I'm still impressed by your actual words-per-minute reading speed. Even if I could find 3 hours per day of focused and on-the-fly reading, I could still only do about 180 pages a day - a page a minute is quite fast for me. That's about 150 books a year but, allowing for slumps and busy times, I'm aiming for 52 books this year. 100 would be miraculous. 300 is just unimaginable. My hero!
100% agree! My average pace when reading for pleasure is about a page a minute, which I used to think was fairly fast. I'm a proofreader by profession, so I read legal documents everyday at work, but at a pace of only about 10-12 pages per hour.
I can’t believe how well spoken you are in front of the camera. 15 minutes of talking and I don’t hear you stumbling or anything. Great video, I am wanting to read more too because I enjoy it but I struggle to read sometimes because of SCREENS.
Screens are a nuisance! And I stumble all the time in my videos! I've just got used to styling it out and hiding it with minor edits. Plus often doing multiple takes!
Wonderful tips! I am always conflicted about this topic because the more I try to read more or read faster, the harder my brain resists or finds some way to distract me from the task. If instead, I make it my focus to be present and slow down with the book, the more I end up reading (which is still less than most of BookTube) 😅.
Replacing social media time with reading is a big one. I also listen to an audiobook when I do chores around the house or another hobby like crocheting. I am one of those people who has to have multiple books going, or I will never finish a book. I always have a book on audio, a book on Kindle, a physical book or two, a classic, and a short story collection going simultaneously. It helps to hold my attention when I can break up the stories. I know that stresses some people out though!
I know and tried another tip to read more books, it’s to read a couple 2-3 book at the same time. So now you read a sci-if approximately 100, after this , you take another book, example horror, and then read 100 pages , and after that, take a book from crime. And during the day, you can read a 3 book at the same time
I gasped very loud at your total of read books in 2022 😂 great tips! Especially the kindle book + physical book. I always find I go through stages of reading then writing, and when I feel sluggish in one, I turn to the other. It’s a good fun system!
I read because I love reading, I love the fact that I eventually get a visual picture of what a character looks like in my mind. My imagination tells me what they, their houses and families look like. To me reading is pure escapism from the demands of my job. So you can imagine what my reaction was when Tom Cruise played Jack Reacher in those movies. 😂
I keep my phone by me, but I use the Forest app. The longer you go without picking up your phone, the more flowers/trees you go. Pick up your phone too soon, they die. You can then convert points into actual planted trees. I know it's weird, but without it I will, as much as I love reading, be distracted and pick up my phone. But not killing my plants, seeing my virtual garden, knowing I'm doing a little good in the real world, works.
That sounds like a really great way to get people thinking about phone use. I'll have to check it out! Thanks for watching and sorry for the late reply!
I can sometimes have 3 books going one for audible in my car while driving to work one at my dining room table, which I do the most reading when I having a meal and one physical book I take to work to read during lunch hour. They usually all different genre's. I find this way for me, produces more reading of books for each month.
I agree that mindless scrolling is a killer. I'm trying to manage my time better so I can have more time for reading but sometimes I just get so lazy and it's so easy to just sit and scroll :). I also, don't do good with audiobooks my mind starts wondering. Great video and Happy New Year.
a kindle paperweight made me read more as you can read also in the dark and the darkness reading with a open fire and sound effect on the laptop makes reading more enjoyable for me 👍
Good advice. I only started the multiple-books-at-a-time myself a year or two ago. I actually causes me to unintentionally DNF more books, but it does keep me reading more, so I’m ok with it.
Yeah that's the issue I've always had with the multiple books thing - I know whenever I have done it at least one of the books has ended up being neglected
Fantastic tips! I try to have at least a physical book and an audiobook going at the same time. Mornings are the best time for me to read a physical book, and evenings are better for audio because I can get other things done around the house while listening. I'm finding that my eyes don't like physical books in the afternoon/evening as I get older 😂
I have a job where I am often working on spreadsheets or waiting for reports to generate. So I find that I can get in a good amount of audiobooks while I do more mindless tasks.
I´m impressed that you read so much. I want to read a bit more because i do enjoy reading it helps me feel better if i have a bad day, and i also have a channel so i want to have something to talk about. So i´m gonna get better at not scrolling and just read 😊
I have always had the opposite approach to you, with multiple books on the go at one time .In my house it is like the bit in a movie where the hero has weapons hidden in every room in case the bad guy is waiting, but with books . As I have gotten older I have had to pair them with reading glasses everywhere.
This is a great vid. I want to read more because I’ve loved reading ever since I learned how. I have a very large backlog of physical books because I love owning them as well. However, I stopped buying them just because someone said the book was great and now I take the suggestions and add them to a running list of books I want to research to own. This has helped me immensely and lately I have not dnfed anything.
Excellent advice! The only one that I struggle with is reading more than one book at a time, but I can have a short story collection on the go in the background.
I'd definitely agree with this, especially if I'm reading something particularly heavy going and want a brief respite or change of pace. Short stories I find are also great as a palette cleanser between finishing one novel and starting another.
excellent. the phone thing is huge. my only delve into social media is the YT comment section, which might not even qualify. still my phone dings once in a while for various notifications. from now on it's getting ditched, a horrible, needless distraction. i'm taking care of three cats at the moment and they sit on my chest, taking turns when i want to read! i need to be more ruthless henceforth. lately i've been watching a lot of book reviews.
