How to Read 70+ Books in a Year
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Over the past two years I’ve read over 120 books. If you add up partial books I read for specific segments, that number would be well over 140. But only four years ago I would have read 10-12 books per year. Although reading at least seventy books a year sounds difficult, it doesn’t require a huge investment of time.
Here’s how I did it:
Step One: Learn to Speed Read
Some people see speed reading as a magical technique to ingest thousands of pages per hour. Therefore it tends to divide those people who are mystified by it and those who think it is a complete fraud. I’d like to argue that speed reading is neither. The term “speed reading” itself is a bit off.
The real idea behind speed reading is that you know how (and when) to speed up and when to slow down. With a few basic techniques you can get a sizable increase on your maximum speed. If you want to learn how to speed read start reading here: Double Your Reading Rate.
Summary tips for speed reading:
- Use your forefinger to follow the line on the page. This focuses your vision onto a specific part of the text.
- Practice read textbooks faster than you can comprehend. This isn’t actual reading but it will make you familiar with using your finger and slowly increase your maximum speed.
- State your purpose before starting to read. This will allow you to focus on information you need and reject information you don’t.
Step Two: Always Have a Book
This one may sound obvious, but the best way to increase the amount of books you read is to always have a book. Gaps of a few weeks without any reading material means several less books you can read each year. Worse, time spent without a book breaks down your reading habits so it can be harder to start again.
If always having a book to read sounds to constrictive, maybe you’re reading the wrong article. You need a passion for finding new ideas and learning. Outside pressure won’t help.
Step Three: One Book at a Time
I strive to never read more than one book at a time. There are a couple reasons for this:
- You can’t read two books simultaneously, so having two books partially completed isn’t going to accelerate the amount you are reading.
- Each book uses up your mental RAM, making it more likely to forget critical details when switching between books.
- You keep reading a bad book instead of tossing it. Either keep reading a book or get rid of it. Don’t put it on “hold” while you skim through other books.
- Reading one book keeps you focused.
Step Four: Fill Gap Time With Reading
Gap time is the small windows of five to ten minutes you can’t schedule activities in. This could be waiting in line at the dentist, a spare ten minutes hanging on the end of your lunch break or a fifteen minute gap between classes. Reading is the perfect filler for gap time.
Usually I can find a total of twenty to thirty minutes each day just in gap time. With that amount you can read at least forty books a year on gap time alone. That means you could get over three dozen books read annually – without investing extra time.
The only requirement to utilize gap time is that you carry a book with you.
Step Five: Cut the Television and Web-Surfing
The next way to grab a bit more reading time is to cut background noise. Background noise is the activities you do when you don’t have anything to do. Usually television or web-surfing, this often means watching programs that have zero entertainment value or rechecking your RSS feeds for the fiftieth time today.
Create the habit of reading whenever you don’t have something planned. Television and internet usage can be great, if you are watching shows you enjoy or making good use of the net. But if the shows aren’t adding anything to your day, turn them off and pick up your book.
Step Six: Keep a To-Read List
My to-read list is a perpetual Amazon shopping cart filled with books recommended to me. Motivating yourself to read a current book is as simple as having books after it to read. My to-read list motivates me to finish a current book because I’m interested in searching through the one after it.
Keeping a to-read list also takes the effort out of tracking books. I almost never need to go into the bookstore and just browse. Whenever I get a link for an interesting book, I add it to my Amazon shopping cart in advance.
Getting Started
I don’t need to tell you the benefits of reading books. As a kid you probably saw tacky motivational posters in your school informing you that, “Reading is Power!” The motivation to read seventy books a year needs to come from within. External pressures like getting good grades, pride from considering yourself more academic than your friends or hoping to find that perfect answer at the bottom of a self-help bin aren’t going to cut it.
However if you are curious about implementing these steps and trying to read more books, here are some starting points:
- Go to Amazon right now and pick out some books. If your tighter on expenses, go to your library. But you can’t start without several books in your reading stack.
- Get Breakthrough Rapid Reading, to work on your speed reading. Speed reading isn’t a prerequisite to reading this much, but I’ve found the techniques helpful in the same way an athlete might get help from a personal trainer. No magic, but it can install some good reading habits.
- Set a one month reading goal. Try to read 10-30 pages a day just for the next month. Nothing too challenging, but enough to help you install the habits of regular reading.
