Life Kit - Used to be an avid reader? How to get back into books

Episode Date: June 9, 2026

In this distracted age, settling in and actually focusing on a book can feel like a challenge. But retraining your reading muscles is doable. In this episode, tips from writers, readers and researchers to help you accomplish your summer reading goals.Follow us on Instagram: @nprlifekitSign up for our newsletter here.Have an episode idea or feedback you want to share? Email us at [e-mail] the show and listen to it sponsor-free by signing up for Life Kit+ at plus.npr.org/lifekitSee pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

You're listening to Life Kit from NPR. Hey, it's Mariel. I have this daydream where I go to the park and read under a tree. The sun is shining. The temperature is not too hot, but not chilly either. The ground beneath me is comfortable. I have snacks on hand. I'm hydrated.

And I am captivated by the book in front of me. It doesn't usually pan out like this. In reality, two minutes in, I'm sweating. My butt hurts from sitting on tree roots. I realize I forgot the snacks, and I can't focus. So I close the book, go home, turn on the TV. A lot of us make this mistake when it comes to reading. We think it should feel romantic, like this landmark event in our day.

You know, we have this imagination that, like, oh, reading time is like this luxurious thing. I'm in my armchair, sipping scotch. Kevin Wynn is the author of the novel's My Documents and New Waves. And in 2017, he wrote an article for GQ called How to Read a Whole Damn Book Every Week. You have to make it a more regular habit than that. Because if you just wait for all those times when you're drinking scotch, hopefully you don't drink that much scotch, hope you read more than you drink scotch. But yeah, if you wait for all those moments, you're never going to finish a book.

Whether your reading daydreams involve you at the park, in an armchair, at a lakeside retreat, or on the beach, what if you let those go and allowed yourself to read whenever, wherever? Because you don't want to miss out. Reading is a joy. Mary Ann Wolf is a cognitive neuroscientistic. at UCLA, an author of Reader Come Home, The Reading Brain in a Digital World. An author gives us a chance to leap into the lies and thoughts and feelings of others, a chance to leap into thoughts that we've never had before,

and a chance to even appreciate that in the midst of solitude, we are not alone. On this episode of Life Kit, we have four tips to help you read more this summer. And Marianne says, if you've fallen off the wagon, you can get back on. I'm telling you that will happen. But you have to relearn those muscles. It just takes time. That's coming up after the break. Picking up where we left off, our takeaway one is read when you can wherever you are.

The hardest part about reading a book is just like opening the book. Kevin Wynn says instead of waiting for that perfect, distraction-free, cinematic moment, look for smaller chances throughout the day. Standing on the train platform, there's a few minutes to read. In a long line for lunch, you can get a few pages in. Read when you're early to school pickup or when you're waiting for your clothes to be done at the laundromat.

And if you commute to work, well, that's a gimmie. Driving to work, it's audiobook time. You get on the subway, it's time to open the book. I'm not going to play video games on my phone or listen to a podcast. It's really easy to have that kind of discipline because it's sort of like a sequestered part of your day where you decide I'm doing this thing at this time. Now to set yourself up for success here, you need to have books within reach. I have an upstairs book and a downstairs book and a car book and a bathroom book and a bathtub book. Juanita Giles is the executive director of the Virginia Children's Book Festival.

I have books everywhere. Put them all over the place and always have one with you. And pretty soon you'll pick one up and you'll start reading. And then there you go. Now, you might be thinking, how can my e-reader or my tablet be in five places at once? Yeah, you're going to need good old-fashioned paper and ink books for this. And you don't have to buy them all. Your local library will be happy to supply. In general, a lot of folks will download books to their laptops or their phones or tablets and read there.

But Marion says that is tricky to do. Distractions are intrinsically built in to our laptops and our phones. We really have our attention pulled away. We are awash in distraction. When you read on a device like your phone, you're just one moment away from a text, an email, a Slack message, a news alert. And even if you turn those off, you might still go looking for other entertainment on your browser or on Instagram, just out of habit. You may also default to your typical screen behaviors, which for a lot of us includes skimming for information. You're going to skim no matter what, because that's what we do.

We want to get to the bottom and we want to scroll. We want to get to the next, the next, the next. Now, skimming can be helpful when you're reading emails or when you're trying to stay on top of the news, but... The reality is that skimming is one of the greatest disruptions of deep reading. And Marianne says deep reading can be a beautiful way to slow down. At the heart of it is the point where we, the reader, go away. Be on the wisdom of the author to discover our own. Sounds pretty great, huh?