@@CriminOllyBlog i quit reading the news in the morning. after a quick scan i now read a book for an hour. phone charges in the other room. much better. the information age needs managed.
The thing that surprises me isn't so much how you manage your reading time -- you're obviously very good at that -- but how much reading time you have to manage. You da man! All the best to you in 2023.
Love these tips. I started reading 2 books at a time in 2022, but for me one of them is always an audiobook and the other is not. I tend to buy the audiobook when I'm less certain I will like the story, as the narrator usually pushes me through part I might flounder on.
I've always been what I consider to be a painfully slow reader. With my mild dyslexia, my eye wanders the page and I often find myself rereading sentences and saying each word to myself in my head just to make sure everything is making sense. I love reading, but it's also fairly fatiguing for me. 170 WPM is absolutely flying for me - fully awake and reading a book I very much enjoy. So I'm not exactly setting world records over here 😂
All sound very good tips. It would drive me bonkers to read more than one book at a time. I am a slow reader and when I start counting pages till the end of the chapter, I know it's time to stop.
Agreed! I know you don't get on with audio boooks but this has been a game changer for me as I listen to them whenever I'm doing mundane tasks (driving to work, walking on lunch break, ironing, cleaning, cooking etc.) Then I have something on my kindle that I generally read before bed and a paper book to read when there is good lighting 😂and I can sit comfortably.. This is generally for allocated reading sessions which I can't always do every day (although I wish I could). I can do several books at once only because I read all different genres - current example - listening to The Secrets of Us (psych thriller), reading XX in paper book (alien invasion) and kindle book is The Gift (Christmassy short story).
I appreciate the tips, learning more about your reading experiences and ideas. Keep creating insightful content and keep up the good work Champ! *Best damn Book Tube channel on CZcams!*
I have found most months I just finish my book from my book club which is odd since I use to read more in the past. I am hoping with a little help from my kindle that I can read a little more. I started taken my kindle to work so I can read during my lunch break and I am going to try to find time else were in the day. I have a somewhat long list of books on my to buy on my Kindle that seems to grow every year and this year with a little luck I might get to more of them.
I used to never read more than one book at a time, but in 2022 I had a physical book, an audiobook, and at times also a kindle book going at once. The audio is just when going for walks/driving/etc, and my kindle is just like you said...at night. It helps because sometimes you just aren't in the mood for a particular book or need a break from it
Great video Olly! I agree about immersion being very important. Putting the phone aside is also helpful. Interesting you’ve been converted to reading more than one book… she says as three books are stacked beside her. 😊💙
I really like all your suggestions. Since I’m a mood reader, I have a variety of genres that I’m reading at one time. Currently, I’m reading a suspense thriller, a fantasy, a classic novel from the 1800’s and a YA fantasy. Sometimes in the middle of the book I get tired of the story or the characters irritate me and I need a break. It’s not that I hate the novel. I just need time away from it. So I pick up one of my other books. I actually think that I read more books this way because I am not taking time off from reading completely. I’m taking a break from a book for a few days. I typically finish about 2 books a week.
Very good tips! A few things: Like you, audio books do little for me. Thing is... I don't like being read to. It's a passive experience and I like being more active. I have to do a lot of reading on a computer for work, but I've never read novels that way (i.e., Kindle). The tactile experience of holding the book, turning the pages... makes me feel closer to the book. And for the most part, I don't lean toward books that are 'time-fillers' or merely diverting. Some might think it strange that I often give 5 stars (at goodreads) to what I read - but that's because (as you say) there are way too many books and I focus on the ones that 'feed' me best. I do tend to have 3 books going at a time but usually one of them is non-fiction or a short story collection (good for 'break times'). Otherwise it's not hard balancing two novel plots. But that's just my opinion on all of this. Happy Reading in 2023! ;)
I seem to be a huge outlier, I loved almost all the books I "had" to read in school. I liked the rest and only hated The Catcher in the Rye, I only finished because my teacher warned us some of us would love it and some of us would hate it and she was really cool (gave me permission to swear while giving my thoughts in class) XD Reading was never a chore for me, in school I always had the book I was reading for school, the book I was reading at school for myself, and the book I read at home for myself.
It's great that was true for you! I found school sucked the joy out of most of the books I had to read (although some, like Brighton Rock, I have tried as an adult ad loved), but it never stopped me enjoying the books I wanted to read.
I usually dedicate a time to my reading a manga or books at my desk. Reading manga has helped my reading speed increase a lot with regular books (I really enjoy stephen king novels). I've also got into the routine of taking notes of what books or mangas I've read that way I could turn these notes I've made into a script then turn that script into a video of my thoughts of what I've read. I usually like to give myself 2 hours to read and really savor what I'm reading. I'll admit I use my phone to take notes on what I'm reading. 😊❤📚
This was really fantastic, Olly! Thank you for sharing. I have started reading with the Kindle app on my phone when I’m out and about, and it really has improved the amount of time I can read every day.
One point you did not mention, is that research has shown that people read faster (more words per minute) on paper than on a screen. Personally, I stick with physical books. I spend enough time looking at screens. The feel of holding a book in my hand is integral to my reading enjoyment.
