by Toni Woodruff

Asking good, open-ended questions is the key to unlocking the best book club meeting.

That, and wine! 

Summon laughter, good conversation, and juicy surprises in your book club by asking the right questions. It doesn’t matter if you’re a host or a member, coming to your meetings with something to talk about can elevate everyone’s night.

But every book club is different. 

Each person in your group is coming with their own experiences, knowledge, and juicy tidbits, so not all the questions work in every group. Some hosts may find that they only need one question to get everyone going, while others need 10+.  Both are great! As long as you all are out there enjoying the benefits of reading (and each other’s company), you’re doing a great job in my eyes.

Here’s my best advice for asking good book club questions as a host:

• Read this entire list.
• Ask open-ended questions. Yes or no questions can be fine sometimes, but you have to be confident that they’ll respond with “Yes, because,” or “No, because.”
• Add the questions you like best into the notes app on your phone or computer.
• Add more questions than you think you’ll need. You should have backups for when certain topics gain more traction than others. (i.e. be prepared with critical questions when people aren’t liking the book).
• Bold the questions you like best. 
• Think of specific members of your group. (i.e. if Aunt Sue only reads romance, but this is a historical thriller, choose a question based on the genre like twists and predicting the ending).
• Let them talk! You want them having fun and interested in coming back. But also keep listening to clues for which questions on your list could be a follow-up to get things back on track.
• Ask both different and similar questions every meeting.
• Talk about the act of reading in addition to talking about the book specifically.
• Personalize the language in the questions so that it matches your group’s vibe.
• Ask broad AND specific questions. Keep the conversation changing!
• Recommend that people underline or use post-its for potential talking points before your first meeting. Or you can just buy them for those interested!
• Be flexible! Structure is great for book clubs, but everyone should be comfortable and fun is the #1 priority, so feel free to adjust and run in new unexpected directions. 

Another thing I invite my group members to do is experiment with different formats, like audiobooks and ebooks. Let them know about the Audible free trial and that nonfiction books can be the best intro to audiobooks. I’m definitely not the only one who enjoyed listening to Braiding Sweetgrass while doing the dishes. 

How can you get your book club talking? How can you get them laughing? 

Pick great books. Play games. Ask good questions. And remember the number one rule: What happens in book club stays in book club.

Here are 50+ book club questions that’ll get your group talking, laughing, and thinking.

1. Rate this book out of ten. (Everybody take a turn and say nothing else! Can also just do index cards to keep to yourself. See if it changes at the end.)

2. What’s the first thing you have to talk about after finishing this book?

3. What did you like about it?

4. What did you dislike?

5. How would you describe it in one sentence?

Nearing the holidays or just want to thank people? Give them one of these great book club gifts.

6. What is the best scene?

7. Were there any specific sentences or passages that particularly affected you? 

8. Read the first sentence aloud. Why do you think the author chose this as their first sentence? 

9. Read the last sentence aloud. Why do you think they choose the last sentence? 

10. Is there a small moment in the book that you feel could go under-appreciated?

11. How did you feel about the ending?

12. Did your opinion of this book change at a particular point? 

13. What would you say happens to [x character] after the book ends?

Use up your Audible 30-day free trial for your next nonfiction pick!

14. Do you like the cover now that you’ve finished the book? Why or why not? Any alternate ideas for it?

15. Do you think the title fits the book?

16. Do you feel like this is more of a bestselling book or an award-winning book?

17. Who is the best character?

18. If this book could follow a different character, who would you want it to be?

19. What would you say the most important point the author makes in this book?

20. Would you call this book loud, quiet, or in the middle?

21. For memoir & autobiography: Do you think the author was honest completely? Which parts are you not sure about?

22. If you could ask the author one question, what would it be?

Looking for new, refreshing book club picks? Read indie! Here are the best book club books you’ll read this year.

28. Why do you think a publisher would choose to publish this book?

Make a fun game out of it! For one meeting, have your members pick from this Tabletopics box!

30. Did you learn any factual information you didn’t know before?

31. Who is a character you’d like to have lunch with? What would you talk about?

32. Will you remember this book a year from now?

33. Would you fall for any of the leads?

34. Would you say the love connection is believable?

35. Would you sleep with any of the characters?

36. How did you feel about the sex scene(s)?

37. What books/movies/shows did this remind you of?

38. Would this make a better movie, tv show, or neither? Why?

39. Would you want to live in the setting in this book? Which character(s) would you be? What would your job be?

40. Who would you recommend this book to?

41. Did any of your personal views change because of the book?

42. Does anybody need a refill?

Buying too many books? (First, I disagree). Second, check out these cheap bookshelves!

43. Where did you read this most often?

44. When did you read this most often?

45. What drink would go with the mood of this book?

46. What song would go with the mood of this book? (Play it in the background while you’re chatting!)

47. Did reading this book put you to sleep or keep you up?

48. What emotions did it evoke in you?

49. Did anybody try a new format (ebook, audiobook, hardcover)? How did it affect you?

50. Did you Google anything while reading?

51. Were you drawn to pick up the book, or did you finish it because there was a deadline?

52. Did you look anything up about the author? What were you curious about? What did you learn?

53. Do you use book marks, dog ear your pages, use the book flap, or remember what page you were on like some kind of memory superhero?

54. Is anyone struggling to make time to read? Feeling like they’re not enjoying the process? Let them talk it out and ask others to give tips. 

Want your members to read after they leave your group? Talk about building reading habits!

55. Would you read any more books by this author?

56. Would you recommend this book? Remember, this is different from “Do you like it?” Some people won’t recommend books because of content warnings, spice levels, etc.

57. Did your rating change after this discussion?

What is the best question you’ve asked in your book club? Let me know in the comments! I’ll add my favorites.

Thank you for reading “50+ Book Club Questions for a Fun & Lively Discussion” by Toni Woodruff! If you liked what you read, please spend some more time with us at the links below.

The post 50+ Book Club Questions for a Fun & Lively Discussion appeared first on Independent Book Review.

Book reviews are for all of us.

