How to read more in 2025

1. Think quality, not quantity

This first tip may seem counterintuitive, but I promise it works. By night, I edit the Austen blog, but by day, I'm your friendly school library assistant. Something I see in a lot of teenagers who are reluctant readers, is kids reaching for the shortest books and the most juvenile looking covers. Kids who read this way - aiming to dust off a tonne of short reads in a short period of time - are often doomed to fail. 

It sounds fool proof, doesn't it? Reading short books means it takes less time, so you can read more books, right? Well, maybe this works for some people who are already keen readers, but if you're not reading things that challenge you, or things tailored to your taste, you're never going to finish them, even if they're only 50 pages. Reading short books for the sake of reading short books is a guaranteed way to grind to a halt when you're no longer enjoying the story because you haven't picked it out for the right reasons. I've read books that are 700 pages long that have taken me less time to read than a 100 page novella, and that's because I'm in tune with my own tastes. 

In a similar vein, it's worth remembering that it's more important to enjoy what you're reading than to read more than you can digest. I'd always rather read 25 books and enjoy and digest them, than 100 that I barely enjoyed and didn't really absorb. Don't let TikTok accounts boasting that they've read 200 books this year make you feel inadequate about your own reading. 

2. Revisit a childhood favourite

In my job, I read a lot of children's and teen fiction. A great upside to this is that the vocab is simple, the structures are straightforward, and adventures and fun are at the heart of them. If you've been in a slump, or disillusioned with your reading in general, it might be nice to think back to a joyful reading memory from childhood. That might be reading Matilda in the garden, or Alice in Wonderland in secret at the back of the class. There are also hundreds of more recent children's releases with fun, adventure and wonder at their heart. If you've spent too long toiling over lengthy tomes, it might be time to get back in touch with your inner child! Think of it as a jump-start for your reading. 

3. Try audiobooks

If you struggle to find time to read or can't find your focus, audiobooks can be a great option. Many public library services have audiobook apps you can download for free, or you could pick up a monthly subscription service. Once you've found something you like, with a great narrator, you can read whilst walking, commuting, driving, or doing your household chores. I enjoy using this to habit stack; sometimes I'll download an audiobook and tell myself I'm only allowed to listen to it whilst I'm running or at the gym. If it's an exciting enough read, I'll be keen to get my trainers on just to find out what happens next. 

My personal recommendations are memoirs and biographies read by their author, as they feel more like a podcast, and essay collections, as they stop my attention from wandering and if you get a little lost, you can always just try the next one. 

4. Find an internet dead-zone

I really struggle to put my phone down and focus on my reading. I hit a bit of a wall with it when I was studying for my masters and decided enough was enough. The best strategy I found for focusing was to find a corner of the library where I didn't get Wi-Fi and phone reception was poor. This works much better for me than simply trying to put my phone out of reach. Look for a spot in your house where you can't take calls, or seek out a basement bar or café that doesn't get signal. This is your new reading spot! 

You could also try the Pomodoro method, reading with a timer set to 25 minutes, allowing yourself a 5 minute break to scroll between bursts of reading. I really enjoy this method, but if you know you're not going to be able to stop scrolling once you've started, the dead-zone method might work better. 

5. Join a book club 

Nothing works for me like accountability. If you have a friend, or a couple of friends who have also expressed a desire to read more, why not form a book club? This can be an excellent way to keep up with old school friends, or make new friends in a new city. If you meet online, it gives you an excuse to chat with long-distance pals. You just need to decide how often you want to meet -- keen beans might want to do every fortnight, whereas busy parents might only want to meet quarterly -- and what you want to read. Do you want to stick to one genre? Will one person pick the books or will you take turns? Will you all read different books and then swap? My biggest tip, above all, is to stick to paperbacks, that way you aren't pricing anyone out of the group. 

If you want more tips on how to start a book club, you can read our New Years' resolution post on that exact topic at this link. 

Are you hoping to read more in 2025? Or do you have a different reading goal altogether? Let us know!