Great suggestions, I'm going to try to up my game in 2023 so this is highly relevant. I find watching CZcams videos is a great timewaster (present company excepted) so I am going to try to limit my watching to just a couple of videos per day. I also read several books at the same time, and I would add audiobooks to the categories you mentioned (e-book and physical book) because there are times (for example, in my car) when I can listen to an audiobook but I can't otherwise read. I'm also a diverse reader in terms of genres so I like to have a book of drama, short stories, a nonfiction book, a book from the Bible, and several novels on my to-be-read list at any given time. The suggestion to only read what you like is fundamental, thanks for mentioning it! I am focusing on favorite authors, and even books I read before, along with using an algorithm that is available at the website LibraryThing to predict whether or not a book will match others that I have previously enjoyed. The algorithm is not perfect but in my experience it does a pretty good job. I'm surprised that there aren't more of these tools available, if anyone reading this is aware of one please let me know.
My reading speed went up went I started reading ebooks. It's such a fast page turn that adds up over the course of a book. I can read more than one book at a time, but it's easier when they're vastly different from one another. Great video, Olly, and happy New Year!
The most important thing for me is to be consistent. I know from experience what happens when I skip a day or two; it quickly becames a week or more and then I am no longer immersed in the book that I was reading. it is possible to get back into it but often times it doesn't go that way. This is why I try to read every day when I am reading a book. Even 15 minutes is enough if I lack time, just to keep up with the consistency that I need.
This is a wonderful channel I really enjoy your content and I look forward to listening to you in the New Year. And am I the only one who thinks Ollie has a soothing voice lol ?
Mine sounds like Mickey Mouse on helium!😭🤣 Have a wonderful day Olly. Just started Attack On Titan Omnibus 5. Wish Marvel and DC made theirs available in such an easy to hold/read format.
Great advice Olly - Ive just been gifted some ear buds - and whilst I’m not that keen on audiobooks , i feel i am missing something and willing to try again . I am this year thinking of investing in an audio subscription with Amazon, however ,this is the thing , I have a narrator in my head and if the voice doesn’t fit it puts me off . I Will give it a go and libby obviously is free. I read a-lot on my kindle , but have a lot of physical books also - X Happy new year to you neighbour , look forward to seeing more videos in the coming weeks/months x
@@thisbirdhasflown2554 i absolutely agree- and I’ve been trawling through loads tonight and not one has given me the slightest bit of interest in holding my attention - they leave me completely flat ! However if i read at the same time as listening it is slightly better BUT and this is a big BUT what I feel is really lacking for me personally is atmosphere . I couldn’t for the life of me work out why just audio alone I couldn’t absorb until i thought about and was discussing it with my partner and then the penny dropped - I realise i need some accompaniment- like sound affects or music - This is immersive audio which works for me on a different level - sadly not many are immersive . Im not talking Jeff Waynes war of the worlds ( which is brilliant even almost 50yrs later ) immersive - just some sound affects etc - hope this makes sense x
It’s definitely true if you read more than one book at a time, they should be of different gentes. I generally only read one at a tine, but if the novel I’m reading gets slow, I’ll pick up a nonfiction book to give myself a break but still continue reading. Good topic. Thanks
I had a similar experience with the same improvement in quality and speed: I now only read two books at a time or more often one book and one audiobook 🎉👍🏻. It is helpful if they are different genres, too.🙃
Happy new reading year, Olly! I read at least 2 books. As a bilingual, I read books in French, too, at breakfast and at night. I'm lucky to work in a university with an excellent library in European Languages. I commute on the train and always got a book with me. (Genre fiction in English)I only watch CZcams videos and should aim to watch only my subs videos. I can't read on devices, though. However, I'll bear in mind your good advices. As for carrying on reading books I don't like, life is too short and I gave up on that a long time ago.
Great tips, Olly. I have just bought my first Kindle (Paperwhite) and absolutely love it. I love the fact that you can sync with other devices, it's so convenient. I'm going to try your tip of reading a physical and Kindle book simultaneously. Like you, I've always been reluctant to read more than one book at a time but it's worth a shot. All the best for the new year!
Excellent advice! I definitely need a Kindle so I can access books not available in my area. I think it will be very difficult to continue with my channel if I cannot buy some new release, popular horror titles. It is not a question of "keeping up with the Jones's" but simply giving my channel a chance to grow. I am currently an unemployed ex-teacher, my wife and I having left our jobs to get out of crime-ridden Johannesburg- we had a horrific experience. Booktube is a way for me to regain confidence and perhaps start online tutoring/teaching again.
Yeah Kindles are great for getting hold of books that would be hard to find otherwise. Sorry to hear about your recent experiences, hope things improve soon!
Great channel. I usually have one book on the go as my main enjoyment and in the background I have a book with short stories in. So at the moment I’m about to read The Forever War and I’m halfway through my The Stories of Ray Bradbury which I pick up and down on a regular basis. Once I’ve done Ray Bradbury I have the full Conan Chronicles and the complete works of H.P Lovecraft to read in the background.
Great tips overall and I use most of them myself. I usually have three books going at the same time, physical, ebook and an audiobook. The only thing I'm not in agreement with is DNFing, I find that people are doing that too often and too easily and are going for instant gratification instead reading the book on its own terms, that being said if you are hating the book of course put it down but I see way too often that someone is less than 20% into a book or in extreme cases 5 pages in and give it up because they just KNOW its not going to be good.
