In our ever-so-digital world, with streaming services at our fingertips and short-form content always available, finding the motivation to pick up a book can be challenging.
My love for reading began in primary school. Growing up in a family of fairly consistent readers, it was second nature to me and encouraged at home. However, there was never any pressure. So, when reading started to feel like a chore in secondary school, I stuck to the minimum required to get through my Junior Cert English.
Thankfully the endless spare time that I gained during the pandemic era led me to start reading once again. I devoured books like never before and ever since then, reading has once again become such an important outlet for me.
The benefits of reading are exceptional and you cannot compare it to our other forms of entertainment these days. It reduces stress, enhances knowledge, increases focus and patience (unlike TikTok) and improves brain function – just to name a few!
So, if like me you were once an avid reader or maybe you are looking to get started. Here is a list of some tips and tricks to get you out of that reading slump and back into the swing of things!
Read something you enjoy
This one may seem obvious, but you would be surprised. Many people who I speak to about reading claim that they tried to read once before and they hated it. However, you then realise that they picked up a random book that was lying around at home which was of no interest to them – of course, they were going to hate it!
Think about the type of movies and TV shows that typically interest you and try to find books of a similar genre. For example, if you like the Netflix series Emily in Paris, you might like books by Emily Henry. On the other hand, if you like shows such as Narcos, you may like crime books.
In other words, do a bit of research before you start your reading journey. There are so many resources available for recommendations on YouTube or Goodreads.
Join a book club
Book clubs have made a popular comeback recently and are an effective way of holding you accountable for your reading. It’s also a great way of getting the most out of your book. You gain a much deeper understanding and also other people’s perspectives and opinions on the book. It will also give you realistic goals with your reading.
Download bookish apps
Using apps like Goodreads or Storygraph can motivate you to read more. It’s super satisfying and rewarding to mark off a book as read and work towards a yearly reading target.
These apps can also help you with deciding on what books to read and give you recommendations. You can also connect with fellow readers or friends.
Explore other ways of reading
Reading doesn’t have to mean tackling a big, chunky novel—you’re reading right now! Try picking up magazines or comic books, listening to audiobooks in the car or on a walk, or even reading on a Kindle if that suits you better. However, you choose to read is perfect—because reading something is always better than not reading at all!
Our recommendations
The Nightingale – Kristin Hannah
This story is about what it was like to be a woman during World War II when women’s stories were all too often forgotten or overlooked…
Vianne and Isabelle Mauriac are two sisters, separated by years and experience, by ideals and passion and circumstance, each embarking on her own dangerous path towards survival, love and freedom in war-torn France.
Americanah – Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Ifemelu and Obinze are young and in love when they depart military-ruled Nigeria. In America, Ifemelu suffers defeats and triumphs, and finds and loses relationships, all the while feeling the weight of something she never thought of back home: race.
Meanwhile, Obinze plunges into a dangerous, undocumented life in London. Fifteen years later, when they reunite in a newly democratic Nigeria, and reignite their passion – for each other and for their homeland – they face the hardest decision of their lives.
You and Me On Vacation – Emily Henry
Two best friends. Ten summer trips. One last chance to fall in love.Poppy and Alex. Alex and Poppy. They have nothing in common. She’s a wild child; he wears khakis. She has insatiable wanderlust; he prefers to stay home with a book. And somehow, ever since a fateful car share home from college many years ago, they are the very best of friends.
For most of the year they live far apart–she’s in New York City, and he’s in their small hometown–but every summer, for a decade, they have taken one glorious week of vacation together. Until two years ago, when they ruined everything. They haven’t spoken since. Poppy has everything she should want, but she’s stuck in a rut. When someone asks when she was last truly happy, she knows, without a doubt, it was on that ill-fated, final trip with Alex.
And so, she decides to convince her best friend to take one more vacation together–lay everything on the table, make it all right. Miraculously, he agrees. Now she has a week to fix everything. If only she can get around the one big truth that has always stood quietly in the middle of their seemingly perfect relationship. What could possibly go wrong?
The Invisible Life of Addie Larue – V.E Schwab
1714: in a moment of desperation, a young woman makes a Faustian bargain to live forever–and is cursed to be forgotten by everyone she meets.
Thus begins the extraordinary life of Addie LaRue, and a dazzling adventure that will play out across centuries and continents, across history and art, as a young woman learns how far she will go to leave her mark on the world. But everything changes when, after nearly 300 years, Addie stumbles across a young man in a hidden bookstore and he remembers her name.
Everything I Know About Love – Dolly Alderton
A celebration of our female friendships, of our messy years, and of growing up together. Glittering with wit, heart, and humour, it’s a book to share with every woman you’ve ever been lucky enough to call a friend. “Nearly everything I know about love, I’ve learnt from my long-term friendships with women.”
I know that love can be loud and jubilant. It can be dancing in the swampy mud and the pouring rain at a festival and shouting “YOU ARE AMAZING” over the band. It’s laughing until you wheeze. It’s walking along the street together on a Saturday night and feeling an entire city is yours. I also know that love is a pretty quiet thing. It’s lying on the sofa together drinking coffee, talking about where you’re going to go that morning to drink more coffee.
It’s folding down pages of books you think they’d find interesting. I know that love happens under the splendour of fireworks and sunsets, but also happens when you’re lying on blow-up airbeds in a childhood bedroom, sitting in A&E or in the queue for a passport.