The Ballymena Today office is always full of books whether we are reading and blogging about our latest Ballymena bookclub choice, a graphic novel, cookbook or a textbook they are everywhere. Books are something which we now love but it wasn’t always like that. A few years ago I probably only managed to read one book in the whole year, however last year I read around fifty books and so far this year I have managed over thirty. Today, 8 September 2015, is International Literacy Day and to celebrate here are our tips for anyone who would like to enjoy reading more.
1/ I set myself the challenge to read 50 books in a year – I never through I would do it but when the challenge was there it gave me a purpose to start reading. Knowing I had a challenge encouraged me to find times when reading could be squeezed in easily, for example at lunchtime, on the bus, during the advertisements of my favourite television show etc.
2/ I joined a local bookclub – Knowing that you have to finish a book within a month gives you another deadline worth keeping. Nothing is worse than turning up to bookclub with a half finished book! Being in a bookclub has lots of great benefits which I didn’t expect.
- You meet lots of new and interesting people in a bookclub.
- You are forced to read out of your comfort zone.
- You get to discuss books, which often helps if you missed a plot twist of didn’t fully understand the story.
- You get great recommendations for you next book to read.
If you live in Ballymena then you are welcome at the Waterstones Ballymena bookclub. Click here to see what books they have recently been reading.
3/ I looked at the benefits which come along with reading. Reading can reduce stress and improve memory and brain function. Still not convinced? Click here to read more.
4/ I started using the internet and social networks. Reading initially feels like a lonesome task but, as with a bookclub, there are lots of other people who love reading and like talking about books online. Recently I have started to watch booktubers (book lovers who film videos for YouTube), following #booksagram on Instagram and keeping a record of all the books I have read in an album on Facebook.
Here are some booktubers who I can recommend:
Involving the internet and social networks in my reading has again provoked some great discussions and watching others reviewing books has given me a better understanding of what I like to read and what I don’t like.
So if you would love to read more but find it hard to get motivated these tips should help you to get those pages turning again. Let us here at Ballymena Today know what you love reading and we might even feature it on our blog.