Readers need to know whether books with the best covers are worth the time they’re about to put into it. They find it helpful (and fun!) to check out reviews after reading the books, too, so they can see what other real-life humans had to say about it.

Librarians & booksellers need to hear from trusted sources that the book they are about to buy for their collection has the capability to get picked up & to satisfy. Authors & publishers need to get and use book reviews to build buzz and credibility for their product.

Book review sites have transformed the book-recommending landscape.

We can write reviews on product pages, on social media apps, and some of us, for publications that have been around since before the internet. Book reviewing has changed. But maybe it also hasn’t.

What kind of book review sites are you looking for? Chances are, this list has you covered.

Here are 30+ book review sites to read, write, and bookmark. 

1. Independent Book Review

Does this logo look familiar? (Hint: You’re sitting on it).

IBR, the website you’re on RIGHT NOW, is all about indie books. There are so many books in the world right now, but if you feel like you keep seeing the same ones recommended over and over, start reading indie!

Independent presses & self-published authors are doing some incredible work right now. IBR reviews books, curates lists, does indie bookstore round-ups, and uses starred reviews & best-of-the-year lists to show which books are going to blow your mind.

2. Book Marks

Lit Hub rules. You already knew this.

But do you know about Book Marks? They’re a branch of the Lit Hub network, and they are an excellent way for booksellers and librarians to get shorter recaps from multiple sources and voices.

Their staff peruses book review sites and shares pull-quotes from them in book lists & more. By reading all of these sites, they can give the book a rating based on the average: “Rave, Positive, Mixed, or Pan.”

My favorite book-buying platform, Bookshop, uses Book Marks’ scale for their books’ ratings, and I love getting access to that.

3. Publishers Weekly

Publishers Weekly has been around since 1872. By now, they’re a review churning machine. They cover so much of the book industry in so many different ways, reviewing nearly 9,000 books per year and providing publication announcements, agency announcements, industry job listings, bestseller lists, industry stats, a self-publishing partner, and more. 

4. Kirkus Reviews

Another one that’s been around since before the internet! 1933 to be exact. Kirkus is a widely recognized publication that book buyers & librarians follow carefully. I dare you to find a bookstore or library that doesn’t have multiple books with Kirkus Reviews plastered on their front and back covers.

5. Booklist

The American Library Association runs Booklist, a platform dedicated to helping libraries, educators, and booksellers choose books. They’ve got a magazine (since 1905!), book reviews, lists, awards, and one of my favorite bookish podcasts out there: Shelf Care.

6. Library Journal & School Library Journal

As you might be able to guess, Library Journal & School Library Journal focus on librarians too! They review a ton of books, and they write often about library-related news, collection management, technology, programs, and more. If you’re an author hoping to land your book in libraries, these are essential targets.

7. BookPage

You may have seen BookPage in your local library or bookstore. Some shops provide it for free so that patrons can look through it to find which books to buy in-store. Their website is clean and intriguing and always full of the most up-to-date releases and bestsellers.

Speaking of libraries! Have you seen our gifts for librarians?

8. Foreword

Foreword is such an enthusiastic and dedicated champion of indie books, and they’ve been doing it since the 90s! I love how much attention university presses get here too. Their reviews are well-written & thorough, in both print & digital, and I always find something to speed-purchase once the Foreword Indie winners come out.

9. LoveReading

LoveReading is a top book-recommendation website in the UK. They’ve got starred reviews, lists, staff picks, a LitFest, eBooks, and they even donate 25% of the cover price of their books to schools of your choice. It’s reader-friendly and apparent how much they appreciate the wonder of books. 

10. Washington Independent Review of Books

What’s not to love about The Independent?

Back in 2011, a group of writers & editors were frustrated by newspapers dropping book review sections and decided to do something about it. The Washington Independent Review of Books is quite a lovely something! This nonprofit posts every day: from reviews to interviews to essays and podcasts. They host events too!

11. Book Riot

Try being a reader and not finding something you love on Book Riot. Book lists, podcasts, personalized recommendations, newsletters, book deals—this site is a haven.

It doesn’t post solo book reviews like other sites, but they do share mini-reviews in book lists and talk about reading in unique & passionate ways. The Book Riot Podcast is such a winner too! I love listening to Jeff & Rebecca laugh about the latest in books & reading.

12. Electric Lit

From novel excerpts to original short fiction & poetry, they might not only be a book review site,  but they do offer a lot in the world of book recommendations. Their Recommended Reading lit mag features unique staff picks and short, insightful book reviews.

13. The Millions

The writing in The Millions is something to behold. They are an artful source for all things book reviews & recommendations. They write stunning essays about books & reading and long reviews of new and old books. They’ve got some of my favorite Most Anticipated lists too.

What are the biggest benefits of reading?

14. Bookforum

Did you hear? Bookforum is back! This book review magazine announced in December 2022 that they were closing, and my heart sank a little bit. This company means so much to the publishing industry and has for 20+ years, so when I saw (last week!) that they are returning, I did more than a few jumps for joy.

Welcome back, Bookforum! Can’t wait to see what you’ve got coming for us in book world coverage.

15. BOMB

BOMB is in it for the art. Art, literature, film, music, theater, architecture, and dance. There are reviews and interviews, and the literature section is a real delight. The reviews are like poignant essays, and the author interviews are in-depth and feature some fascinating minds.

16. The Asian Review of Books

The only dedicated pan-Asian book review publication! It’s widely cited and features some of the best in Asian books and art, so booksellers and librarians have a source to trust to stock their collections with high-quality pan-Asian lit.

Have you seen our gifts for book lovers yet?

17. Chicago Review of Books

I love so much of what Chicago Review of Books does. They have a clean & sleek design that features some of the buzziest books as well as plenty of hidden gems from our favorite indie presses. I’m a particularly big fan of the spotlight they put on books in translation.

18. Rain Taxi

I love Rain Taxi’s style! They champion unique books, publish their own fiction, poetry, and nonfiction, and put a real emphasis on art for their magazine covers. It’s a beautiful print magazine to subscribe to, but they also share free online editions & digital archives. They even run the Rain Taxi Reading Series & Twin Cities Book Festival if you’re a real-lifer in Minnesota!

