How to Read Books Quickly, Whether You Like Them or Not

Reading is one of the great joys of life. But not for everyone. Here are five tips to make books of any size go down smooth.

Let’s say this right off the bat: Reading quickly shouldn’t be the goal. The pleasure of reading is plunging into another world and getting swept up in the narrative for as long as possible; carrying an increasingly-dog-eared book with you on the train day after day; desperately trying to squeeze in chapters between classes; slowing down as you near the final page to let its universe live in your head that little bit longer.

But, for some, being a slow reader is understandably a burden. Maybe it’s because you have too many other books you’re keen to move on to. Maybe there’s something you need to comprehend for school and you’re starting to fall behind. Or maybe you’ve been dilly-dallying and now need to finish the final Hunger Games novel before the movie spoils the ending for you.

For those who’ve asked for advice on how to read quickly – or at least, how to motivate yourself to not stop reading – here’s a guide that should make you a pro at polishing off a new paperback each week.

1. Read What You Enjoy

Fair enough, some of you are skimming this article for tips on how to consume the 416-page thrill-ride Agrarian Reform in Russia: The Road from Serfdom ahead of an exam. This point won’t help them. However, nothing builds an appetite for reading quite like a book you’re actually interested in. (Admittedly, there are people out there who would happily devour The Road from Serfdom in an afternoon. Good for them.)

If you’ve begun a novel and you’re finding the first 50 pages a slog, it’s unlikely the following 200 pages will go down any smoother. Instead, give yourself permission to move onto another, until you find something that’s absolutely unputdownable. You’ll instantly find yourself ploughing (sorry: Agrarian reference) through more books than ever before.

Once you’ve cleared away the cobwebs – not to mention the always-stressful backlog you’ve been meaning to get to - you can go back to the ones you skipped and give them a second chance. If not, save those less-inspiring texts for when you go on a family holiday, where the absence of the internet and friends and personal space will force you into reading them as some kind of escape.

2. Set Reasonable – Even Easy - Goals

For this point, let’s pretend the book is for school. First thing you do is find out when you need to have it read by. Then, check the number of chapters. If they’re a sensible length, you can pledge to complete a chapter a night. If you are in fact reading The Road to Serfdom – and hey, it could be super-enthralling! – its seven chapters can be helpfully absorbed in 60-page sittings. The average reader can scan a page in a little over a minute. So, even if you devoted a mere half hour each night, you could wrap up the entire thing in a fortnight. Start a couple weeks before you need it finished and you’ll have time to spare, perhaps for the sequel!

3. Find the Time in Hidden Spaces

There’s a chance you may not have that much time in advance (though, everyone gets their text list at the top of the year, so don’t lie to yourself; not here). If you only have a few days to read all 416 pages, you’re going to need to find some gaps in your life when you can speed-read. The obvious one is, of course, the toilet. We don’t need to get into it. (Needless to say, leave your phone outside and bring the book.) Next: meal times. If you live by yourself, rather than watch TV on the couch while shoveling in cereal, sit at the table and work through some pages. (If you have a partner or children that usually sit with you while you eat, you probably can’t get away with this. Your parents, on the other hand, might cry with joy.)

If you can’t think of any other gaps, just indulge in short bursts of reading sporadically throughout the day, or wake up twenty minutes earlier than usual and read in bed. Just don’t try and overdo it if you’re really not digging – and thus, not digesting – the book. As we mentioned above, setting achievable goals will make each session a little less imposing. Besides, adding the bathroom to the schedule alone should buy you quite a bit of time.

4. Listen to an Audiobook

Books on tape have been around for eons, yet thanks to the rising popularity of podcasts, audiobooks are suddenly the in-thing once again. If the biggest gaps in your life come when you’re driving, purchase an audiobook and let talented thespians read aloud to you! You may not get many translations of Russian agriculture in this medium, but you can hear Jeremy Irons bring Lolita to life, Anne Hathaway animate The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, Bill Nighy whisper Moonraker and, best of all, Tina Fey and Amy Poehler read their hilarious biographies Bossypants and Yes, Please, respectively.

NB: audiobooks usually take longer to listen to then novels take to read. However, if you go to the gym often and haven’t figured out how to hold a hardcover while on the rowing machine, this’ll help. Who knows? If you get a good one, it might encourage you to work out more. Reading is good for your bodies, people!

5. Join a Book Club

Nothing motivates more successfully than fear, shame and guilt. Thus, the threat of being caught out as the only person at your book club with no idea who Mrs. Dalloway is and why she’s so obsessed with flowers might be enough to drive you to flip through all kinds of literature faster than you ever have before. (If there’s also someone in the club you have a crush on and want to impress, you’ll find yourself driven by all four major pillars of motivation!)

Honestly though, accountability is a powerful motivator. What you may find too, after your first meeting, is that you genuinely enjoyed discussing the text, its themes and what it meant to everyone else. You might even enjoy that more than the act of reading itself (especially if you disliked the week’s selection and are raring to tear it a new one at the meeting). Having someone to share thoughts with is key, so when possible, get a friend or partner to read the book at the same time as you. It’ll not only push you both, you’ll be genuinely excited to swap theories at the end of it. Otherwise, if you’re reading something with a big twist, like Gone Girl or Fight Club or Atonement, encourage an enemy to read it too. You’ll be desperate to reach the ending before they ruin it for you.