How to read more

And how I'm doing it with my squirrel brain 🐿️

Hello loves, happy Saturday 🩷

Before I begin, a reminder that we have our next journaling date on Zoom at 5pm (UK) tomorrow!

This is open to all paying members - the Zoom link is on the Club Noticeboard and I’ll also email it to you later today.

I can’t wait to see some of your faces! ⭐️

Amy left a comment under last week’s video that I wanted to respond to properly:

“Susannah, what's your secret to fitting in reading time? I think I'm a pretty good reader, but between a full-time job and single parenting, I'm only able to read about three books per month. I have a friend, though, who works full-time and raises twins who reads three times what I read in a month, so I know it's all individually based; however, if you have some tips on how to sneak in reading, then I'd love to hear them! Thanks!”

It took an enormous amount of will power, and the persistence of the kittens, to get out of bed this morning. I’d just crossed the 53% mark on my latest novel and shit is starting to go down! All I wanted to do was stay in bed and read.

Then I thought “if I get the post finished quickly I can read for the rest of the day.”

This is the post and predictably I won’t finish it fast because I never do and I’ll have to wait till this evening to get back into my book. But this perfectly illustrates how obsessed I currently am.

It won’t last but I’m loving it while it does :-)

So to reply to Amy’s question, all of this would probably be more impressive if I was doing it consistently every month but the truth is I tend to be all or nothing — I’m either obsessively reading or I’ve forgotten books exist.

However! After reading very little in the second half of last year I’ve already finished 11 novels in 2025 so far, so here are my thoughts on how I’m doing this with a squirrel brain.

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1. MAKE THE TIME

I’m single, I live alone and I have no kids. I also work from home, so in theory I have all the time in the world to read but in reality I have to be really intentional about making time for it.

I’ve been cultivating three pockets of time for reading:

• First thing the morning in bed (approx 20 mins before the kittens start complaining)

• After dinner on the sofa when I’d usually be watching TV (or working). Instead I have something familiar playing in the background¹, sound on low, while I read (1-2 hours)

• In bed before lights out (approx 30 mins to an hour, depending on how tired I am and how good the book is!)

Obviously you can’t create time out of thin air so you need to swap out something you’re already doing for reading time.

I haven’t watched any TV or films in the last couple of months because I’ve been reading instead. I’m not super regimented with it — if I want to watch a film I obviously will, even if it’s not great *cough* Alien Romulus — but right now reading is giving me the dopamine and escapism I’m craving².

🐿️ What could you swap out for some cosy reading time instead?

2. GET COMFORTABLE

I have the world’s crappest sofa and no armchairs, so it’s taken a minute to find a comfortable way to read, because it’s essential to your reading success.

My solution is lying on the sofa with my head and shoulders propped up and a bean bag on my midriff to hold my mini iPad — this works brilliantly and I use the same configuration in bed. And yes I sometimes fall asleep, but not if it’s still daytime/early evening.

Reading on my mini iPad with the Kindle app is my preferred way to read.

Holding physical books makes my RSI flare and I don’t like Kindle screens, but a mini iPad set to dark mode (black screen, white text) is my happy place. I’ve been whizzing through books this way.

The app also syncs across my devices so I can sneak in reading time on my phone or laptop.

🐿️ If physical books don’t work for you consider ebooks or audiobooks. You can now borrow ebooks from most libraries!

3. READ THE RIGHT BOOKS

This sounds obvious but I can only read books I enjoy and I put effort into finding them.

If I love a book I’ll google “books like _______” and scour suggested reads on Reddit, Goodreads and Amazon. It’s easy to download book samples to my Kindle app to see if I like them, another reason I prefer ebooks over hard copies.

Figuring out the genres you enjoy helps build reading momentum.

For example, I know I don’t enjoy romance, fantasy or chick lit (there are exceptions of course) but I DO enjoy sci-fi, horror, magic realism, dystopian and contemporary “quirky” books.

BookTube³ has been a brilliant resource for finding titles I might like — shout out to Booksandlala and Dani Mystic for having similar tastes to me. I’ve discovered some solid five star reads this way.

In fact, discovering BookTube as a whole really rebooted my reading mojo. I suspect it functions like body doubling, where having someone working alongside you helps your ND brain settle down and focus.

Turns out hearing someone enthuse about reading is infectious!

🐿️ Don’t worry about what everyone else is reading, what do YOU love to read?

4. STOP READING IF YOU’RE BORED

Finally, if I get to about the 30% mark and a book is not grabbing me I will mercilessly DNF⁴ it.

Life is too short to force yourself to finish a book you’re not enjoying.

I have this unspoken rule that I only want to be reading books I rate three stars or above. Last year I finished a few 2 star reads and reflecting on it I wish I could get that time back, so there’ll be ruthless DNFing going forward!

I love finishing a book and being so ravenous for more I dive into the next juicy find on my list.

If it’s a slog to get to the end it really does block my momentum. Last year’s reading obsession dried up in the summer after a run of underwhelming 3-star reads.

I’m not sure what changed in January — actually scratch that, I do know:

1. Somebody on BookTube recommended The Invocations by Krystal Sutherland which I bought on a whim and ATE IT UP.

2. This then led me to her previous book, House of Hollows. Also devoured, even though I thought “YA wasn’t for me”.

3. And then my mate Genna recommended Death of a Bookseller — and just like that I was back in the reading groove 🩷

Hopefully writing this post hasn’t jinxed that :-)

🐿️ What helps you read more? I’d love to know!

1. It’ll be a show I’ve watched a million times (Buffy, Criminal Minds, Battle Star Galactica, etc) just to keep me company. The sound is very low so I’m not actively listening but it creates a sonic buffer that feels cosy. Kittens sleeping beside me also helps. I don’t often read in silence but weirdly music is too distracting. #ADHD

2. Re the dopamine, I notice I read a LOT when I’m going through a tough time or I’m anxious or I need to escape for reasons. I read voraciously in bereavement, finding books to be a special kind of relief from the sorrow. Right now I feel anxious about the Big Move coming up, so reading is soothing me 🩷

3. “BookTube” refers to the bookish content creators on YouTube. There’s also the “BookTok” creators on TiKTok but I don’t use the app. Books hyped on social media aren’t guaranteed to be everyone’s cup of tea, but you do find gems you might not have discovered otherwise.

4. DNF = Did not finish