How to fall in love with reading again

Virgin Radio

15 Mar 2022, 17:41

Many people fell out of love with reading at school.

Others found their concentration span shortened during the pandemic.

Lots of people love to get engrossed in a can't-put-it-down page-turner, with some 212 million print books sold in 2021, according to Nielsen BookScan.

If you're not one of them, it turns out there are steps you can take to help you fall in love with the written word again.

It seems we have TikTok to thank for the resurgence in popularity for titles that were published years ago.

Dubbed 'Booktok', it's a side of the app where people share their recommendations of what to read next.

Chrissy Ryan is the owner of BookBar, and says: "BookTok is having a huge impact on what’s published but also what people are coming in to buy."

"The trends on BookTok seem to be about really good storytelling. Often, if you’re struggling to get into fiction, that’s where to start."

Hypnotherapist Jessica Brown says many of her clients struggle to focus on reading: "A lot of people come to me with a lot of preconceived ideas about school and about their ability to read."

"‘They hold the literal association of books and school. Because they haven’t read for a long time, they’re not good at reading anymore."

She has a tip that can help though, and it involves not worrying about abandoning a book that doesn't appeal to you.

Jessica says to tell yourself: "I’ll read whatever book and I don’t care what people think of the book that I’m reading. I’m going to put down the idea that even if I don’t finish the book, that it was a failure. I got what I needed to get out of it.

’‘Don’t read the book that your friend says is the best book. Read the book that lights you on fire,’ says Jessica.

Chrissy suggests a ‘reading commute’ even if you're still working from home.

This could look like reading for half an hour before work, during your lunch, or switching your phone off half an hour before bed.

Will you give any of these a go?

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