For me there are two kinds of DNFing - giving a book a fair shot (50 pages plus) and then putting it aside; or starting a book, reading a few pages and not being in the mood for it. What I would say (but didn't in the video) is that to e DNF doesn't mean never read, it just means the book isn't working for you now. I can think of a few books I've ended up loving that I DNFed once or twice along the way
I'm a pretty fast reader, but I'm bad at getting stuck and not DNFing, which slows me way down. As far as audiobooks go, I can only tolerate non-fiction. Not sure why but I bounce right off of audiobook novels.
I think DNFing is super important iof you want to read more. I struggle with audiobooks unless I have the kind of time built into my routine that means I will definitely listen to them
Facebook, Reddit, CZcams shorts - I waste hours on that crap when I could be reading a damned library worth books I've backed up. At work I can't get a signal during my lunch hour and it's magic, nothing else to do but read.
I've found in order to read more I've had to watch less booktube. If you spend more hours watching booktube than reading (and I was) then something has to give, so I've had to ditch a few booktubers unfortunately. This topic alone, could be the subject of a whole video.
I definitely thing there is a balance that's right to get to between all the different calls on our time. Thanks for not ditching me (assuming you haven't!)
I really struggle with DNF-ing a book. I've had to fight my way through many, many books only to be angry I wasted so much time when i finally finished them. So 2023 is the year of the DNF. 😁 I am not going to make myself read a book I am not enjoyong this year.
There is something to be said for a good hate read, though. I think half of Colleen Hoover's sales this past year are coming from people who want to complain about the quality of her books. I usually read one fiction book and one nonfiction book at a time. It's only frightening when you start to get crossover between the two you're reading.
Totally agree about Colleen Hoover and hate reads! I think there can be real pleasure in reading a book you don't like, but not in reading a book that bores you
Yes please cure my ADHD Dr Olly Ok no but seriously I know the phone isn’t helping but at least if I’m sitting and drawing for 3 hours it’s something I’m actively doing so I can focus, but reading has the least stimuli of any entertainment medium. So my adhd brain is yelling at me for more stimulus and my autism brain is yelling at me to start stimming. 🙃(Stimming means self stimulation so like nervous tics but more fundamental to regulating your mental health.)
I'm not sure we should always read things we think we will enjoy, DNFing is healthy, we can try other genres, books out of our comfort zone but if it doesn't work we can DNF them. Too many readers feel if they start a book they have to finish it.... they don't... many folk stop reading because they started a book that didn't appeal to them and felt they couldn't start another until they finished the book they didn't like...
This is a great video, even though you completely ignore your dependence on black magic.
I'm still impressed by your actual words-per-minute reading speed. Even if I could find 3 hours per day of focused and on-the-fly reading, I could still only do about 180 pages a day - a page a minute is quite fast for me. That's about 150 books a year but, allowing for slumps and busy times, I'm aiming for 52 books this year. 100 would be miraculous. 300 is just unimaginable.
My hero!
100% agree! My average pace when reading for pleasure is about a page a minute, which I used to think was fairly fast. I'm a proofreader by profession, so I read legal documents everyday at work, but at a pace of only about 10-12 pages per hour.
Thank you - I think we all have our skills and I guess this is mine. There are many more things that I'm not good at!
I can’t believe how well spoken you are in front of the camera. 15 minutes of talking and I don’t hear you stumbling or anything. Great video, I am wanting to read more too because I enjoy it but I struggle to read sometimes because of SCREENS.
Screens are a nuisance!
And I stumble all the time in my videos! I've just got used to styling it out and hiding it with minor edits. Plus often doing multiple takes!
Wonderful tips! I am always conflicted about this topic because the more I try to read more or read faster, the harder my brain resists or finds some way to distract me from the task. If instead, I make it my focus to be present and slow down with the book, the more I end up reading (which is still less than most of BookTube) 😅.
Thank you! Glad you found it useful. Thanks for watching and sorry for the late reply!
Replacing social media time with reading is a big one. I also listen to an audiobook when I do chores around the house or another hobby like crocheting. I am one of those people who has to have multiple books going, or I will never finish a book. I always have a book on audio, a book on Kindle, a physical book or two, a classic, and a short story collection going simultaneously. It helps to hold my attention when I can break up the stories. I know that stresses some people out though!
I really do struggle with too many books on the go at once, but glad it works for you!
I know and tried another tip to read more books, it’s to read a couple 2-3 book at the same time.
So now you read a sci-if approximately 100, after this , you take another book, example horror, and then read 100 pages , and after that, take a book from crime.
And during the day, you can read a 3 book at the same time
Ah that's interesting, thank you!
Yes, yes, yes. Making use of those pockets of time to anything else other then doomscrolling is the best advice for 2023. 🎉🎉🎉
Thanks Sheila!
As someone who has recently found your channel as well as the love of reading, this is what I need.
Cruelty reading “Lets Go Play at the Adams’”
Hope you're enjoying it!
I gasped very loud at your total of read books in 2022 😂 great tips! Especially the kindle book + physical book. I always find I go through stages of reading then writing, and when I feel sluggish in one, I turn to the other. It’s a good fun system!
Really glad you found the tips useful!
And sorry for alarming you 😂
I read because I love reading, I love the fact that I eventually get a visual picture of what a character looks like in my mind. My imagination tells me what they, their houses and families look like. To me reading is pure escapism from the demands of my job. So you can imagine what my reaction was when Tom Cruise played Jack Reacher in those movies. 😂
Ha ha! Yeah that was an interesting bit of casting....
I keep my phone by me, but I use the Forest app. The longer you go without picking up your phone, the more flowers/trees you go. Pick up your phone too soon, they die. You can then convert points into actual planted trees.