19. The Rumpus

Oh, The Rumpus! This mostly volunteer-run online magazine publishes reviews, interviews, essays, fiction, and poetry. The reviews are in-depth and personal and heart-melting, and in addition to the site, they’ve got cool perks like the Poetry Book Club and Letters in the Mail. The book club is where you get a pre-release book and meet the poet via Slack with other club members at the end of the month, and Letters in the Mail are actual postcards sent in the mail to you twice a month from your favorite authors.

20. Book Reporter

The selection in Book Reporter is carefully curated & enticing: hot new releases, forthcoming books, major presses, & indies. And there are plenty of unique ways to learn about them, like video interviews and monthly lists & picks. It launched in 1996 and is in The Book Report Network, which includes Reading Group Guides, a super useful resource for book clubs.

21. BookTrib.

BookTrib does such a great job of making their site browsable. The different ways you can enjoy what they offer—from book lists to giveaways to ebook deals—are difficult to keep your purchase finger off of.

23. Lit Reactor

Writers & readers—where bookish people meet! LitReactor’s book reviews are in the magazine portion of their website, and they’ve got plenty of them! Reviews, interviews, lists, introspectives, writing tips, and reading discussions. I’ve found some really unique content on Lit Reactor, like this ranking of literary parents. The website is a haven for writers especially, as there are workshops, writing blog posts, and even a forum to participate in.

24. Crime Fiction Lover

Dark alleys. Stray bullets. Hard-boiled detectives. Runaway thrills. If you’re a mystery-thriller reader, you’ve got to know about Crime Fiction Lover. They’ve got a passionate group of readers and writers talking about the best books in the genre and the ones that are soon to come out too.

25. SF Book Reviews

Speculative fiction fans unite! SF Book Reviews has been reviewing sci-fi and fantasy books since 1999, and while they’re a relatively small staff, they publish regularly, feature books of the month, and work wonders for their fantastical community.

26. Historical Novel Society

For all you historical fiction fans out there, the Historical Novel Society has reviewed more than 20,000 books in its twenty years. This one works like a membership for “writers and readers who love exploring the past.” You get a quarterly print magazine as a member, and if you’re a writer, you can join critique groups and ask for book reviews.

27. The Poetry Question

The Poetry Question writes about poetry published by indie presses and indie authors. They are a small passionate team dedicated to showing the world why indie presses continue to be a leading source for award-winning poetry.

28. Goodreads

Did you know that there are over 125 million members on Goodreads? When users review books, they can have conversations with fellow readers and follow reviewers too. If you’re looking for the biggest community, there’s no doubt Goodreads is the one. I like using sites like this because it helps you catalog books, one of my favorite ways to build a strong reading habit. 

29. The Storygraph

A big community of active users that’s Amazon free! Come review books, use half & quarter stars (!), and complete reading challenges. You got this.

29. Bookwyrm

Bookwyrm is small (around 5,000 members at the time of this writing), but doesn’t that sound kind of nice? There are active members and a genuine collective goal in talking books. Grow with it. I think you’ll be comfy here. There are other communities within the Bookwyrm umbrella too, like Bookrastinating.

30. Reedsy Discovery

I hold a special place in my heart for book review sites dedicated to helping writers! I got into this business as a book marketer, and I experienced first-hand, through hundreds of books, how hard it was to get exposure & validation for small press and self-published authors. 

Reedsy Discovery is a branch of Reedsy (the author resource company) that connects authors & reviewers so that people can read free books, sometimes receive tips for it, and authors can get more reviews in the process. Readers can choose from the latest books as well as the ones that are getting the best reviews.

31. Netgalley

Netgalley is a book review site for pre-released books. Reviewers sign up for a free account, request galleys from publishers and indie authors, and get to read them before they’re published so that they can leave reviews for the book, preferably on Amazon, Goodreads, or their blog. They also run Bookish, the editorial arm of Netgalley, which has book recommendations, interviews, and more.

32. Online Book Club

This review site combines a bunch of cool things! The 4-million member community gives me a lot of Goodreads vibes, especially with the Bookshelves app. But Online Book Club is a place for you to get eBook deals and talk about books in reviews and forums.

What are your favorite book review sites to follow? Let us know in the comments!

Thank you for reading “Top-Notch Book Review Sites for Readers & Writers!” If you liked what you read, please spend some more time with us at the links below.

The post 30+ Top-Notch Book Review Sites for Readers & Writers appeared first on Independent Book Review.

by Jaylynn Korrell

What tips & tricks can you use to read more books?

With each book you read, your mind expands, your vocabulary grows, and your imagination gets a good exercise. But many people find themselves reading less books per year than they’d like, or they don’t read one at all. Actually, over 50% of American adults haven’t read a book in the past year. But many of them want to read more.

So…give yourself a break.

You’re not alone. And hey, there’s room to grow! And what better way to grow than through books?

There are so many benefits of reading, and I’d love to help you reap them.

Reading more can change your life, but it’s not easy. 

Luckily, there are ways to double, triple, and quadruple your reading goals for the year. As someone who is averaging 9 books per month right now, I can tell you that reading a lot might be more possible than you thought.

Here are a few tips to help you read more books this year.

#1. Read Multiple Books at a Time

I used to have a strict rule about reading only one book at a time. I had to completely finish one before I even considered picking up another. Reading two or more books would be too distracting–could hinder my reading experience of that particular book. 

I was wrong.

There is a way to read multiple books at a time in a way that isn’t confusing or unsatisfying. 

My first tip: choose to read books that have absolutely nothing to do with the other.

For instance, I’m currently reading Mars, which is a short fiction collection, The Hidden Life of Trees which is a nonfiction book about (you guessed it) trees, and Montessori Baby which is a nonfiction parenting book. It’s almost like taking different classes during the same semester. I don’t think about one while I’m reading the other. I also don’t have to keep track of different main characters. Making each book I’m reading completely different from the others has done wonders for increasing my books-finished count each year.

