learn extra books as an grownup

It’s no secret that the Polygon employees likes to learn. We’re style agnostic, with tastes spanning classes resembling thriller, science fiction and fantasy, literary fiction, romance, and even nonfiction, and we love manga and comics, too. However we’re additionally sympathetic to how onerous it’s to seek out time to do it. By the point the workday is over, you may be too exhausted to eat phrases on the web page — or perhaps you’re a dad or mum, working onerous to handle your self and your loved ones. It additionally may be tough to focus, with infinite emails, texts, and social media notifications taking over mind area or needing rapid consideration.

However there are such a lot of other ways so as to add studying into your life. There’s this notion of studying as an exercise that you’ll want to dedicate discrete time and area to — that it’s uninterrupted and enjoyable. Possibly that’s an accessible possibility for you, which is great, however perhaps it’s merely grow to be tough to focus for lengthy stretches. Possibly you attempt to learn earlier than mattress however hold falling asleep. Or perhaps you’re busy as hell and marvel, How might I even discover time to begin a e book, a lot much less end it?

We’re right here to assist. Among the common readers on the Polygon employees have shared our tales of how we’ve discovered time to learn up to now yr. All of us had wildly completely different solutions, which is to say, there are numerous other ways so as to add it to your life. We hope these concepts can serve you in your studying journey.

Begin your day with a superb e book

Working from house is the perfect factor that’s occurred to my studying habits. Once I stopped going into the workplace in 2020, I all of the sudden had an additional hour within the morning the place my commute was once. As an alternative of taking this as a possibility to sleep in, I stored the time of my morning alarm the identical, giving myself a bonus hour every morning to fill nonetheless I needed. I attempted quite a lot of issues, together with yoga and lengthy walks with my canine, however nothing set a greater tone for my day than utilizing that point to learn.

To at the present time, as soon as I end preparing for work, I make myself a cup of espresso, curl up with my cats and a comfy blanket, and browse for anyplace from 30 to 60 minutes. Beginning my mornings this fashion helps me chill out and really feel extra grounded earlier than signing on to work, and the enjoyment I nonetheless get from this routine almost 4 years later is greater than value shedding that bonus hour of sleep. —Sadie Gennis

Attempt a devoted studying machine

Picture: Ana Diaz/Polygon

I’ve most likely written about this sufficient already, however I bought again into studying by studying manga on my pill utilizing the Shonen Soar app.

I feel it’s very easy to get all excessive and mighty about what’s and isn’t value studying, however comics are nice. Studying manga earlier than mattress has grow to be a treasured a part of my night routine, and genuinely looks like me time. My pill doesn’t have any messaging or social media apps, so I’m not interrupted whereas studying and I get a pleasant break from the web. It’s like somewhat oasis of my very own each night time.

All you want is a shitty pill, or perhaps a telephone for those who’re OK with squinting, and you may learn acclaimed tales with gorgeous artwork. Moreover, studying a novel appears much more doable after breezing by means of a thousand chapters of One Piece. —Ana Diaz

Attempt one thing that was as soon as forbidden

Other people have already shared variations of the golden rule for locating pleasure in studying: “Cease assigning your self homework.” Now let’s go a step additional. Attempt stuff that you just explicitly weren’t allowed to learn in class. Books are sick, and I don’t imply cool; I imply wicked.

In highschool, I, like so many millennial youngsters, had my Chuck Palahniuk interval. Giggle all you need, however studying novels like Survivor and Choke felt like gaining entry behind the beaded curtain. You may go intellectual with Graham Greene’s Brighton Rock, the story of a pier-loitering teenage sociopath. Or you’ll be able to go for a legend of the airport bookstore, like Anne Rice. You’ve heard of Interview with the Vampire, however for those who haven’t learn it, belief me, you’re in for some grade-A filth. —Chris Plante

‘Having enjoyable isn’t onerous when you could have a library card’

In 2023, I learn extra books than I had within the earlier three years mixed. My favourite animated aardvark knew what he was about. Shifting to a spot with a library lower than a 10-minute stroll away has been a recreation changer. I’d beforehand used apps like Libby and Overdrive, however there’s simply one thing about waltzing right into a library with out figuring out precisely what you’re in search of and letting the stacks whisper to you. Final yr, I found a bunch of latest favorites and likewise grew to become a licensed romance reader, all as a result of I took an opportunity on a library e book.

However whereas the library positively solved my “entry to books with out committing to purchasing one thing that you could be not like and it will take up area in your bookshelf and hang-out you for years to return” downside, there’s additionally one other hurdle to handle. Even with library entry, you continue to have to seek out the time to learn — which may be onerous, with one million exhibits and flicks on streaming, a ton of video games in my backlog to play, and different hobbies that I may very well be spending time on.

Final yr, although, I made it a degree to get off social media. It truly wasn’t that arduous, contemplating that Twitter kinda set itself on hearth and TikTok was making me so enraged that I simply deleted the app. I began to make use of that point to learn as a substitute. It particularly works for in-between moments — ready for my pasta water to boil, or grabbing a snack and never desirous to decide to watching a tv present. As a lot as I really like to simply spend hours poring over a e book, that’s not the one solution to learn. I can get the identical repair in bite-sized chunks, the identical fast hit I used to get from Twitter or TikTok. It’s simply as entertaining (dare I say… much more so?), with out the adverse uncomfortable side effects of doomscrolling! —Petrana Radulovic

Combine it up with an outdated basic or a brand new co-reader

A whole lot of issues have helped me pull out of periodic studying slumps — taking suggestions from buddies, monitoring down outdated favourite authors to see what they’ve been as much as, entering into ebooks and instantaneous downloads from libraries by way of Libby and Hoopla, studying a whole lot of E-book Riot for gross sales and proposals. However two comparatively offbeat issues spiced up my studying greater than traditional final yr, and I’d suggest giving each of them a strive.