I know it's weird, but without it I will, as much as I love reading, be distracted and pick up my phone.
But not killing my plants, seeing my virtual garden, knowing I'm doing a little good in the real world, works.
That sounds like a really great way to get people thinking about phone use. I'll have to check it out!
Thanks for watching and sorry for the late reply!
I can sometimes have 3 books going one for audible in my car while driving to work
one at my dining room table, which I do the most reading when I having a meal
and one physical book I take to work to read during lunch hour. They usually all different genre's. I find this way for me, produces more reading of books for each month.
That makes a lot of sense - whatever works for you!
I agree that mindless scrolling is a killer. I'm trying to manage my time better so I can have more time for reading but sometimes I just get so lazy and it's so easy to just sit and scroll :). I also, don't do good with audiobooks my mind starts wondering. Great video and Happy New Year.
Happy New Year to you too, and sorry it took me so long to reply!
Reading is my passion.❤
a kindle paperweight made me read more as you can read also in the dark and the darkness reading with a open fire and sound effect on the laptop makes reading more enjoyable for me 👍
Yeah, the Kindle definitely makes it easier!
Good advice. I only started the multiple-books-at-a-time myself a year or two ago. I actually causes me to unintentionally DNF more books, but it does keep me reading more, so I’m ok with it.
Yeah that's the issue I've always had with the multiple books thing - I know whenever I have done it at least one of the books has ended up being neglected
Fantastic tips! I try to have at least a physical book and an audiobook going at the same time. Mornings are the best time for me to read a physical book, and evenings are better for audio because I can get other things done around the house while listening. I'm finding that my eyes don't like physical books in the afternoon/evening as I get older 😂
I think it's pretty wonderful how technology makes it easier for us to read the way we want to! Glad you found the video helpful.
I have a job where I am often working on spreadsheets or waiting for reports to generate. So I find that I can get in a good amount of audiobooks while I do more mindless tasks.
That sounds like a great use of that time
I´m impressed that you read so much. I want to read a bit more because i do enjoy reading it helps me feel better if i have a bad day, and i also have a channel so i want to have something to talk about. So i´m gonna get better at not scrolling and just read 😊
Avoiding other distractions is definitely key!
your “reading while cooking” tip reminded me that there were literally books referred to as “pot boilers”
Ha! Very good!
I have always had the opposite approach to you, with multiple books on the go at one time .In my house it is like the bit in a movie where the hero has weapons hidden in every room in case the bad guy is waiting, but with books . As I have gotten older I have had to pair them with reading glasses everywhere.
Ha ha that's a great analogy!
This is a great vid. I want to read more because I’ve loved reading ever since I learned how. I have a very large backlog of physical books because I love owning them as well. However, I stopped buying them just because someone said the book was great and now I take the suggestions and add them to a running list of books I want to research to own. This has helped me immensely and lately I have not dnfed anything.
That's a great point. I definitely think that being selective about what you read will help you read more
@@CriminOllyBlog Thank you. It really had helped me a lot and recently because of my new system I have found new all time favorite authors and novels.
Excellent advice! The only one that I struggle with is reading more than one book at a time, but I can have a short story collection on the go in the background.
I'd definitely agree with this, especially if I'm reading something particularly heavy going and want a brief respite or change of pace. Short stories I find are also great as a palette cleanser between finishing one novel and starting another.
Yes, totally agree about the palette cleanser!
Yeah short story collections work well for that I think
Excellent tips. Thank you. Have a wonderful 2023. Love your channel
Thank you, so glad you're enjoying the channel!
excellent. the phone thing is huge. my only delve into social media is the YT comment section, which might not even qualify. still my phone dings once in a while for various notifications. from now on it's getting ditched, a horrible, needless distraction.
i'm taking care of three cats at the moment and they sit on my chest, taking turns when i want to read! i need to be more ruthless henceforth. lately i've been watching a lot of book reviews.
Yeah I think notifications on phones were sold to us as a thing that would make us more productive, when in fact they do the opposite
@@CriminOllyBlog i quit reading the news in the morning. after a quick scan i now read a book for an hour. phone charges in the other room. much better. the information age needs managed.
The thing that surprises me isn't so much how you manage your reading time -- you're obviously very good at that -- but how much reading time you have to manage. You da man! All the best to you in 2023.
Cheers, Troy!
Love these tips.
I started reading 2 books at a time in 2022, but for me one of them is always an audiobook and the other is not. I tend to buy the audiobook when I'm less certain I will like the story, as the narrator usually pushes me through part I might flounder on.
Really glad you found the tips useful!
Thanks. Going to incorporate these ideas with the thought of reading more this year.
Hope they work for you!
I've always been what I consider to be a painfully slow reader. With my mild dyslexia, my eye wanders the page and I often find myself rereading sentences and saying each word to myself in my head just to make sure everything is making sense. I love reading, but it's also fairly fatiguing for me. 170 WPM is absolutely flying for me - fully awake and reading a book I very much enjoy. So I'm not exactly setting world records over here 😂
All sound very good tips. It would drive me bonkers to read more than one book at a time. I am a slow reader and when I start counting pages till the end of the chapter, I know it's time to stop.
Yeah that's a good indication!