#2. Give Yourself Plenty of Options

Not every novice reader has a library full of books at home, and that’s okay! But giving yourself a wide variety of books to choose from could help you find a book that’s perfect for you at every moment you choose to read.

This doesn’t mean you have to run to your favorite indie bookstore and purchase everything that catches your eye. On the contrary, there are plenty of ways to gain access to a wide variety of books without breaking the bank.

The library is your friend! Used bookstores & thrift stores are too. So is Hoopla, Libby, and Kindle Unlimited. If you like reading on an e-reader, you’ll likely benefit from the million+ titles found in their database. You can even try a 30 day Kindle Unlimited membership for free just to see if you like their selection.

#3. Read Before You Go to Sleep

If you have a smartphone, there’s a pretty good chance that you use it before bed. And if you use it before bed, you know how easy it is to accidentally scroll for an hour. Two.

Let’s repurpose those hours. Let’s make reading a habit.

I’m a big fan of eBooks before bed instead of reading a physical book, just because it’s easier and it helps me to fall asleep. I particularly like nonfiction at this time too, because it’s usually easier to stop in the middle of a chapter.

If you’re not the only one sleeping in your bed, you may need to find ways to keep it quiet or dark in your room. That’s not exactly possible if you’re flipping through a print book and using a night lamp to see it. To keep down the noise and the brightness, try using a Kindle! Ereaders let you press the screen to turn your page and have a night-mode light setting that can be adjusted to your liking. It’s also better on your eyes than a smartphone.

#4. Keep a Book on You

One of the best ways to make sure you’re reading as much as possible is to have a book on you at most (or all!) times. Eschew excuses for why you’re not reading more by just being prepared.

And believe me, there are usually times where you’ll have the opportunity to read. Maybe it’s while you wait in line to get a coffee or while you wait for your Uber or the bus. Basically any time you would pull your phone out and scroll, you’ll also have the opportunity to pull your book out and read it.

And if you don’t like the bulkiness of a book you can always pull out that Kindle, which is slimmer and can hold thousands of books on it. Some of these devices can even fit in your pocket, and strangers don’t peer at you as much as they do with a book with a catchy cover.

#5. Set a Daily Goal

Making a daily goal is a great way to create a reading habit. How much you should read a day is up to you in the end, but I like a sweet-spot of 20 minutes per day.

Sure, you may be able to read more during the day. And if you can, you should definitely go for it, but giving yourself a small daily goal will help you keep your new habit during busier days.

#6. Don’t Be Afraid to Quit

It’s happened to the best of us. We pick up a book with the intent of finishing it in no time, but the story is just not for us. The main character may be unlikable, or the pace could be too slow. Whatever the reason, we just don’t want to keep reading it. And that’s okay. 

When you just aren’t into a book, you should 100% quit reading it. 

Often times a bad book can hold us back from achieving our ultimate reading goals. And while the point isn’t exactly to speed through books to achieve a higher read count, it helps to move through them at a reasonable pace.

A bad book (or one that you’re just not vibing with) can make you stop wanting to pick it up when it’s time to read. If you only like to read one book at a time, a bad book can also prevent you from reading the next book.

You shouldn’t quit every book that doesn’t grab your attention right away, but knowing when to move on is a great way to help you read more books. 

#7. Listen to Your Books

If you have a hard time following sentences on a page, you’re not alone. Plenty of people don’t like reading physical books, but they still like the experience of exploring new subjects and styles of storytelling.

Thankfully, audiobooks exist.

You can listen to an audiobook like you listen to a podcast. Do it while you’re running, while you’re traveling to work, while you’re doing the dishes, cleaning–the list goes on.

Apps like Audible allow you to keep a library of audiobooks in one place. Their membership options also give you access to a ton of free audiobooks in your Audible Membership. Audible is another one that gives you the option to try a 30 day free trial!

Or, or, or, or, don’t forget about Hoopla or Libby! Most public libraries come with a digital platform where you can listen to audiobooks for free.

#8. Read as Soon as You Wake Up

Everybody reads differently! I know that I already advised you to read before bed, but not everyone is a night person. If you find that you are most in the mood in the mornings, start your day with reading instead of ending it that way.

Mornings are often a time for clear thinking and coffee. What a romantic mood to set for the right book.

Even just a few pages could help you get closer to your goals to read more. You can break up your goal of 20 minutes a day into 10 minutes in the morning and 10 minutes at night to ensure that you’re not ever racing the clock to finish your pages.

#9. Track Your Reading 

Give yourself a goal of how many books you want to read for the year, then track your results is a visible way. Every time you finish a book write down the title on a numbered piece of paper.

Keep this paper in a visible place, one that you walk by each day. Being constantly reminded of the number of books you’ve read and have to read can help to motivate you to keep reading more. It’s also nice to see your progress and what you’ve accomplished so far. 

#10. Find a Reading Community

It can help to have other people holding you accountable for reading more often, which is why finding a reading community can be so helpful. Things like book clubs are a great way to encourage you to keep up with your reading commitments while also allowing you a space to dive deeper into what you’re reading about. Someone else will likely catch something in the book that you missed completely.

Finding a reading community is easier than you think. Aside from the countless reading groups on the internet, many local bookstores and libraries host book clubs of their own. It’s a great way to get involved in your community while also finding people who enjoy the same hobbies as you.

And that’s all I got for you for now! I’m glad you’re reading this and all, but…it’s time to go read more books.

About the Author

Jaylynn Korrell has been writing reviews and blog posts for IBR since the very beginning. She takes the photographs and manages the IBR Instagram page. In her spare time, she likes to play board games and take road trips around America. She is the founder of Good Gift Lists.

Thank you for reading “10 Easy Ways to Read More Books” by Jaylynn Korrell! If you liked what you read, please spend some more time with us at the links below.

The post 10 Easy Ways to Read More Books appeared first on Independent Book Review.

by Joe Walters

Reading changes my life all the time.

It’s a way for me to see the world differently and to communicate differently and to kick my feet up and breathe and breathe and breathe all at the same time. Reading takes time. We’ve got to fill ours somehow. This relaxing, enriching, and productive hobby might just change your life too, if you let it.

