Reading Better, Not Harder

Why I want to read less

My Reading

I love reading. It’s my favourite thing to do. I prioritise it over all other leisure activities. I don’t watch much TV (except Gardening Australia religiously every single Friday night). I don’t use subscription services. I don’t listen to podcasts. I read. I always have a book in my bag and headphones at the ready for the audiobook I have on the go. If I’m standing in a queue I’m reading or listening to an audiobook. I listen to audiobooks on walks with my dog (the better the book the longer the walks – Milo begs you to make good audiobooks). I read most evenings for at least two hours.

I Read a Lot

It goes without saying that because of this I read a lot. Since I was in my early 20s I have read about 200 books per year (not including the books I edit, proofread or write). I’m now in my mid 40s so that’s a lot of books. I spent my 20s reading classics and my 30s and 40s reading mostly contemporary literary fiction, rom-coms, psychological thrillers and narrative non-fiction and essays. Of course there are books I haven’t read that I wish I did. But there are also books I did read that I wish I didn’t.

I Finish Every Book I Start

I have just one strict rule with my reading – I finish every book I start. This means I put serious thought into the books I want to read before they even make it to my TBR pile. Without this rule I suspect I would never finish reading a single book (look shiny new book to read). This rule has rewarded me and it has punished me. I hated the first half of Rachel Cusk’s Outline with a passion. Without the rule I never would have continued and read that glorious second half and then gone on to finish the trilogy, one of the most enjoyable reading experiences of my life. And I’ve struggled through some books I’ve truly hated and forced myself to finish – the only reward being I could start a new book. Many readers are of the ‘life’s too short to read books you’re not enjoying’ approach. I don’t blame them but it’s not my way.

I Review Every Book I Read Honestly

I record my reading life on Instagram. I keep it strictly bookish over there (with pasta and gardening and my adorable dog making their way into my stories). I post a photo of the book, often on cute fabric, and then write my tiny review in the caption. I try not to summarise the plot as that’s not a review – I try to focus on what I thought of the book. The only time I do not review a book is when I simply have nothing to say about it. I didn’t love it, I didn’t hate it, I feel nothing and I have nothing to add to the discourse. It’s a crappy feeling and it probably only applies to five books per year. A couple of years ago I did not review a book because it was so sexist and terrible I didn’t want it to appear on my grid or give it any airtime.

I try to give context in my reviews and talk about the writer’s other work, or books I feel are in some sort of dialogue with the one I am reviewing. I love context. One of the great things about reading so much is that I see trends in writing, recurring patterns in books, the zeitgeist playing out in real(ish) time. In order not to be influenced, I try not to read any criticism of a book before I write my own.

I also post these reviews on Goodreads (the only Ama*on-owned product I use). I know I should move to StoryGraph but I have so many lovely friends (and horrid enemies) over there that I use it out of habit and comfort. Every year I say I will move to StoryGraph but it has not happened yet. Encourage me in the comments if you’re on StoryGraph and love it there.

I also don’t skip to the last page and read it in case I die before finishing the book.

No Skimming

I also do not skim read. I’m reading novels for prose not plot. I read every single beautiful, delicious, carefully chosen word. That word next to that word next to that word. Beautiful sentences bring me to my knees. Beautiful paragraphs unravel me. I recently read a book whose first sixty pages were so perfect I wept with joy. Wept with joy. I had to go out into the garden and plant some pumpkin seeds to recover. I have not recovered (the pumpkins are doing great). I hope never to recover. Those 60 pages (and in fact the entire book) are part of me now.

Being a Bookseller

I am a bookseller and I want to be a really good bookseller. I want to be able to recommend the right book to any reader at any time. So I read widely and outside of my own personal taste. This has expanded what I think of as what I like to read which is a very good thing.

Being a bookseller I also get sent or given loads of books ahead of publication. Loads. They are mostly books I do not want to read. Chances are that the ones I most want to read are the ones my colleagues most want to read also so we need to read and return them quickly. This keeps my reading fast paced.

No sponcon

I never receive payment for reading or reviewing a book on social media. I would like to think that I would never accept payment for reading or reviewing a book on social media. I have turned down paid reviewing jobs where the books selected to be reviewed were paid for by publishers. It’s a murky space and I don’t want to wade into it. I also don’t want to focus on the books with marketing budgets that can pay for such reviews. I am aware that my reviews are valuable to publishers but that doesn’t mean I want to monetise them. I’m actively looking for examples of sponsored content that engages with a work in a critically negative way. I like the freedom of selecting exactly which books I want to read.

