The staff at my local library are usually a convivial bunch, but when I asked them about a recent report that fewer people were reading for fun, they grew subdued.
Yes, they saw it too, they told me.
The study found that the number of Americans who read for pleasure on a given day fell 40 percent over the last two decades. The researchers speculated that the drop could be tied to the rise of digital media, among other things.
It’s a shame. Not only is it delicious to immerse yourself in a good book, but it’s also beneficial to your health to read. Research suggests that reading can keep your memory sharp and help you sleep better, and that reading fiction can increase empathy and improve well-being.
But it’s hard to stay in the habit. So I asked around for tips on how to read more regularly.
Set aside regular time
My librarians recommended taking a book with you whenever you go out and reading it when you might otherwise reach for your phone — in a waiting room or on the bus, for example.
And look for moments when you can turn reading into a ritual. Lately, I’ve been dipping into a novel for a few minutes right after I wake up, and I find it’s a gentle way to start the day before I plunge into the news.
Try choosing a designated reading spot — your porch or a cozy chair — and pairing your pages with something else you enjoy, like a cup of tea.
Reread something you love
Start with an old favorite if you’re out of practice, said Alan Jacobs, a professor of humanities at Baylor University and the author of “The Pleasures of Reading in an Age of Distraction.” And don’t feel sheepish about it, he added: “Read the same thing three times in a row if that gives you pleasure.”
Elizabeth A.L. Stine-Morrow, a professor emerita of educational psychology at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, said she used to be reluctant to reread books — “because I wasn’t ‘making progress,’ whatever that was.”
But that was a mistake, she said; it’s often on the second reading that you can really see the big picture of what the book is about.
Your perspective may have changed, too. I used to side with rebellious young characters; now I often sympathize with their parents.
Listening counts
Audiobooks grow more popular every year, but some of us still wonder if they’re somehow cheating.
Forget about that, the experts told me — listening is just another way to enjoy literature. One study I reviewed found no significant difference in reading comprehension and retention when subjects read physical books and listened to audiobooks.
Audiobooks also leave your hands free. Chinelo Okparanta, an associate professor of English literature at Swarthmore College and the author of the novel “Harry Sylvester Bird,” will sometimes go back and forth between an audiobook and a physical copy, so she can keep following a story while she’s washing dishes or driving to the grocery store.
This lets her fit more books into her life, she said, adding that a good narrator’s voice can “give even more character to the world of the story.”
For me, listening to fiction brings back the cozy feeling of childhood, when someone read me a story.
Know when to move on
You don’t have to slog through an entire book just because you started it, the experts said. One of my librarians uses the Rule of 50, developed by Nancy Pearl, the author of “Book Lust.”
Ms. Pearl said that if you’re under 50, you should give every book about 50 pages before you quit. If you’re older than that, subtract your age from 100 to see how many pages to read before setting it aside.
“Books are not to be ‘gotten through,’” said Dr. Jacobs. “Books are to be delighted in.”
Seek inspiration in different places
If you need book ideas, the New York Public Library’s blog has inventive recommendations, like the books that inspired the 2025 Emmy nominees. And my colleagues at the Book Review have made this interactive tool to find your next book.
Ms. Okparanta follows the longlists for various literary awards for inspiration, like the Booker Prize, the New American Voices Award and the Nigeria Prize for Literature.
And browse the shelves of your library — or ask your librarian. “Libraries are great places to find things that no algorithm would ever suggest to you,” Dr. Jacobs said, adding: “Libraries are serendipity vendors.”
When I asked my librarians for advice, they produced six pages of handwritten notes for me. I wanted to call them out by name here to credit them, but they asked me not to. They told me they were just doing this to foster a love of reading. Me, too.
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Jancee Dunn, who writes the weekly Well newsletter for The Times, has covered health and science for more than 20 years.
The post How to Rekindle Your Love of Reading appeared first on New York Times.