It doesn’t matter if you haven’t done it much lately or you never really have. All that matters is that you start and you keep going. If you develop a reading habit, you’ll see that the benefits of reading are plentiful.

Or, you could read this list.

Here are 11 benefits of reading that you’ll reap immediately and in the future.

1. Reading makes you smarter

“Smarter” might seem like a vague umbrella term–and it kind of is–but only when you overcomplicate it.

At a basic level, becoming smarter than your previous self means that you learn something you didn’t previously know. By reading and then continuing to read, you do this over and over. Some things will stick. Some will not. Over time, you’ll rake in new practical information (may I recommend some mushroom books?!) and use it to communicate better and analyze better in real life. Even if you stick strictly to fantasy books, you’re going to get smarter. But of course, if smarter is your goal, nonfiction books are about as practical as they come.

Don’t get frustrated if you can’t hop into reading and make your brain grow Jimmy Neutron-style right away. Reading and learning takes patience and resilience, but if you build the habit, it will come.

2. Reading is a form of guided meditation

You may experience this benefit immediately.

Something is happening in your body and mind. You are circulating. You are sitting still and breathing and engaging the parts of your brain that require focus and retention. If it feels difficult to read or stay in the same mental space, that’s because it is. Like meditation, it takes practice. Once achieved, it can feel like a continuation of breaths of fresh air.

Some people will tell you that reading reduces stress, but stress sucks and I can’t put pressure on the task of reading like that. But I can confirm that sitting quietly and breathing is a very good thing.

3. Tired of Netflix? Try a brain-movie!

There are so many ways to entertain yourself at home in the year 2023. Some are outside, some are inside, some are on screens, and yet…

We still get bored.

(Or most of us do).

When you read fiction and narrative nonfiction, you are watching a story unfold on the television screen of your imagination. The images are a combination of the things you know and the things the author is conveying to you, and it appears this way in this exact form only to you.

The benefits of reading stories are endless. Get lost in one; you’ll never know what you’ll find until you do.

Some top fiction & nonfiction book recommendations:

• Horror: Monstrilio by Gerardo Sámano Córdova (Hardcover | eBook)
• Sci-Fi: I Keep My Exoskeletons to Myself by Marisa Crane (Hardcover | eBook)
• Short Stories: Unshod, Cackling, and Naked by Tamika Thompson (Paperback | eBook)
• Romance: Mid-Flight by Lisa Wilkes (Paperback | eBook)
• Memoir: Laugh Cry Rewind by Judy Haveson (Paperback | eBook)

4. It can put you to sleep

Wait! How is a hobby that puts you to sleep anything but boring?

Hear me out…

Sometimes, you want to sleep.

You’re lying in bed and getting stuck in Youtube time-warps until it’s later than you wanted it to be and you have to get up in the morning. Even if you do put the phone down and surrender yourself to the act, it can be hard for your brain to slow down; the blue light from the phone can affect your sleep-wake cycle.

Any 10th grader in an 8 AM English will tell you: Reading can make you sleepy. Regardless of how good a book is, the act of scanning the text and processing what you’re reading is a natural way for your eyelids to start fluttering.

My favorite way to do this is reading nonfiction books (because I can stop midway!) with my Kindle and the bedroom light off. That way, I don’t need to do anything except lower my hand and eyes and I’m off to dreamland.

5. You can listen to books while doing chores & other mindless tasks

I do so many dishes. I live in the kitchen sink. While I’m doing them, I wear headphones. But I’m not always in the same mood. Sometimes it’s music, sometimes it’s basketball podcasts, and sometimes it’s audiobooks.

Ever since starting my Audible free trial, I’ve been hooked on audiobooks. I’ve read biographies while brushing baby bottles, bird books while scrubbing too-large pots. Instead of listening to the 24-hour news cycle concerning how the Sixers will let me down this year, I’m learning and giving myself a fun new hobby of looking in the sky in real life to try to figure out what that bird is.

Quick note: I’ve been listening to audiobooks for a couple years now, and I haven’t read a single fiction book! Nonfiction gives me opportunities to miss out on a paragraph or two while I get spacey, and yet I can still understand what in the world is going on. My recommendation is to dive into nonfiction audiobooks as an option for when you’re cleaning and don’t look back.

Here are some of my favorite indie audiobooks of the last couple years:

• Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall-Kimmerer
• Negative Space by Lilly Dancyger
• In the Company of Crows and Ravens by John M. Marzluff and Tony Angell

6. Books can give you a more complete picture than Google or social media

Want to learn something new? Google is an obvious place to start. Want to get bombarded with opinions and eye-catching graphics about real or not-real content? May I introduce you to [much of the internet]?

You can definitely learn from both Google and social media, but the best way to see the complete picture is by reading a book about it. Turn to experts for your information; read more books.

7. Reading is time-consuming and inexpensive (or it can be!)

Our lives are made up of time. We have to fill it somehow.

If you find yourself bored with your regular routine, inject 30 minutes of reading time into it, and you could feel productive and rested by the end of it. When you’re retired or on summer break, reading can fill those long empty days with excitement, enrichment, and meditation.

You can definitely spend a lot of money on books, but you can also get around that pretty easily. The library can be a generous best friend, and your local thrift store or used bookstore can supply you with hours of entertainment for actual quarters. Kindle Unlimited can be a good deal if you read a lot of eBooks.

8. Better understand other cultures

Reading promotes empathy. Take a walk in another person’s shoes for a while. Get inside the heads of those who aren’t like you. Understand their priorities. Recognize that you aren’t the only person with a history and a community on the planet. And change the way you view our shared world. Documentaries & films are great at helping you see this. Don’t stop watching them. Just add books too.

9. Improve your communication skills

Communication is vital to our relationships, whether fleeting or life-long. If you are a good speaker or writer, you can sustain relationships and achieve many goals along the way.

The more you read, the better you can communicate. I’m not saying you always will– hello, social anxiety!–but I am saying that your vocabulary will increase and you will know more ways to say things with more analogies to convey them. Here’s more on reading to improve communication.

