you are at home, your mind is constantly thinking them, hating on them, thinking about how to deal with them the next time you see them and so on.

Avoid drama lovers and toxic people if possible. Even if you're not reading, why would you want to have the excess drama in your life anyway?

This tip also includes toxic co-workers and/or bosses, but you cannot avoid them. In this case you don't have any option other than trying to forget about them while reading.

If you can somehow temporarily forget about the drama surrounding the idiots in your life while reading, then this tip is useless for you. But if you cannot forget the idiots, you might want to avoid them or at least minimize contact with them.

Tip 5: Have Superfoods That Help In Reading!

Have any one of these 1-2 hours before reading books:

1. Apple
   

2. Buttermilk
   

3. Milk
   

4. Apple Milkshake

Don't ask how and why, just DO WHAT I SAY!

A Few Bonus Tips:

1. If you want to calm your mind and focus before reading play chess, a puzzle, any indoor game or even a video game for a little while. I personally play 2-5 minutes of chess to focus my mind.
   

2. Songs playing in head? Cannot focus on reading? They're called Earworms. I often have them, too. To get rid of them play 1-minute Bullet chess on chess.com. In this chess format you have to quickly play good moves and your mind has to focus. Earworms will literally go away in a few minutes!
   

3. When in a bookstore, if you like a particular book, open a random page and start reading it. If you think the writing style is friendly for you, only and only then buy it.
   

4. As a beginner, mostly read books written after the year 2000. The language will most probably be modern and can be understood easily.
   

5. As a beginner, avoid books written 100+ years ago. The language will most probably be hard to understand.
   

6. Good sleep is important for reading. There are 2 reasons for that: you won't feel sleepy while reading and you will be able to properly process what you read. If your schedule allows for it - try waking up without alarms. You will need to adjust your bedtime for that.
   

7. Read at least a page before going to sleep - it will only take 5 minutes. If you can scroll Reels for 5 minutes even though it's 3am you can read a book. If you are gonna be late for work in the morning, it is anyways going to happen so why not fill your brain with vital info? I try to read before going to bed for 30-60 minutes. That's how I finish books. If you forget to read before going to bed do it like me - I keep a book beside my pillow. You can even place a book on your pillow. You just cannot make excuses not to read before going to sleep at night!
   

8. No matter who you are or what your reading level is, you will need a dictionary and Google from time to time! Don't be lazy to research words you don't know. English is a vast language and you have to own the fact that you cannot know everything.

   
   

9. You will most probably read and finish books written by people you like in interviews. For ex. if you like Ankur Warikoo's interview in a YouTube video, you will most probably like his books. A variation of the 3rd main tip above.
   

10. If you're just starting reading, start with novels. Novels generally have simple English, spicy stories and cliffhangers - you will like reading and finish them in no time!
    

11. I have found that American authors generally write in simpler English compared to British authors. There are exceptions like J.K. Rowling but that's what they are - exceptions. This tip is closely related to the main 3rd tip above.
    

12. Hate English? Read books in your preferred language, while following the tips I have mentioned above.
    

13. Try Audiobooks. Maybe they will suit your learning style! All of the mentioned tips can be applied for this format.

Last Words: Reading May NOT Be For You!

Running is good but it is not for everyone.

Chess is good but it is not for everyone.

Dancing is good but it is not for everyone.

The same is with reading.

If you cannot read even after you have followed these tips, then reading may not be for you and that's totally fine!

People have different learning styles. Some learn well with YouTube, some learn well in workshops, some learn well while talking, etc.

In today's world, YouTube videos, podcasts, documentaries, tutorials, audiobooks and so on are just as good as printed books.

Follow these tips and tell me about your experience!

😃😃😃