Edward Mills said,
August 6, 2007 at 11:34 am
Hi Scott. This is a great post. I have a question/comment about step 3. I’m someone who is definitely a “synthesizer.” Some of my most important insights and “ahas” come through the interface of ideas I find in two or more books that I’m reading simultaneously. I’ve certainly had this experience with books that I have read at different times, but the most powerful ideas have come from the “coincidental” reading of multiple books at the same time. Perhaps it’s just a different style of reading. But I’d be interested to hear your thoughts on this.
Jeff Seely said,
August 6, 2007 at 1:15 pm
I have Breakthrough Rapid Reading. I also recommend it.
Reading one book at a time has its advantages. I sometimes, however, get burnt out on a specific topic and reasonably switch to another book for a while. Unfortunately, this often gets out of hand, and I think I should discipline myself to stick to one book at a time.
Scott Young said,
August 6, 2007 at 1:43 pm
Ed,
They are different styles. I prefer the one-at-a-time approach simply because it is more efficient and it allows me to focus more acutely. I find that a good book will have a lasting impression for a few weeks where it can interface with existing ideas, great books can have lasting impressions for years.
-Scott
Jan said,
August 6, 2007 at 2:10 pm
I think you can say good and bad things about speed reading. Having used to read a lot of fiction I found myself losing the ability to enjoy reading such material as I learned reading differently while studying for my masters degree.
The amount of information that I had to and wanted to digest simply forced me to read differently and even years after I find myself speed reading novels etc. which sort of spoils the enjoyment of kicking back with a good book.
Ben said,
August 6, 2007 at 5:20 pm
Hi Scott.
This is another very useful post. A few years ago some of my work tasks gave me several ten to twenty minute gaps during the day where I had to sit around and wait for a classroom to be vacated before I had to set up audio/visual equipment.
I decided to use this time to read and once I was in the habit of taking a book with me I rediscovered my love of reading. So I give a big thumbs up to step four. Twice a week I commute to work by bus and train and use the twenty minutes on the train to do some reading. Being a father of two under five boys means I have to be creative with my reading opoortunities. I also need something to read outside of the steady diet of Thomas the Tank Engine and other children’s books that I read to my boys every night.
I agree that the motivation to read has to come from within. After finishing high school twenty years, where some of the reading bored me to tears, it took me about four to five years to return to reading.
Thanks,
Ben
Ben said,
August 6, 2007 at 5:30 pm
Hi Scott,
One of the ways I keep my reading interesting is by choosing books that aren’t my usual areas of interest.
Thanks,
Ben
Nneka said,
August 6, 2007 at 6:14 pm
Hi Scott, this is an excellent article. I haven’t quite mastered the reading with my fingers yet, but with the other tips I’ve already tripled my reading rate.
In Spirit,
Nneka
Thomas "Duffbert" Duff said,
August 6, 2007 at 6:45 pm
And then there’s the outlier like me… The last couple of years I’ve read over 200 books *per year*. Yes, I’m an addict.
Scott Young said,
August 7, 2007 at 7:44 am
Thomas,
Great stuff! 200 Books a year is quite a challenge indeed.
Ben,
I completely agree with the reading of books outside your interest.
Personal Growth and Effectiveness at Life Optimizer said,
August 12, 2007 at 9:04 pm
[…] How to Read 70+ Books in a Year by Scott H Young Reading is an essential part of learning, and this article gives you some practical tips on how to read more books. My favorite tip: fill gap time with reading. […]
ameL said,
August 13, 2007 at 7:34 am
How do you speed read Tolstoy?
Scott Young said,
August 13, 2007 at 7:36 am
ameL,
I haven’t read Tolstoy. If his writing were difficult to understand I would have to slow down.
-Scott
Nathan Ketsdever said,
August 13, 2007 at 11:42 am
I sincerely believe that speed reading can be massively overrated. I happen to be able to read at a reasonably quick pace. I think the ability to scan past information that isn’t valuable is of immense value in a world awash in information. What you give up is the processing and incubation of information that you are driving past at 350 words per minute. Especially when books today are often written in a reflective and participatory frame.
Poetry, Tolstoy, and others all require contemplation. Reading fast to finish can often end up with less richness and context and depth.
ameL said,
August 13, 2007 at 11:43 am
hey scott,
what kind of books do you read? I’m a slow reader so i’m having difficulties visualizing how someone can inhale a book every 4-5 days on top of everything else that’s going on
Scott Young said,
August 13, 2007 at 4:52 pm
ameL and Nathan,
I dislike the term “speed” in speed reading. Sure part of it involves going faster, but some of the techniques (in particular, using your finger) are more about focusing your vision.