10. Get better at your job & make more money

There are nonfiction books out there to help you with most jobs. Business books can be incredibly rewarding and even easy to grapple with. Language can be straightforward and fun on the way to helping you get promoted and make more money. Don’t sleep on this one if you want to get ahead. It could change your life.

Some book recommendations about money:

• Own a Fraction, Earn a Fortune by (eBook | Audiobook)
• Not Your Job by Pierce Brantley (eBook | Audiobook)
• Host Coach by Cullin & Danielle Tate (eBook | Audiobook)
• Sports Betting Down the Bones by Manuel Angela (eBook | Audiobook)

11. Reading promotes art and imagination

I obviously like reading for a lot of different reasons, but this is among my favorites. Beyond literally supporting authors and their art with book purchases, readers exercise their creativity by imagining words on the page as images in their mind.

If you have kids, you are showing them that reading is cool too, so you’re promoting imagination that way. Never underestimate the power of monkey see, monkey do! Reading also can make you more creative.

Which benefits of reading did I leave off? Let me know in the comments!

About the Author

Joe Walters is the editor-in-chief of Independent Book Review and the author of The Truth About Book Reviews. He has been a book marketer for Sunbury Press, Inkwater Press, and Paper Raven Books. When he’s not doing editorial, promoting, or reviewing work, he’s working on his novel, playing with his kids, or reading indie books by Kindle light.

Thank you for reading “11 Benefits of Reading As a Hobby” by Joe Walters! If you liked what you read, please spend some more time with us at the links below.

The post 11 Benefits of Reading as a Hobby appeared first on Independent Book Review.

by Joe Walters

“How much should I read a day?” is a complicated question.

You have likely heard advice from teachers, parents, librarians, doctors, and know-it-alls over the years telling you that you should spend at least [x amount of time] reading per day. 

I’ve heard so many different opinions on this over my lifetime: 15 minutes, 30 minutes, 1 hour, even 2 from my grade school librarian back when I was a young tike with a basketball to shoot.

And now, a collection of years later, I’m a person who reads, reviews, and works with books for a living. I breathe this stuff. I want everybody to read more so that we can talk about the best books and put our trust in brilliant authors and learn things only available inside of covers.

But it’s not always easy to make the time to read. We have so many things to occupy ourselves nowadays, and they don’t always require us to work hard for the gratification.

And yet, this question still comes up: How much should I read a day?

So here’s my answer:

What do you want out of this?

If you are just trying to get smarter, I’ve got good news for you. Read one chapter in a nonfiction book about a subject you are not yet proficient in. 

Voila: you’re smarter.

If you read more than one chapter, you’re smarter again and then again and then again. 

If you are trying to read [x minutes per day] because you want to build a reading habit, then I like where your head is at! But don’t get caught up in the specific timeframe that your teacher recommended in their minutes-per-day spiel.

Your teacher is not you; you are the only one who can know how much time you have to read.

As long as you read every day, no matter if it’s for five minutes, ten minutes, an hour, or more, you are following through on your habit-building exercise to read more. Just keep doing it, and if you miss a day or two, do not call it a failure and give up. Recognize that all you can do is start it again. And actually do it.

One of my favorite ways to read every day is…

Reading multiple books at a time.

I know this might sound like something of a head-scratcher for all you wanna-start-reading-more friends, but it’s more about practicality than you’d think.

Sometimes you don’t want to read the book you’re reading or you genuinely cannot read it at this moment.

I, for one, don’t want to open a literary novel with big meaty chapters while my almost-toddler is dancing and chanting Bob Marley as loud as she can. But she is fairly occupied, so I believe this is a pocket of time I could read instead of scrolling the internet.

It’s times like these when I like to read nonfiction books (nature reading is my lifeblood lately) because if/when I have to put the book down, I can rest easy knowing that I stopped at or very near the large subheading about the way trees have babies.

Another way to read every day is to read books in different formats.

I do a ton of dishes, so I’ve become an audiobook fanatic. Sometimes I want to listen to music when scrubbing plates, and sometimes I want it to be a podcast about how bad/amazing the Sixers are. But a lot of the time, I want to listen to a book.

This might be just me in the current body I’m in and world I’m in, but again, I am choosing nonfiction for a lot of my audiobook listens. Nature books are obvious favorites for me here, but I also enjoy audiobooks about music like They Can’t Kill Us Until They Kill Us and ones on art & writing like Craft in the Real World.

eReaders have really increased my reading numbers too. I think reading before bed is the most wonderful way in the world to fall asleep, and it works wonders for me in actually zonking out.

Back when I was scrolling my phone too much, I could be using my decompress time before bed for entirely too long and getting swirled around the YouTube recommendations for more prank videos than you can count. Now, I’m stuck on my Kindle. I like that.

I also like it because I can read it in public without attracting too much attention. Most of the time people just think I’m on my phone, but really I’m burrowing between the rhythmic lines of a poetry collection from Ocean Vuong or Jericho Brown.

By reading different books at the same time and reading them in different formats, you are making it more convenient for you to read. This is a huge habit-building technique that you can use to hit your goal of how much you should read in a day.

A very serious readerly FAQ

Should you set yearly reading goals?

I think it’s good to set reading goals but not definitely not as any sort of schedule. I choose them for fun, and maybe you should too. The most important thing in my eyes is that you actively choose reading often–not to hit x books in y amount of hours but to build and develop your reading habit.

How much should you read in a day? (If I HAVE to choose)

Thirty minutes. Split it up or conquer it all at once. If you shoot for this, you’ll give yourself a chance to finish full chapters of many books, giving you a sense of completion each time. That feeling of accomplishment helps keep you going. But also, adjust if it’s too much! Just keep reading.

How much should I read a day in order to finish this three-hundred page book?

Each reader is different, each book is different, each moment you peek inside is different. Who knows how long it will take you to read this specific book.

But if you really, really have to finish a three-hundred page book in a short amount of time, just know that you can do it anywhere between 8 and, say, 20 hours. What you’ll notice about both of these is that they are within a day. You can absolutely read a 300-page book today, even if you are a slow reader. Just go with one word after another, and you’ll get there. There are also a number of fast reading strategies you could implement if you’re really in a crunch.

