How to Easily Read 50 Books in 2022

I have enjoyed reading since the time that I learned how. I was in first grade and all the stories were about Dick and Jane, their dog and a red ball. I have no idea what they read in first grade now but I hope that kids are still instilled with a love of reading and physical books.

I love reading but I also love to own books. I not only remember the first book I owned but I still have a copy of it in my library. It’s a story of Abraham Lincoln and every once in a while I pick it up and read it just for old times sake. (It doesn’t take me as long as it used to to read the entire book.)

My love for reading and owning books has continued throughout by entire life and today my personal library has several thousand titles. When I show someone my collection the first question they always ask is; “have I read them all?” The answer is “no,” of course but I have read most of them.

This brings me to the strategy I mentioned in the title of this article. The strategy is to read everyday, of course, but to read a specific amount. I have made it a habit of reading 50 pages a day every day. I don’t go to sleep until I have read my 50 pages. Sometimes I will read much more but always a minimum of 50. By reading 50 pages each day I end up reading about one book each week on average. Most books are around 350 pages and that is one weeks worth.

I have done this almost everyday for over 30 years. I has become such a part of my nighttime routine, I can’t go to sleep without reading.

He who won’t read has no advantage over he who can’t read. Mark Twain

Before I sold my company and retired, I had a 45 minute commute each way every day. Many years ago, when Audio books first became a thing, I would rent cassette tapes, (I know I am dating myself.) and listen to books going to the office and home. One can “read” quite a few books this way as well.

Of course, when they became available, I switched over to an I-pod and this made a lot easier to carry around and listen to books at any time. Once I got the I-pod I then could listen to books while I worked out or when I was just relaxing at home. I never could get things to work properly to listen while I was mowing the yard, maybe an electric mower would have served the purpose better.

Even with the books on tape or audio books, I still made it a habit of reading 50 pages each day anyway. My record for one year is over 100 books including the audio books and physically reading. Even with reading this many books in a year I still am several hundred books behind on my list of books I want to read.

Now that I am retired, sort of, I hope to catch up on some of the ones on the list, the trouble is, however, that new books come out everyday that look interesting and my list never gets smaller.

I encourage you to give it a try and see how many books you can get through this year. There are many, many good books to choose from both fiction and nonfiction, so you shouldn’t run out. Let me know how it works out for you.

Originally published at https://garylrathbun.substack.com on January 2, 2022.