Serial Reader

How to Read More Books Than You'd Expect in 2023

· 12/18/2022 · Michael Schmitt

With a new year upon us, many folks' thoughts turn to resolutions on how to make next year better than the last. It's common to see such resolutions involve reading more books, the "eat your vegetables / exercise more" segment of media. Plus these commonly focus on reading more classic books, which not unfairly have a reputation for being daunting, dull, inscrutable, impenetrable. Not surprisingly, resolutions have a reported 9-12% success rate.

If you're looking to read more in 2023 but feel a little daunted, I've got some simple advice that will help you read more books than you'd expect: set aside 15-20 minutes a day to read.

That's it! Doesn't sound like much, but that time adds up.

Don't believe me? I've built an interactive reading list builder you can use to schedule out your 2023 reading plan to see for yourself. It uses Serial Reader's library of classic books, which are divided into daily issues designed to be read in 15-20 minutes. You can even save and share your list!

Here's an example list I created with 17 of the most popular classic books including The Great Gatsby, Moby Dick, Pride and Prejudice, Frankenstein, and more! Or here's another focused on sleuths & mysteries (12 titles). Or sci-fi & utopian fiction by women (18 titles). Or philosophical titles (19 titles). Or gothic romances (12 titles). And finally, my own personal reading schedule for 2023 (10 titles including Middlemarch which has also intimidated me). There's an option in each to duplicate & edit the list, or create your own from scratch!

Oh and that reputation for classic books being daunting and dull? Here's a list with titles that can all be finished in under 10 days, and another list of banned & erotic books 🍆.

If you create a list, please share it with me! I'm so excited to see what folks want to read in 2023. Send me a link or screenshot on Mastodon, Twitter, or Instagram 💙

Serial Reader for iOS and Android could be a great way to start building this habit. It delivers a 15-20 minute segment of classic books (or your own books if you have an EPUB handy!) every day. But you need not use a special app for this goal! All you need is a book and the timer and reminder apps on your phone. Standard Ebooks and Libby are excellent resources for finding free books, in addition to the venerable Project Gutenberg.

I'd also highly recommend keeping track of how many days you read 15-20 minutes, both to keep yourself on track and to have a record to look back on. Just jotting an entry in a notebook or notes app is all you need. Seeing your past success can really help motivate you!

Hope everyone has a wonderful 2023 - happy reading! - Michael

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