The Library

I am what would be considered a heavy library user. On average, I collect 3 to 6 books from the library each week and return 2–4 (is that girl maths or just book maths?). I don’t read everything I borrow but I read most of it. Three-week loan periods keep these ticking over quickly. Often many books I am desperate to read arrive at the same time and I have to hustle to get them read before I have to return them.

The Hype

I try not to be, and I’m much better than I used to be, but I am susceptible to bookish hype. Every year there are a few books I have no interest in until I see that heaps of people are reading them or the buzz gets undeniably loud. Then I just have to know what all the fuss is about. Invariably this is a disastrous reading experience for me. Here’s the latest example of this happening:

Here was my review, posted on my Instagram, of this book:

I am often out of step with the big American more commercial lit fiction releases – think Crawdads, Lessons in Chemistry, The Paper Palace for recent examples. These books are seemingly beloved by all readers and hated by just me. Here’s my issue. They are books where the intentions of the writer to manipulate the reader into feeling something (anything) are writ large from page one. I read them aware of nothing but the machinations of the writer. They feel artless to me and nothing but artifice. Fiction is artifice of course but as a reader I never want to be made aware of that while reading. I want to disappear. The I, the me I lug around this earth, no longer exists. I am in the fiction and nowhere else. I am certainly not in my judgy brain thinking oh yeah kill off that character you’ve just manipulated me into loving, good one. Now split up that couple you just had me invest in. Have him attempt suicide. Now you’re going to pair him with his wife’s sister, why not. Go on, do it! Oh and kill the dog while you’re at it (no dogs die in this particular book). I only get this feeling with these American novels and I should know by now to avoid them but I get swept up in everyone’s excitement about them and want to be part of the conversation. If you were thinking of reading this but haven’t read THE MOST FUN WE EVER HAD, I would strongly recommend doing that instead.

A Hater

Hating books brings me no pleasure. I am actively looking for books to love. Writing negative or mixed reviews of books has brought me pain and seen me the target of abuse and trolling I wouldn’t wish on anyone. But if I don’t review everything honestly, I see no point in reviewing anything at all. Our literary culture needs to embrace criticism, deep engagement and analysis. It currently doesn’t.

Judging Prizes

In years where I judge a literary prize, I read more than other years (so more than 200 books). This is simply because of the amount of reading required to judge any prize.

Doing Something While I Do Nothing

Part of the joy of reading is the act of doing something while doing nothing. I need to escape my own mind and books transport me elsewhere. I have to always be reading a book. I’m also lucky to not suffer reading ruts. I always have recommendations at the ready for people who do as we need to get them back to reading as quickly as possible. Reading for me is a habit that I can’t kick.

Why I Want to Read Less

Invariably at the end of a reading year I look back and see books I never should have read. I was clearly not the reader for them and yet, for some reason, I prioritised them over books I would have been the right reader for. (This is a tangent but it reminds me of the time I was working as a publisher in-house and the new accountant came to me with a list of the top 10 books I had published in terms of revenue and the bottom 10. He told me next time I should just publish the top 10. What insight.) Anyway, sometimes you can’t tell if a book is for you until you read it. But you can listen to trusted readers (there are a few readers out there who if they love a book I will immediately read it knowing nothing except that that person loved it; I will follow them anywhere). Find your trusted readers and critics and beg them for recommendations. Equally, there are a couple of readers and critics whose hatred for a book usually means I will love it – know thyself.

The books that make it onto my favourites list at the end of each year are the ones I loved while reading them and then that stayed with me long after. I might love a book and then a month later not be able to remember a single thing about it. The less I read the better I can recall what I have read.

So part of the reason I want to read less is to avoid the books I clearly should just not read. They are never debuts from small presses or obscure fourth novels from authors who deserve a larger readership. They are the books already getting a lot of noise and attention. My focus is best served elsewhere. And I want to savour and remember them. I want to sink into the books I read and take my time with them.

I particularly love beach reading.

Less is More

This year I will read about 150 books and that feels like the right amount for me and where I hope to hover from now on. Hopefully I can better avoid some of those over-hyped, not for me books (I dodged a bullet with The List this year which got the sort of buzz I normally fall right into) and hopefully what I do read will stay with me, will linger. Reading is not a race and there is no need to set arbitrary goals that don’t serve you. The 200 books per year just became a thing I noticed at some point (probably when I joined Goodreads) and it stuck. But it can be unstuck. I want to be my best reading self, reading what I want, when I want, how I want. I want to critically engage with the books I read. I want to discuss them with like-minded readers ad infinitum. Happy reading!

What I’m Reading