Agreed! I know you don't get on with audio boooks but this has been a game changer for me as I listen to them whenever I'm doing mundane tasks (driving to work, walking on lunch break, ironing, cleaning, cooking etc.) Then I have something on my kindle that I generally read before bed and a paper book to read when there is good lighting 😂and I can sit comfortably.. This is generally for allocated reading sessions which I can't always do every day (although I wish I could). I can do several books at once only because I read all different genres - current example - listening to The Secrets of Us (psych thriller), reading XX in paper book (alien invasion) and kindle book is The Gift (Christmassy short story).
I really do wish I got on better with audiobooks!
I appreciate the tips, learning more about your reading experiences and ideas. Keep creating insightful content and keep up the good work Champ!
*Best damn Book Tube channel on CZcams!*
Thank you!
@@CriminOllyBlog
I appreciate your channel and got your back.
I have found most months I just finish my book from my book club which is odd since I use to read more in the past. I am hoping with a little help from my kindle that I can read a little more. I started taken my kindle to work so I can read during my lunch break and I am going to try to find time else were in the day. I have a somewhat long list of books on my to buy on my Kindle that seems to grow every year and this year with a little luck I might get to more of them.
Lunch breaks are a great time to get some decent reading in - hope it works for you
I used to never read more than one book at a time, but in 2022 I had a physical book, an audiobook, and at times also a kindle book going at once. The audio is just when going for walks/driving/etc, and my kindle is just like you said...at night. It helps because sometimes you just aren't in the mood for a particular book or need a break from it
Glad it works for you!
Great video Olly! I agree about immersion being very important. Putting the phone aside is also helpful. Interesting you’ve been converted to reading more than one book… she says as three books are stacked beside her. 😊💙
Ha! Thanks Jolene, glad you found it useful!
Thank you thank you thank you for such wonderful tips
Glad you found them useful!
I really like all your suggestions. Since I’m a mood reader, I have a variety of genres that I’m reading at one time. Currently, I’m reading a suspense thriller, a fantasy, a classic novel from the 1800’s and a YA fantasy. Sometimes in the middle of the book I get tired of the story or the characters irritate me and I need a break. It’s not that I hate the novel. I just need time away from it. So I pick up one of my other books. I actually think that I read more books this way because I am not taking time off from reading completely. I’m taking a break from a book for a few days. I typically finish about 2 books a week.
Glad you liked the tips - I think taking a break is a great idea sometimes
Very good tips! A few things: Like you, audio books do little for me. Thing is... I don't like being read to. It's a passive experience and I like being more active. I have to do a lot of reading on a computer for work, but I've never read novels that way (i.e., Kindle). The tactile experience of holding the book, turning the pages... makes me feel closer to the book. And for the most part, I don't lean toward books that are 'time-fillers' or merely diverting. Some might think it strange that I often give 5 stars (at goodreads) to what I read - but that's because (as you say) there are way too many books and I focus on the ones that 'feed' me best. I do tend to have 3 books going at a time but usually one of them is non-fiction or a short story collection (good for 'break times'). Otherwise it's not hard balancing two novel plots. But that's just my opinion on all of this. Happy Reading in 2023! ;)
There is definitely something about the tactile nature of a physical book that is really wonderful.
Im so in love with you and your channel! You are the best ever ❤
Thank you!
I seem to be a huge outlier, I loved almost all the books I "had" to read in school. I liked the rest and only hated The Catcher in the Rye, I only finished because my teacher warned us some of us would love it and some of us would hate it and she was really cool (gave me permission to swear while giving my thoughts in class) XD
Reading was never a chore for me, in school I always had the book I was reading for school, the book I was reading at school for myself, and the book I read at home for myself.
It's great that was true for you! I found school sucked the joy out of most of the books I had to read (although some, like Brighton Rock, I have tried as an adult ad loved), but it never stopped me enjoying the books I wanted to read.
I usually dedicate a time to my reading a manga or books at my desk. Reading manga has helped my reading speed increase a lot with regular books (I really enjoy stephen king novels).
I've also got into the routine of taking notes of what books or mangas I've read that way I could turn these notes I've made into a script then turn that script into a video of my thoughts of what I've read. I usually like to give myself 2 hours to read and really savor what I'm reading. I'll admit I use my phone to take notes on what I'm reading. 😊❤📚
Yeah I do think practice really helps, whether that's manga or prose books.
Thanks for watching and sorry for the late reply!
This was really fantastic, Olly! Thank you for sharing. I have started reading with the Kindle app on my phone when I’m out and about, and it really has improved the amount of time I can read every day.
Glad it was helpful!
Very sound advice about setting time aside. I can handle one non fiction, one fiction and one audio at a time. That is working for me.
If it works for you, that's great!
Great suggestions Olly! Reading what I enjoy is extremely important to me, and one of the reasons I don’t get more burnt out on reading haha.
It's definitely the best way to go!
One point you did not mention, is that research has shown that people read faster (more words per minute) on paper than on a screen. Personally, I stick with physical books. I spend enough time looking at screens. The feel of holding a book in my hand is integral to my reading enjoyment.
I have to say I haven't personally found that to be true
Thanks for the tips!
No problem!
