How to Get Back Into Reading

Growing up, I was the kid that inhaled books like oxygen. Seriously – I was grounded once, and when my parents realized that taking away the television didn’t bother me, they took reading privileges. That got my attention.

However, by the time I got to high school, I was only reading a few books a year crammed into blissful weeks of summer or winter vacations. I missed it, but I didn’t know what to do. In 2022 though, I made it my mission to get back into reading and I read 106 books. I’ve already read more than 30 in 2023. I’m here to tell you how I got back.

1. Start where you left off

My first, most surefire tip to get back into reading is to think about the last book that you were obsessed with and pick it back up. This might make you feel a little ridiculous – I know I did at first – but really, it’s the way to go. Find a copy of Percy Jackson, Harry Potter, the Princess Diaries, or whatever it was that had you falling so deeply in love with stories as a kid. Read it again. Remember what it felt like to fall in love with the characters in the world, and let yourself love it again. As a bonus, your reading level has probably progressed since you last read it, and you will get the satisfaction of being able to fly through a book, making it all the more easy to pick up the next one.

2. Don’t read what you think you should

This was, perhaps, the hardest lesson for me to learn. I wanted so badly to read the classics to be able to feel like I was the literary girl that everybody saw me as, but the truth is, I hate them. These days I don’t read very many books written before the last 50 years, and I almost never read ‘literary fiction,’ especially if it is written by men. I simply don’t like it, and it doesn’t make me any less of a reader. These days I fill my time with magical realism, nonfiction, and romance – lots and lots of romance. Find the books you love, the stories that bring you joy and make you want to turn the pages, and read those. Don’t let anyone else define what it means to be a reader.

3. Cut yourself some slack!

It won’t be easy right away, and if it is, the high won’t be consistent. Look at this little graph of my reading last year from the app I use; I didn’t read the same number of books every month, (not even close.) Sometimes I pick up a book and put it down for good a few pages in. Sometimes I read a book in a few hours, and sometimes it takes me a month. Your reading count isn’t everything, and you shouldn’t treat it as such! Let this journey be about falling back in love with reading, and keep that in mind as the goal.

4. Some apps to use!

StoryGraph: I don’t use Goodreads – I fall too easily into the rabbit hole of long negative reviews that I don’t want to read, and I don’t love supporting Jeff Bezos. Instead, I use StoryGraph. It is super easy to mark the books you’re reading, it’s easy to see what themes and genres are in books you’re interested in, and it gives you recommendations. Best of all, it gives you just about a million graphs detailing what you’ve been reading in any given timeframe. Perfect for a nerd like me!

Libby: Libby is a free audiobook app that lets you check out books on your library card. Sometimes you have to put a hold on a popular book, but it is free, easy to manage, and so convenient!

Your local library: Okay, this isn’t an app, but it’s an important resource all the same! A New Orleans library card is free and comes with a lot of perks. Not only can you get physical books from the library, but you can also get ebooks and audiobooks right on your device. It also comes with a culture pass, which can get you free tickets to attractions around the city!

Ultimately, getting back into reading has to be for the love of it. Trust the stories you love, and read them without shame. I hope you fall back in love!

About Sydney Soganich

Sydney Soganich is a writer for Sex and the Crescent City. She is a Freshman majoring in Political Science on the premed track. If she's not working, she's probably reading a romance novel or watching a romcom!