To get there, take away two, try reading more paper books when you can. You'll have a better chance of minimizing distractions, especially if you're in a moment where you can't seem to get into any books. By the way, Marianne has also gone through periods where she couldn't practice deep reading. She once tried to reread a favorite of hers, The Glass Beed Game by Herman Hess. It was just painful. And what I had to do is what I'm going to tell your listener. For two weeks, I forced myself to read 20 minutes a day, only 20 minutes,

as if I was just going to force myself to try to be that older version of a reader. And I will admit it took me two weeks. And then it was like coming. home to my old reading self. Coming up, how to choose a book you can't put down. All right, takeaway three. If you want to read more, you've got to pick

the right books. Right for you and right for the moment. Kevin Wynn tries to match the books he reads to the amount of time he has available. I'm usually reading a couple novels at a time, a nonfiction book, and then maybe a comic book. They just feel so different.

And then like when I found myself with like, you know, 20 to 40 minutes on a commute, that was enough time for me to get through a bit of the novel. Because books have different textures and they demand different kinds of attention, it's smart to adjust accordingly. Like you might want to read something lighter when you're at the DMV. Different books demand different paces. And some books can be read quite, you know, quickly.

The fact is, Sid Hartick can be read a lot faster than Narcissuson-Goldman or Glassbeed Game or or poetry. Poetry requires a different pace too. Now, if you're trying to read a book and you've been struggling to get into it, ask yourself, do I even like this? Tracy Thomas is the host of the literary podcast The Stacks. For my work, I have to read books and finish books that I do not always like. I can tell you usually within 10 to 20 pages if I will like a book. But your reading hobby is not a job, and you don't have to finish books.

that book. I think if you're falling asleep while you're reading it, that's a good sign that maybe you don't like it. I think that if you are constantly checking your phone while you're reading, that that might be a sign that you don't like it. I think that if you want to do anything else but read, that might be a sign that you don't like what you're reading. And Tracy says, putting down a book you don't like, that's called cultivating taste. All right, last up, takeaway four, you're back in the habit of deep reading books that you actually like and you want to keep that momentum going. Why not try setting some goals? When NPR producer Monzi Carano was a kid, she loved reading. But as an adult, she got away from it. I made a really simple goal.

Read a book a month, 12 books a year. And by writing down each book I read, I was able to see how easy it was to reach that goal. I increased that goal a little bit every year to make it so that it's something that I'm working towards. You can also set goals based on the types of books you read. For example, if you're a big fan of long war and peace type classics, it might be more interesting for you to read only three books a year and actually just count the number of pages you're reading. Or if you're someone who wants to read more science fiction, maybe you notice you gravitate more towards nonfiction and you really want to change that. You can make a goal to read two new books from two new science fiction writers. While you're at it, why not start a reading journal or a spreadsheet to track your progress? You can rate each book, add notes and favorite quotes.

It feels really good to be able to see exactly how many books you've read. Oh, this is the one that I really liked this year. This is the one that I gave five stars to. This is the one that I rated the highest. It is a way for you to sort of reflect later. It is not meant to be something where you are competing with others or you are trying to prove something to other people. Think of it more as a reflection.

not necessarily a competition. Though Monzi says reading does not have to be entirely solitary, you could join a book club. I love going to authors talks at local libraries. There's also a huge trend of quiet reading nights at certain places where you can just go sit and read and you don't even have to interact with anyone. You can also just read in a public space where other people also happen to be reading. Going back to our first tip, don't wait for that perfect moment. Just get started.

Okay, time for a recap. Takeaway one, read when you can wherever you are. Takeaway two, you'll do your best deep reading on paper, not on a device. Takeaway three, if you want to read more, you've got to pick the right books. Try matching the books you read to the time you have available. And if you don't like a book, put it down. There are so many other options. And takeaway four, to keep the momentum going, try setting some goals, maybe starting a reading journal.

But if that feels overwhelming or like it's going to stop you from opening a book at all, Skip it. Remember, the priority is simply to read more and experience the joy that comes with it. For more Life Kit, check out our other episodes. We have one on how to make a small home feel bigger, and another on whether you should buy gold right now. Also, we love hearing from you, so if you have episode ideas or feedback you want to share, email us at LifeKit at npr.org. This episode of Life Kit was produced by Sylvie Douglas. Our digital editor is Malika Garib, and our visuals editor is C.J. Riegelon. Megan Kane is our senior supervising editor, and Beth Donovan is our executive producer. Our production team also includes Andy Tagle, Claire Murray Schneider, and Margaret Serino. Engineering support comes from Sina LaFredo.

Back checking by Tyler Jones. Special thanks to Barclay Walsh. I'm Mary El Cigara. Thanks for listening.