If I read multiple books at a time, how will I ever finish one?

Slowly! But surely, if you keep resetting the day’s goal over and over and over.

How can I read more in loud spaces?

This is one that used to trip me up a lot. It always seems romantic and sweet to read your book in that cool coffee shop down the street, but if it’s poppin’ in there, you could end up reading the same paragraph over and over.

One of my favorite tricks for this is…to keep trying. Mouth the words as you read so you focus extra specifically on what you’re doing rather than what the randoms are saying. It’s going to be hardest early on, but the more you force yourself to do it, the better you’ll become.

Also, it could be the book’s fault! Try out something a little easier in the beginning. You can be a reader in a loud space, I know you can. (If you want to bring earbuds, that can help too).

Does reading articles on my phone/tablet/laptop count as reading?

Absolutely! I wouldn’t count it on your end of the year reading chart, but if you’re reading, you’re reading. That’s one of the big reasons why I believe that you can increase your book-count this year. You’re most likely reading already.

Can I throw myself a party when I finish reading a book after all the mini-hours I put in trying to finish it?

Umm…duh!

My favorite way to celebrate finishing a book, however simple it is, is to write the title down on my “Books Finished 2023” poster-thing I have hanging in my office. It’s a surreal type of excitement to actually add to the list after all of your quiet moments sitting there reading.

Happy reading, all! How much do you want to read per day?

About the Author

Joe Walters is the founder and editor-in-chief of Independent Book Review. He has been a book marketer for Sunbury Press, Paper Raven Books, and Inkwater Press. When he’s not doing editorial, promoting, or reviewing work, he’s working on his novel and trusting the process. Find him @joewalters13 on Twitter.

Thank you for reading Joe Walters’s blog post “How Much Should I Read a Day?!” If you liked what you read, please spend some more time with us at the links below.

The post How Much Should I Read a Day? appeared first on Independent Book Review.

by Joe Walters

Is it too late for you to make a habit out of reading?

Maybe you haven’t cracked open a book in a while. Maybe you just can’t seem to finish the one you started. Maybe you feel so bogged down by how the heavy the world is that it feels like too much work to pick one up.

But you’ve made it to this blog post, so I’m thinking you’d like to make a change.

And good news: that’s the first step.

If you want to make a habit out of reading, you are not too late to get started.

Let’s take a look at the reality of 2021’s attention landscape, or, in other words, your available sea of distractions:

• Your phone
• Your computer
• Your TV
• Your kids
• Your housekeeping
• Your spouse
• Your things
• Your things
• Your things

So, how do you really make the time to become a reader?

Well…

I was asked recently to contribute to a blog post called, “Top Tips for Book Lovers Q & A: Advice from the Experts.” (Check out that blog post if you haven’t clicked it yet. There’s all sorts of great advice in there.) The question they asked me was this: 

“How do you create a reading habit at home?”

And. It. Was. TOUGH.

I obviously want everybody to read more. Reading has transformed my life in an insane number of ways, and I couldn’t be more thankful that it’s a thing I’ve made a habit of doing.

But every situation is different. Every life is different. Every reading mind is different. I could tell you to throw your phone out the window (which I will) and tell you to read different genres at once because your tastes/times will differ from moment to moment (which I will), but damn, man—reading is about gifting yourself time and that’s pretty much it.

A thing about free time is that it’s yours to do what you want with it. And you won’t always have a lot of it. So all I’m proposing here is for you to make reading an option.

(If you want to.)

Let’s get started.

Here are 5 tips for how to develop a reading habit at home: 

#1. Separate yourself from your phone

I don’t know your lifestyle, but I do know that most of you have access to instant gratification that you can choose over reading.

Twitter. Instagram. Facebook. YouTube. Reddit. Netflix. It’s difficult to stay away when we feel like we might miss something.

I’m NOT telling you to stop that.

It’s pretty damn hard, and I’ll be the first to admit I don’t do as well as I’d like to. But for reading time, I have learned to do a much better job of leaving the internet behind.

When cracking open a book, I implore you to separate yourself from the internet. Leave it on the other side of the room. Go outside and don’t bring the phone with you. Go in a different room.

When it’s away from you, it requires an extra walk-of-shame-style task for you to give yourself that brain break you tell yourself you need at the end of another paragraph, section, or chapter break. If you need the dictionary, get your phone (or a dictionary, obviously) and just promise me you’ll be back as soon as you can.

But separating yourself from the internet is easier said than done.

For me, I gave myself scroll breaks all the time even though I kinda-sorta-all-the-way-didn’t-like how social media operated. I did it anyway. I didn’t have any notifications while I was away, or I had ones that I didn’t need to know immediately. There are obviously exceptions to the rule, but most days, whatever it is that happened on your phone, social media account, or email (if anything at all) while you were reading, could most likely wait for you to finish that chapter.

You’d be amazed at how much you can move forward in a book when you keep reading the words in front of you instead of the ones on your screen.

#2. Read a variety of different types of books at the same time

This one may sound a little loopy if you’re not already a “reader,” but trust me, you’re not always going to want to dive into a big meaty chapter if you don’t have the time for it.

Sometimes, you’re going to want to dip your toe in regardless of if you’re able to finish the chapter or not.

This is where nonfiction comes in handy for me. It’s often easy to dive into nonfiction books without the commitment of a full chapter. It’s also easier to stop in the middle of a paragraph and resume it without having to reread too much the next time I pick it up.

Because of this, I like to have a slew of different style books at the ready.