Right now I’m reading Infinite Jest, David Foster Wallace’s 1000+ page novel. Fantastic stuff even if it requires frequent trips to the dictionary. Can I read it at 1000 words per minutes? No. But I still believe that the speed reading skills I learned help me focus even if I can’t burn through it.
One Book Per Week « Book Quickies said,
August 17, 2007 at 5:57 pm
[…] Kemaren dapat artikel menarik yang berjudul “How to Read 70+ Books in A Year” oleh Scott H Young. Dia memberikan step-step berikut ini (untuk lebih lengkap silakan loncat ke blognya): […]
design submit said,
August 23, 2007 at 2:57 pm
I’m very surprised that you only advise to go to the library if you’re “tight on expenses”. I think buying books is a huge waste of money, what other item is there in the world that you buy where the same thing is available for FREE and owning a book is useless after you’ve read it. If you spend on average $16/book and read 70 a year as you suggest that’s over a grand per year spent on books not to mention a lot more clutter in your house.
Scott Young said,
August 23, 2007 at 3:05 pm
design,
Good point. I’ve avoided the library largely because the only local library for myself is small, and lacks access to many of the new books I hear about via word of mouth.
-Scott
hasani carter said,
September 7, 2007 at 9:00 am
great stuff Scott,
May I suggest a Reading improvement course called:
Institute of Reading Development!
hasani carter said,
September 7, 2007 at 1:38 pm
In addition I want to suggest :
Rapid Analytical Reading
how to read more books | Sweska Shares... said,
September 20, 2007 at 9:03 pm
[…] i found this article basically summarises how to read 70+ books in a year. I found it really true especially step 2 and step 4 where i basically read only when i’m travelling for the 2+ hours each day. Here are the steps… […]
Mariam Fallatah said,
November 2, 2007 at 1:35 pm
Very interesting. I am reading books in English Nowadays, even though it’s not my first language. This makes my reading difficult and boring sometimes. Any tips that can help me read more books in English?
Larissa said,
February 23, 2008 at 2:16 pm
Another site that helps (for those who would like books delivered to their email) is dailylit.com. It helped me get in touch with some free books that are delivered in installments of one chapter per day. There are also links in each email to get the next chapter delivered immediately, suspend delivery of that book, or purchase it via Amazon.
I finally got to read some of the classics I’d missed… working on Anna Karenina right now.
Go2Alex.com » Интересно почитать (23.04) said,
April 23, 2008 at 6:33 am
[…] Как прочитать более 70 книг за год […]
Scott H Young » Friday Links 08-05-02 said,
May 2, 2008 at 10:00 am
[…] How to Read 70+ Books in a Year - The last four months has seen my reading volume take a nosedive. I partially attribute this to taking on a far busier schedule, part of it can also be blamed on recently having read through several, dense 1000+ page books. With courses finished, I’m hoping to recapture my former book-lust. […]
Have you got 5 minutes? Try reading. said,
May 3, 2008 at 7:04 pm
[…] Young has a good post on setting a goal to read 70 books a year. He gives some suggestions on how to accomplish this and recommends using Amazon.com as a place to […]
Scott H Young » 9 Things You’re Paying for that You Can Get for Free (Legally) said,
May 28, 2008 at 11:14 am
[…] got used to buying my books instead of renting. Books might not be a big expense, but if you end up reading 50-70 books each year, the cost can quickly add […]
Dee said,
August 16, 2008 at 10:14 am
Mr. Scott,
Thank you for your great posts, I’ve read a post you wrote: Literary Gluttony - How to Consume More Books This Year. several months ago, a friend sent it to me after I asked him how to read more books, I wasn’t considered a reader(3 or 4 books a year), but I’ve always wanted read, after I read your post I was inspired, I followed the steps, and in 2 months I’ve read 8 books including an epic-novel. It was such a transformation for me, though English is not my mother language, and whenever I feel I’m slowing down in reading, I read the literary Gluttony post and feel inspired again.
I thank you for changing my life.
Scott Young said,
August 16, 2008 at 11:14 am
That’s fantastic Dee! I love hearing about people who have used something they have read on the website!