Great suggestions, I'm going to try to up my game in 2023 so this is highly relevant. I find watching CZcams videos is a great timewaster (present company excepted) so I am going to try to limit my watching to just a couple of videos per day. I also read several books at the same time, and I would add audiobooks to the categories you mentioned (e-book and physical book) because there are times (for example, in my car) when I can listen to an audiobook but I can't otherwise read. I'm also a diverse reader in terms of genres so I like to have a book of drama, short stories, a nonfiction book, a book from the Bible, and several novels on my to-be-read list at any given time. The suggestion to only read what you like is fundamental, thanks for mentioning it! I am focusing on favorite authors, and even books I read before, along with using an algorithm that is available at the website LibraryThing to predict whether or not a book will match others that I have previously enjoyed. The algorithm is not perfect but in my experience it does a pretty good job. I'm surprised that there aren't more of these tools available, if anyone reading this is aware of one please let me know.
I tend to watch CZcams videos when I'm doing particular things that make it hard for me to read.
My reading speed went up went I started reading ebooks. It's such a fast page turn that adds up over the course of a book. I can read more than one book at a time, but it's easier when they're vastly different from one another. Great video, Olly, and happy New Year!
Oh that's interesting, I hadn't even thought about that side of it. Happy New Year to you too!
Happy new year. Last year I thought I could read multiply books at once.but now I gave up on that. I’m reading now in 2023 one book at a time lol 😊
One book at a time is definitely the way that works best for me
The most important thing for me is to be consistent. I know from experience what happens when I skip a day or two; it quickly becames a week or more and then I am no longer immersed in the book that I was reading. it is possible to get back into it but often times it doesn't go that way. This is why I try to read every day when I am reading a book. Even 15 minutes is enough if I lack time, just to keep up with the consistency that I need.
That's a very good point - I've found the same to be true
Thanks for watching and sorry for the late reply!
@@CriminOllyBlog No problem, it's amazing that you respond at all :)
This is a wonderful channel I really enjoy your content and I look forward to listening to you in the New Year. And am I the only one who thinks Ollie has a soothing voice lol ?
He should be employed doing audiobooks for sure.
Thank you! Other people have commented on my voice! I don’t get it myself 😂
Mine sounds like Mickey Mouse on helium!😭🤣
Have a wonderful day Olly. Just started Attack On Titan Omnibus 5. Wish Marvel and DC made theirs available in such an easy to hold/read format.
Great advice Olly - Ive just been gifted some ear buds - and whilst I’m not that keen on audiobooks , i feel i am missing something and willing to try again . I am this year thinking of investing in an audio subscription with Amazon, however ,this is the thing , I have a narrator in my head and if the voice doesn’t fit it puts me off . I Will give it a go and libby obviously is free.
I read a-lot on my kindle , but have a lot of physical books also - X Happy new year to you neighbour , look forward to seeing more videos in the coming weeks/months x
I love audiobooks, but I'm very particular about the narrator, so I've found that listening to a sample is a must for me before buying an any
@@thisbirdhasflown2554 i absolutely agree- and I’ve been trawling through loads tonight and not one has given me the slightest bit of interest in holding my attention - they leave me completely flat ! However if i read at the same time as listening it is slightly better BUT and this is a big BUT what I feel is really lacking for me personally is atmosphere . I couldn’t for the life of me work out why just audio alone I couldn’t absorb until i thought about and was discussing it with my partner and then the penny dropped - I realise i need some accompaniment- like sound affects or music - This is immersive audio which works for me on a different level - sadly not many are immersive .
Im not talking Jeff Waynes war of the worlds ( which is brilliant even almost 50yrs later ) immersive - just some sound affects etc - hope this makes sense x
Happy New Year, Annette, and sorry it has taken me so long to reply!. Hope you're enjoying your ear buds!
It’s definitely true if you read more than one book at a time, they should be of different gentes. I generally only read one at a tine, but if the novel I’m reading gets slow, I’ll pick up a nonfiction book to give myself a break but still continue reading. Good topic. Thanks
Glad you found it useful!
The fact that I'm watching this whilst cooking, thinking 'hey I should read' 😂
You should!
I had a similar experience with the same improvement in quality and speed: I now only read two books at a time or more often one book and one audiobook 🎉👍🏻. It is helpful if they are different genres, too.🙃
Yeah I think making sure the books are as different as possible really helps
Happy new reading year, Olly! I read at least 2 books. As a bilingual, I read books in French, too, at breakfast and at night. I'm lucky to work in a university with an excellent library in European Languages. I commute on the train and always got a book with me. (Genre fiction in English)I only watch CZcams videos and should aim to watch only my subs videos. I can't read on devices, though. However, I'll bear in mind your good advices. As for carrying on reading books I don't like, life is too short and I gave up on that a long time ago.
Happy New Year to you too (belatedly!)
Great video to start the new year. My wife listened with me. It is my hope we can both benefit from your suggestions. Thank
You.
Thanks Juan - hope the tips help you both
Great tips, Olly. I have just bought my first Kindle (Paperwhite) and absolutely love it. I love the fact that you can sync with other devices, it's so convenient. I'm going to try your tip of reading a physical and Kindle book simultaneously. Like you, I've always been reluctant to read more than one book at a time but it's worth a shot. All the best for the new year!
Fantastic! Enjoy your Kindle!
It seems to take me half an hour to read about 20 pages 😅 I’ve got so many books I want to read.
There are just too many great books!
Excellent advice! I definitely need a Kindle so I can access books not available in my area. I think it will be very difficult to continue with my channel if I cannot buy some new release, popular horror titles. It is not a question of "keeping up with the Jones's" but simply giving my channel a chance to grow. I am currently an unemployed ex-teacher, my wife and I having left our jobs to get out of crime-ridden Johannesburg- we had a horrific experience. Booktube is a way for me to regain confidence and perhaps start online tutoring/teaching again.