Return to some outdated favorites — I imply actually outdated favorites. Susana Polo’s 2023 piece on Disney’s animated film One Hundred and One Dalmatians jogged my memory of a author I haven’t thought of in a long time: Invoice Peet, the film’s author and storyboarder, and the writer of an enormous pile of bizarre, wild image books I learn in childhood. Armed with nostalgia, I hit the library and reread a bunch of these image books — none of them had been difficult or enlightening studying, clearly, however the reminiscences they known as up had been a whole lot of enjoyable, they usually reconnected me with a distinct period of my connection to books. After which I bought to suggest them to, and purchase a few of them for, my buddies with younger children.

Equally, a stray reminiscence late final yr took me again to Island of the Blue Dolphins, a favourite basic from my early studying years. It solely took an hour or so to reread, and it introduced again a whole lot of reminiscences — and despatched me off in search of extra modern books about Native islanders, ones as much as immediately’s requirements as a substitute of the requirements of when it was written. Touching base with issues I learn and cherished in childhood let me assume extra about what I prefer to learn immediately, and why — and helped me take into consideration among the messages I internalized from books as a child, which has been value considering and speaking about with buddies.

Learn to another person, or have somebody learn to you. Revisiting childhood image books jogged my memory of the occasions I’ve learn books to children, and made me wish to spend extra time doing that. However we don’t put sufficient worth on adults studying to one another. Impressed by a pal of mine who says he and his spouse take turns studying A Christmas Carol to one another each vacation season, I began asking my husband to learn out loud to me on lengthy automobile journeys. It’s a surprisingly nice social exercise, with all of the enjoyment of a superb audiobook mixed with the connection issue of focusing us each on the identical story and making it an energetic course of as a substitute of a passive one.

It is a good one to strive for evenings at dwelling with a major different or member of the family. Most of us who don’t have children within the rapid household have most likely gotten out of the behavior of studying out loud, however it may be a very satisfying solution to take pleasure in and interact with a narrative — and with another person who’s enthusiastic about studying extra, too! —Tasha Robinson

Listening can also be studying

Picture illustration: James Bareham/Polygon | Supply picture: Netflix

Studying has all the time been one in every of my favourite pastimes, to the extent that it’s a passion I determine with on the extent of who I’m as an individual. However as I’ve balanced increasingly tasks in my life, I’ve needed to get extra artistic with how I hold studying. For the previous few years, I’ve discovered it tougher to seek out uninterrupted studying time — which has atrophied the muscle of with the ability to focus, even, with a e book. I stored assuming that I’d ease again into it, however I by no means did. I’d sit with a e book and discover myself hopelessly distracted just some pages in.

As an alternative, I’ve gotten actually into audiobooks, which I can hearken to whereas occurring a day by day stroll, doing the laundry, or washing the dishes. It motivates me to really get the chores accomplished — I wish to know what’s taking place subsequent — however it helps settle my fidgety nature, too. I’ve additionally began studying essay collections whereas my accomplice performs single-player video video games. We each love gaming and studying, so if both of us hits an exhaustion level, we’ll merely commerce: I’ll play the part he’s caught in, and he’ll make his means by means of an essay within the assortment. It’s a enjoyable means of sharing media collectively that’s sometimes consumed individually. And it’s made the entire thing far more social. —Nicole Clark

Don’t overlook — there are other forms of studying on the market

You wish to learn extra books? Sorry, can’t allow you to there; I begin far more of them than I end, and haven’t learn them repeatedly since faculty.

Wouldn’t it be good if I learn extra books? Certain, and perhaps I’ll try among the solutions from my co-workers above. However my spouse and I are about to have our first little one, so I don’t know that I’ll have the time or the inclination to make it by means of book-length works anytime quickly.

What I do learn a ton of, although, is journalism. I used to be a information junkie lengthy earlier than I began working within the media, however I’d say that it contains one thing like 90% of what I learn today — and that’s the whole lot from bullet-point information bites to magazine-length options. I’m not simply speaking about reporting right here; I additionally imply evaluation, explainers, film/TV/recreation criticism, private essays, interviews, and information journalism. I’ve all the time been a essentially curious particular person, and studying journalism is the principle means that I be taught and keep knowledgeable concerning the world and what’s taking place in it.

Twitter was once my main curation software right here — I presently have almost 180 tabs open throughout three Chrome home windows, and the overwhelming majority of them operate as bookmarks: They’re tweets of tales that I meant to learn sooner or later. It’s not the perfect technique for truly studying extra journalism, as you’ll be able to see, however I do make makes an attempt to chip away at that backlog once in a while.

One thing that facilitates that is that I preserve subscriptions to the New York Instances (together with The Athletic), the Washington Put up, and The New Yorker. If you wish to learn extra journalism, and specifically, nice journalism, it helps for those who can afford to pay for it! —Samit Sarkar