5 Tips to Develop a Reading Hobby

5 Tips to Develop a Reading Hobby and Make It a Part of Your Daily Routine

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So, we’re almost through the first quarter of the new year. (Can you believe it's March, already?) And with time whizzing by so quickly, it’s understandable that many of us have abandoned any resolutions we made for the New Year. Rather than making resolutions, I just choose to do one or two things better than I did them the year before. This way, even one real attempt feels like an accomplishment.

This year’s thing was to read a book a week for all of 2025. I chose this goal because I suddenly became a ravenous reader again towards the end of the year after barely having picked up a book at all for months. I was blowing through three and four hundred pages in a matter of hours and my TBR list (“To Be Read,” for all my non-readers) was starting to dwindle. I was doing great until I came across a book that I realized I didn’t care about as much as I thought I would. I won’t say the book because it’s not a bad read. I’m just not as invested in the story as I should be, so it’s taking longer to finish.

Why don’t I just abandon ship and go on to the next title, you ask? Because doing so would make me a quitter. And while I’ve been quick to walk away from a lot of things: jobs, long lines in the store, men, I have always felt compelled to stick with a story, no matter how disinterested or detached I am from it. Now, a poorly edited book is something else, entirely. Not to mention, there are certain genres that I just won’t even bother with because it’s not my jam. But if I choose to open a book and start reading it, I feel like I owe it to myself as well as the author to see it through. And usually, I’m glad I chose to stick it out. And this one actually has been worth it. The other reason I do it might sound ridiculous, but I’m too nosey not to hang around to see what happens. It’s like when someone begins telling you something and then decides midway through that they changed their mind. Even if you could care less about what they were talking about, you want to at least hear how it ends because you’re already invested, right? No? Just me? Okay.

Bestie Decides to be a Reader, Too

Anyway, I was talking on the phone with one of my best friends and she revealed that she wanted to become a reader. Now mind you, I’ve known her since we were nine and she’s never read a book on purpose, to my knowledge. I was excited about the thought of being able to bond through books 40+ years into our friendship. But I wasn’t sure if I should take her seriously. The only hobby my friend has had as an adult is organizing. And I wondered why this chick was wasting my time asking me how she could get started reading, knowing full well she wasn’t going to read nothing, any more than I was going to look at that last video she sent about how to organize a pantry.

Against my better judgment, I gave her a few easy, practical steps that would her help her develop a habit of reading. Ironically, as I talked, I realized that I actually had a system in place when it came to reading books. Specific patterns of behavior fueled my love of reading with simple habits. This epiphany gave me the enthusiasm to share these simple steps in the form of a blog post to introduce more non-readers, like my dear friend, to develop a love affair with books.

Struggling to read more? Here's how to build a lasting habit.

Step one: Discover what books truly interest you.

The first thing I asked her when she told me she wanted to read was what kind of stories do you like? That was actually easy for her. In addition to organizing (which I still don’t get), my bestie also loves shows like Dateline and 48 Hours. So, she said she wanted to read true crime. At first, I suggested some non-fiction books written by journalists. But my mention that Tamryn Hall wrote crime novels appealed to her sense of notoriety. And she’d actually been gifted Verity by Colleen Hoover, but she said she couldn’t get into it.

Step 2: Paperback, eBook or audio book. Choose the right format for your reading habit.

I’m old school and I get a huge sense of satisfaction from physically turning pages. Like ASMR. Plus, I have a phobia about the intangibility of digital products. What happens if the book police bans all the titles I have saved in my cloud and I don’t have a physical backup copy? My friend liked the idea of picturing herself in her favorite cozy spot with a book, as some subconscious proof that she was reading. So, she chose physical copies, as well. (Whatever works for you, I guess.)

Step three: The best reading spot. How to create a distraction free zone

I love to read in bed, but others can’t because it puts them to sleep. My friend chose her favorite chair in her bedroom, away from the drone of the television her husband is watching in the family room. And away from any work, organization videos, or chore lists on her work computer in her office.

Step 4: Turn reading into a daily habit by setting page goals.

This is the step where I realized that maybe I’m a little nuts. I suggested she choose a reasonable number of pages for her as a new reader, whether it be 5 or 20, and read at least that number every day. Be realistic about how much you’re willing to do. If it gets good and you end up reading more, that’s awesome! You may finish it faster.

I’m a page counter. Before I start any book, I look at the number of pages and divide it by seven because I typically like to give myself a week to finish any book. Let’s say the book has 250 pages. If I read at least thirty-five pages a day, I will be finished in a week.

Here’s where my crazy enters the picture. I can’t just stop at any old page number. It has to be a nice, round number. For example, let’s say the end of my daily page count stops at, say, page 37. If that’s not the end of the chapter, I have to keep going until I reach the end. And I have been known to keep reading until a chapter ends on an even page 50 or 100, rather than some random odd number, story be damned.

And Last, But Not Least...

After finishing her first book on her reading journey, she texted me a weird question. “What do I do with the book now that I’m finished?" Huh? “What do you mean?” I asked, slightly annoyed that Ms. Martha Stewart had bookshelves in her family room, but didn’t think having books on them fit her aesthetic. And what’s weirder is she was perfectly prepared to run out and buy more books to read. (Maybe my earlier label of being “a little nuts” was slightly misplaced.) This brings me to my last step.

Step 5: The secret weapon for readers. Why you need a library card

If you can’t afford a book habit (because it can get expensive), if you don’t have the space, or you’re like my bestie and have an aversion to putting actual books on bookshelves, then you need a library card. For those of you who haven’t had a library card since you left high school, it is not the same library as when we were kids!

Not only can you check out eBooks and audiobooks, but you can also browse the shelves and even reserve books online. They will already have them waiting at the counter to grab and go. And you don’t even have to go inside and turn them in, courtesy of the drop box in the parking lot. In addition, the library also sponsors book clubs, too, in case you desire to be around other bibliophiles. What a time to be alive!

How It's Going vs. How It Started

To my shock and delight, my friend took me up on all my advice to develop her new reading hobby and she is loving it! She even got herself a library card. She really enjoys crime novels but she also likes messy. So I recommended The Perfect Marriage by Jeneva Rose. She’s actually reading more than me, these days.

I’m excited to have another friend who loves to read. And I get a sense of satisfaction from having given her the tools to develop her habit. I guess there’s nothing for me to do in return except go watch these organization videos she keeps sending to my inbox. (heavy sigh) Oh, well. Happy reading!

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