According to a recent YouGov survey, just over 50% of Americans “read at least one book” last year. The figure steadily decreases as the number of books read rises.
This is hardly shocking. We’re exposed to a more diverse and distracting range of media than ever before. For many of us, reading in the traditional sense can feel like a death sentence.
But for someone like me — and, I assume, for anyone else who uses this site — the statistics are profoundly depressing. “The indicator of any true democracy,” Tracie D. Hall writes in Time, “is that free people read freely.”
People who don’t read regularly often complain that it’s boring, but they offer little insight as to why. The reason, in my view, is that the act requires effort — consistent, active effort on the part of readers to make sense of the text and to see how it applies to their own lives.
It took me years to realize this for myself — and I was an English major. In fact, I’ve only recently developed a method of reading that consciously takes this into account. This primarily happened because I transitioned to teaching full-time and I wanted to ensure that I knew, for my students’ sake, what the hell I was talking about.
What I’ve been doing since then has made a big difference. Here’s what my reading process looks like…
