How to start reading (as a beginner)

I love to read and I enjoy sharing this love with others.
Like all things, the hard part is often getting started. In this article, I will show you some methods that I myself have used to get passionate about books. If you are one of those people who wants to give yourself a chance, welcome to my blog I am here to help you.
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Let’s start.

Find your genre

Do you like fantasy, are you drawn to magic, dragons and wizards? Then it is in fantasy that you must look for your desire to read.

Are you a romantic, do you fantasise about the moment you meet your soul mate and live happily ever after? In that case it’s obvious, throw yourself into romance novels.

Do you like following clues and finding the culprit? Are you a curious person who grew up on bread and detective Conan? Of course you read mystery books and don’t let the classic Agatha Christie slip away.

Reading is a hobby much like watching television, more than you think.
It helps distract you when your life doesn’t give you the excitement you’re looking for and it keeps you going on new adventures. Of course it has to be said that reading is much better than television. Want to know why? HERE is the answer.

Start now or never

At first, reading can be a lot like working out at the gym.

You really want to do it. You want to get back into shape and can’t wait to show off your good physique on the beach.

Why do we procrastinate exercising? Read more here.

You don’t lack good will. But you still don’t start, you keep telling yourself that there is time, that you will start tomorrow, in a month, in the new year. But you never start.

How to stop procrastinating? Read here.

The quickest answer I can give you here is that the best way is to start. Force yourself, force yourself, force yourself to start.

If you want to read and you have an inspiring book in your hand, you have nothing else to wait for.

Open it and read.

I am not telling you to finish it all in one sitting of course but read at least 20 to 30 pages.

Get to understand the plot a bit, let yourself be intrigued. So that it is your curiosity that will make you continue reading the next day.

And this brings me back to one important thing.

Read every day or almost every day

Do you want to know why I read an entire saga faster than a single book?

One of the reasons I will tell you here to help you read as a beginner is the most basic.

I don’t stop.

When I read a saga, every day you will find me with the nose in a book.
I don’t let days or worse, weeks go by.

I don’t give my brain time to sabotage me.

Us human beings are strange even in the things we like.

Would you like to know what happens if you stop reading a book that interests you tremendously?

As days go by, you will forget the emotions you felt and start to see reading as chores.

You will forget pieces of the plot

You will no longer feel like reading.

Sad but true.
The best advice I can give to new readers is: don’t stop reading.

Pick up the book and stay with it every day, even if only for 10 pages, but read it.

Give yourself a mandatory minimum of pages to read every day.

I assure you that if you follow this advice, you will never end up in a reader’s block.

I didn’t like the book, what do I do?

Easy, I quit reading. Reading sucks, it’s not for me and from now on I won’t even dare touch a book with my eyes.

GONG

WRONG ANSWER

Yeah, I’m an avid reader, you wouldn’t think I’d give you advice like that.

No no, we are not cowards here. If something doesn’t go the way we expect it to, we keep fighting.

Every book on earth has been loved by someone sooner or later. Certainly there are many fans of the book you just read, but you don’t feel the same way.

Did it bore you? Or did you find ideas in it that you didn’t agree with? Too many plot holes that put you off?

Whatever the reason let’s face it.

You didn’t like the book.

Does this mean you don’t like reading? No.

I firmly believe in the saying that there is a book for everyone.

You simply made the wrong choice, maybe the genre you were interested in is not the right one for you, change a bit. Pick a different book, go to the bookstore and get carried away by the one that inspires you and I assure you that you will find it.

The book that will start it all.

WARNING: once the love of reading has been ignited, it is impossible to extinguish it. You are doomed.

Joking aside, I assure you that if a book does not inspire you, you are not the problem. And sometimes the book isn’t either. You are simply not made for each other, it happens.

Just don’t give up and you will become a fantastic reader who has found many different worlds to be in.

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Make it a competition

If you are a competitive soul like me, you will love this advice. Sometimes what we lack is a little push.

If you go on the internet, especially booktok, you will find many people who read 150, 300 books a year.

Do they do it because they love to read? Of course they do.

Do they also do it because they make it a competition? Of course they do.

Reading should remain a pleasure not turn into a duty.

But entering this abstract competition could push you to read more and receive all the benefits of reading.

No matter how long you take

I have brought many of my friends into the world of reading.
And one of the things I’ve noticed is that they tend to get discouraged when they see that even ‘spending hours reading the pages are few.

Well I’ll tell you right now, don’t even think about it.
The number of pages is the last thing to look at, nobody cares about that and neither should you.

It is completely natural that if you compare yourself to someone who has been reading for 10 years, they will be much faster than you.

Reading is brain training. The more you read, the better you become.

It may seem a bit slow at first, but you will gradually gain speed and understand the text before your eyes much better.

Besides, what do you care about time? It may take you up to five months to read a book, but if you finish it, you will have won.

You cannot imagine how many times some of my friends have come to me all excited to tell me that they had finished a book in a few weeks.

Once you start, it is impossible to do anything but improve. The road is only uphill.

Involve a friend

If you have the chance, involving a friend will help you a lot. You will be able to motivate each other to read together and push each other to continue. Most of all, you will want to finish the book so that you can talk about it together.

There are few things a reader wants more than to have reader friends.

The book does not taste as good if you have to enjoy it alone.

If you do not have a friend to do this ‘challenge’ with, there is a remedy.

If you like fanart or tiktok dedicated to book characters, you’re all set.
You will have to finish the book first (you don’t want to spoil the ending) and then you will be able to read, watch and admire all kinds of content dedicated to your book.

You’ll be able to read the jokes on Pinterest , see cosplays and many other things. In the world of nerds, there’s never a dull moment.

Start with easy reads

This sounds like obvious advice, but for some it is not. You are at the beginning of your journey, you need a book that gives you the energy to go on, and above all the will.

Here it is very difficult for you to find it in the classics.

Don’t get me wrong, I love the classics, they are among the books I read the most.

But I certainly didn’t start with them.

For a beginning reader even one page, with all those big words and philosophical speeches, can cause a huge block. And lots of yawns.

The best to start with is YA (young adult). These are books for teenagers up to the age of 18, but are read by all age groups.

They are often books with a very simple vocabulary, with stories full of clichés (but if you are new to them, they are not clichés for you, since you have never met them) and many plot twists.

They are easy reads that pull you in and fill you with excitement and curiosity. Often you find shorter chapters than other genres, so as to keep you motivated.

I read so many of them in my early years that I was practically addicted.

See which one inspires you and start.

Last piece of advice

We are at the end of this list and I assure you that it hurts me to say it but, if you don’t like a book, stop reading it.

I am the first to have fixed in my head the idea that once I start a book I cannot escape, I must bravely make it to the end.

But you are still in time to save yourself.
Especially at the beginning, forcing yourself to finish a book you don’t like will only make you despise the moment of reading.

Reading is relaxing, exciting and a great hobby. There is no need to spoil it.

This is all about you, your free time, only you decide how to use it.
Don’t risk getting into reader’s block.

A book doesn’t inspire you? Abandon it and move on to another.

Who knows maybe you will try again in the future and like it, but you are free, that moment does not have to come.

Find the book for you.

Well the advice is over. I hope they are useful to you (and please try to follow them). Welcome to the reading world!!!