How to Read More Books

Article URL: https://scotto.me/blog/2026-07-12-how-to-read-more-books/

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48882056

Points: 173

# Comments: 98

Hacker News 讨论

176 points · 102 comments · 查看原帖

gjenkin
Good post. Reading when you're not doing something else - this is a good mindset. I've found that the more that I enjoy a book, the more time I have "not doing something else". The key is getting immersed in a book in the same way that you might get immersed in a movie or a genre of music or some other thing that gets you in a zone. Fall into the rabbit hole. Joining r/bookclub or some other online book discussion group helps me fall deep into the rabbit hole. In lieu of an online book discussion group, chatting with my/your preferred LLM is a good tactic. I recommend finishing a chapter, then going to your LLM and saying "I just finished chapter 1 of Heller's Catch 22" ... that's pretty much enough of a prompt to get it to give you a synopsis with some questions to help you reflect on what you read.
asimpletune
I agree with everything this guy said and yet I still have a totally different take. Some of my friends and I started a book dedicated to reading books in the public domain ( https://b00k.club ). We began with Ancient Greece and it took as a few years but we're almost starting Rome. It's been slow but also incredibly thorough. The thing is none of it has been difficult or even time consuming, and yet everything adds up as weeks turns into months which turn into years. Then suddenly we've looked back and realized that we've kind of read a lot of things, all primary sources, and we all have pretty educated opinions on these topics. Of course one could always go further, but that's hardly the point. We did this by doing one meeting a week. The other thing is the result has been immensely positive for all of us--like, actually useful knowledge which we apply in our daily lives--and at least
aaronbrethorst
I have an almost-four year old child and not a lot of downtime. I used to listen to podcasts when I was doing dishes, cleaning the house, walking the dog, etc. I've mostly abandoned podcasts in favor of audiobooks. It didn't feel like they were benefiting me in any meaningful way—almost like they were just empty calories for my ears. I finally made it all the way through The Power Broker recently, which I've wanted to read for years, and am now on Jennifer Pahlka's really insightful Recoding America , which features heavily in the chapter "Govern" in Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson's Abundance . The three are actually quite interesting to read back to back. Audiobooks are definitely slower to get through than just reading, but I find that I can stick with them in a way that books just haven't allowed me to do in years.
goodroot
Love this blog, appreciate the author. > This is probably the most difficult part. I had to remove all social media and streaming apps from my iPhone. I removed Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, etc. When I started, I found myself picking up the phone and immediately noticing that something was missing, since the only things left to do were check the weather, read boring emails, or see my bank account. These past few months, I have more resolve than ever to cut the chains. Willpower is a practice, and there have been successful steps towards the goal. First, blocking the real sucks (X, Reddit). Then news (Canadian, won't bore you with the list). And then an innocuous yet sticky set of apps that I would bounce to often, for little benefit or reason: weather, server stats, stocks. A new wrinkle? Inane conversations with LLMs. Blocked! HN still because, well brothers and the rare sister, it's l
5555624
Get a long book, a timeless classic, and read one chapter a night. I grew up reading all the time. About 20 years ago, I found myself reading less and less. I decided to read "The Count of Monte Cristo" again. I decided I would read one chapter a night, before going to bed, regardless of how late it was, how busy, etc, By the time I finished, reading before going to bed was a habit. I read 30-60 minutes every night before going to bed. (Read plenty of other times, too; but, no matter how the day has been, I read ever night.)
js2
> I still remember having abandoned Siddhartha by Herman Hesse at least three times at the first few pages. For me it was Catch 22 . I think I read the first chapter a half dozen times over a few years. Then one time I just couldn't put it down. Read the whole book, then went back and read it again. I can't even remember what I didn't like about it. Still for me the issue is this: as a programmer, after spending all day reading or writing words on a screen I just don't energy to put more words into my brain through my eyes. So I'd rather watch a movie. I listen to a lot of audiobooks because I can do that while I'm doing chores or walking my dog, even though I recognize it's not the same as reading, I seem to retain the information similarly. Mostly fiction though. My two most recent listens: The Diamond Age (the narrator is excellent) and The Vanished Birds . Working on Bel Canto but it
hk__2
> First of all, you don’t have to make time to read. What you need to do is read every single time you are not doing something else. Mmh I’m not sure about that. I prefer to read for 1-2 hours rather than read 2 minutes here and 5 minutes there, especially for books that require some concentration to read, like dense stories and/or books not in my native language.
brudgers
Because success is an end unto itself, my plan to succeed at reading more books will begin by reading zero books. Obviously the longer I spend reading no books, the greater my success will be. Time to install TikTok to the homescreen. Zero to One, Baby.