Here’s a little list of the books that I was reading on the day I started this blog post:

• What Storm, What Thunder by Myriam J.A. Chancy – Literary Fiction – Novel. This one has big meaty paragraphs of artful prose and big content about an earthquake in Haiti. It’s excellent and I’m really in awe of Chancy’s prose, but it’s also not something that I dive into when I have a small window. This is my longer stretch of free time book.
• Refuse to Be Done by Matt Bell – Nonfiction – Publishing/Writing. This is my pick up and read during a short window book. I read a lot in my field of writing/publishing. You may or may not be in that field with me. Regardless, this one works almost like self-help & educational books, with short sections within sections, headers, subheadings, and easy-to-read prose. I’m never worried when I pick this up that, if house duty calls in some form or another, I can’t put this book down without having wasted my productive reading time.
• Best Microfiction 2021 edited by Meg Pokrass – Short Fiction Anthology. Is this a great bathroom book because I can finish a few very short stories while sitting on the toilet? Yes. Am I going to talk more about sitting on the toilet? No, goodbye.
• From Book to Bestseller by Penny Sansevieri – Nonfiction – Publishing/Writing. This is my current Kindle before-bed read. I am a book marketer for Sunbury Press, and I’m always on the search for new ways to get books into readers’ hands. And this book has been helpful and smooth so far. And it’s easy to fall asleep with my non-blue-light Kindle. If I tried to read one of my paperbacks/hardcovers at night, I’d have to make the choice to turn the light off, which could wake me up. All I have to do with a Kindle is keep reading until I nod off and it falls on my face.
• Runaways by Michael J. Seidlinger – Humor – Novella. Sometimes I get a short book that I want to read right away but also want to make sure it lasts beyond a couple sessions, so I don’t make it my primary fiction read. This novella is about a writer who struggles with distractions and intersperses funny tweets about the struggles throughout. As you might be able to guess, I vibed with it pretty hard. I’d read a few pages before something else or in exchange of something else, depending on my mood.

So…stay flexible! And give yourself an excuse to buy different books and/or grab a few extra books from the library next time you’re in. It might just help you create that habit to have the variety.

#3. Try out different formats (like eBooks & audiobooks)

Book snobs suck. They’ll tell you it’s not reading if you can’t feel the pages, that ebooks & audiobooks don’t count. It is my firm belief that this opinion is a bad one and that these people need a swift kick in the pants. If you don’t feel comfortable kicking them, don’t call me, because I also won’t kick them, but hey, maybe somebody will.

Listen up: You can read however you want. And if you experiment with different formats, you may just find a way where you can finish more books and be smarter because of it.

Let’s tackle eReaders first.

I used to hate on them. I even remember back in college saying the corniest thing I could think of: “Yeah, but you can’t smell the pages on an eReader.” I also said that I couldn’t annotate the books and that I couldn’t share the books I loved with other people. Here’s why I now believe all of those answers suck:

• You can still smell the pages of physical books if you’re into that kind of thing. It just won’t be all of your books. And trust me when I say—you don’t need to smell all of your books, especially the used ones.
• You can absolutely annotate your books in an eReader. I have a Kindle, and I can make notes of sections I love and even search to find those pieces later. It’s a legitimately more efficient way to do it. 
• Do you really like sharing books with other people? How often do you get it back? How often do people actually read it? With how often you hope to give books away, just read it on your eReader first (if that’s what you end up doing), and if you think you want to give it to someone, just get them the physical book or recommend it to them. This shouldn’t stop you from taking advantage of the last bullet point…
• eBooks are cheaper! If you read three books for the price of one hardcover, you go to prove the point that the more books you read, the smarter you become. It’s about the words, not the format.

But probably my favorite thing about eBooks is that I can read them to go to sleep by. They have their own light (and some of them aren’t LED for those whose eyes are sensitive like mine) and instead of scrolling or watching dumb stuff on the internet, you can read something you don’t have to finish in big chunks (like nonfiction) as you’re going to sleep, and it can actually help the ZZZZZs arrive.

And lastly, audiobooks rule, especially for nonfiction. They can be narrated by some really terrific voice actors (sometimes even the authors themselves), and it can feel like a podcast or like you’re sitting there hanging out with them while you’re doing dishes, vacuuming, holding your baby with one hand and patting their butt with the other. 

Again, if you’re getting the vibe at all from this post yet—making a habit is all about making reading easier on yourself. Expanding your format options is a great way to do that.

Fun Fact: Audible offers a free trial if you want to give audiobooks a shot!

#4. Stop reading books that aren’t inspiring you

This is a controversial take and everyone’s opinion is different, so if you see what I’m saying and think, “Joe, kindly kick yourself in the pants,” that’s fine, but hear me out:

A thing about books is that they take the same amount of time to read whether you don’t like it at all or if it changes your life forever.

So give that book you bought a shot. No doubt. Maybe even keep reading on if you still have hope for it moving forward. But when you feel uninterested to return to it, don’t return to it. You could be reading something that actually alters your worldview for the better, and you can always return to that book you gave up on later if you really want to. 

There is one caveat though: you have to finish some books. I’m confident you will if you keep making time for it, but if you are someone whose habit has become reading the first chapter and then abandoning your last ten books, well then maybe you need to finish that next one that you’re digging. You’d be surprised at how awesome books are when you get the chance to see the full picture.

#5. Be patient with yourself

I get paid to read, and I’m still slow at it. Some brains just work that way. And you better believe that when you jump into reading after not having done it in a while, you’re going to move through the pages slowly and you might have to reread some things. 

You know what you should do in that case?

Go slow. 

Recognize that all you can do is read one word after the other.

As long as you aim to understand what’s on the page and not just move through it to get it done, you’re going to exit this reading experience one book stronger than when you came in.

In the end…

You can make reading as romantic as you want (favorite couch, favorite coffee, favorite candle, whatever) or you can pull out your book or Kindle without the romance—to just give yourself the permission to read.

Any way you do it (or don’t do it), books are going to be there when you’re ready for them. Don’t beat yourself up if it’s not part of your routine now or tomorrow or in January. Your time is yours. I want only for you to do whatever you want with it.

What are the biggest distractions that stop you from developing a reading habit at home? Let me know your answers in the comments

About the Author

Joe Walters is the founder and editor-in-chief of Independent Book Review and a book marketing specialist at Sunbury Press. When he’s not doing editorial, promoting, or reviewing work, he’s working on his novel and trusting the process.

Thank you for reading “How Do You Develop a Reading Habit at Home?” by Joe Walters! If you liked what you read, please spend some more time with us at the links below.

The post How Do You Develop a Reading Habit at Home? appeared first on Independent Book Review.