How Do I Have So Much Time to Read?

Lately I’ve been more vocal about my love for reading. On social media I’ve linked to my Goodreads page, touted new books I love, and posted about my reading goals and challenges. I also may have mentioned that in 2013 I read 75 books, not counting picture books (though that 75 does include fiction, nonfiction, young adult, middle grade, classics, and a handful of novellas).

A solid dozen of my friends have asked me the same question: How Do You Have So Much Time to Read?

It’s a good question, and I’ve decided to settle it once and for all with a blog post. There are four main things that get me through so many books:

1. I am a very fast reader.

Being a fast reader is my real-life superpower. If it’s a novel and I’m in my groove, I often read anywhere from 100 to 130 pages per hour. If it’s young adult or fantasy or a book that I’m just loving then I tend to be on the 130 pg/hr side of thing. This really helps me read lots of books.

2. I’ve simplified my life.

At this point I watch almost no TV and am selective about my movies (though I do love movies). Most of the time I even avoid 5 minute youtube clips. As a stay-at-home-mom, if I want to make progress on my goals, then I have to be focused with my spare time. And since I’ve focused myself on writing novels right now, then I spend my spare time reading novels, to feed my mind with words.

3. I have a strict bedtime for my children and a busy husband

My children go to bed at 7:30 every night, which gives me time to read even if I’m too exhausted to do anything else. My husband’s graduate program makes him super busy, so if I’m reading I’m not distracting him. If I’m really into a book I’ll also sneak in little pockets of reading time during the day.

4. Reading stories gives me pure joy.

In a way it’s self-medication, a coping mechanism to deal with all the challenges of life. In a novel, the characters go through such hardship, but often they make it through, triumphant and better than where they started. This hero’s journey is so empowering to me. And even when I read an anti-hero, like Dorian Gray, at the end of the novel I still feel this rush of empowerment, focus, and wonder at the world around me.

If I go 5 or 6 days without reading I start to feel depressed, burdened by my cares, unmotivated in my goals, lazy, and sometimes even worthless. When I read a good book, it solves about 70% of my problems, and then I have the energy to face the other 30%. If there was a magic cure that would make you happy again and again, without fail, then you would take it as often as you could. And so I do.

Stories speak to me. They make me fill alive, and that life is worth living. Stories are part of the fiber of my soul, and that is why I spend so much time reading.