Yeah Kindles are great for getting hold of books that would be hard to find otherwise. Sorry to hear about your recent experiences, hope things improve soon!
@@CriminOllyBlog Thank you so much Olly!
Great channel. I usually have one book on the go as my main enjoyment and in the background I have a book with short stories in. So at the moment I’m about to read The Forever War and I’m halfway through my The Stories of Ray Bradbury which I pick up and down on a regular basis. Once I’ve done Ray Bradbury I have the full Conan Chronicles and the complete works of H.P Lovecraft to read in the background.
That’s a really good way to do it! I have a huge collection of locked room short stories on my kindle which I dip into in that way every so often.
❤❤❤❤❤
Excellent tips! Thank you!
Glad it was helpful!
Great tips overall and I use most of them myself. I usually have three books going at the same time, physical, ebook and an audiobook. The only thing I'm not in agreement with is DNFing, I find that people are doing that too often and too easily and are going for instant gratification instead reading the book on its own terms, that being said if you are hating the book of course put it down but I see way too often that someone is less than 20% into a book or in extreme cases 5 pages in and give it up because they just KNOW its not going to be good.
For me there are two kinds of DNFing - giving a book a fair shot (50 pages plus) and then putting it aside; or starting a book, reading a few pages and not being in the mood for it.
What I would say (but didn't in the video) is that to e DNF doesn't mean never read, it just means the book isn't working for you now. I can think of a few books I've ended up loving that I DNFed once or twice along the way
This is def helpful as someone who would love to read more.
Have u made a video on books with the toughest decisions ever made?
Glad you found it helpful!
No I haven’t done that
I'm a pretty fast reader, but I'm bad at getting stuck and not DNFing, which slows me way down. As far as audiobooks go, I can only tolerate non-fiction. Not sure why but I bounce right off of audiobook novels.
I think DNFing is super important iof you want to read more. I struggle with audiobooks unless I have the kind of time built into my routine that means I will definitely listen to them
Facebook, Reddit, CZcams shorts - I waste hours on that crap when I could be reading a damned library worth books I've backed up. At work I can't get a signal during my lunch hour and it's magic, nothing else to do but read.
Yeah, not having a signal can really be a blessing at times!
Happy New Year, Sir. 🙂
Same to you! (and sorry it's late!)
I've found in order to read more I've had to watch less booktube. If you spend more hours watching booktube than reading (and I was) then something has to give, so I've had to ditch a few booktubers unfortunately. This topic alone, could be the subject of a whole video.
I definitely thing there is a balance that's right to get to between all the different calls on our time. Thanks for not ditching me (assuming you haven't!)
My problem is after work Im too tired to focus on a book so I watch CZcams instead. But then I end up on my phone until late at night 😳
Maybe try audiobooks instead, you can set a sleep timer on them I think
I really struggle with DNF-ing a book. I've had to fight my way through many, many books only to be angry I wasted so much time when i finally finished them. So 2023 is the year of the DNF. 😁 I am not going to make myself read a book I am not enjoyong this year.
You can do it!
There is something to be said for a good hate read, though. I think half of Colleen Hoover's sales this past year are coming from people who want to complain about the quality of her books.
I usually read one fiction book and one nonfiction book at a time. It's only frightening when you start to get crossover between the two you're reading.
Totally agree about Colleen Hoover and hate reads! I think there can be real pleasure in reading a book you don't like, but not in reading a book that bores you
💚🖤
Yes please cure my ADHD Dr Olly
Ok no but seriously I know the phone isn’t helping but at least if I’m sitting and drawing for 3 hours it’s something I’m actively doing so I can focus, but reading has the least stimuli of any entertainment medium. So my adhd brain is yelling at me for more stimulus and my autism brain is yelling at me to start stimming. 🙃(Stimming means self stimulation so like nervous tics but more fundamental to regulating your mental health.)
Drawing seems like a way better thing to do than being on your phone Could you read and listen to an audio book?
I'm not sure we should always read things we think we will enjoy, DNFing is healthy, we can try other genres, books out of our comfort zone but if it doesn't work we can DNF them. Too many readers feel if they start a book they have to finish it.... they don't... many folk stop reading because they started a book that didn't appeal to them and felt they couldn't start another until they finished the book they didn't like...
I completely agree that DNFing is really important.
how many books did you read in 2022?
301 in the end
You gave me permission to put down books I don't enjoy. 😭
It's always the right thing to do!
Have you read any S. Craig Zahler novels, Ollie?
No, I've not heard of him!
@@CriminOllyBlog I'd like to know your thoughts on "Wraiths of the Broken Land".
@@Cyberdine.Systems.Model-101 that’s on my list to read soon
Great tips! Finally, polyreaders get an exception! Welcome to the dark side, Olly. 😜 -📚MJ
LOL!
Have you read Ramsey Campbell yet?
Yes, not a huge amount but have read a few by him and enjoyed them a lot
Has anybody read the executioner book series by Don Pendleton I just bought 445 volumes off an old Man. Any good?
I have! Not all of them, but a fair few. They're good fun. In fact there is a review of the first one on the channel
They’re mostly great fun as long as you don’t mind right wing vigilante moral reasoning.
Okay, watch less Oliver. Got it. Joking aside, do you ever get annoyed at authors?
I don't think I do really. Apart from James Patterson!