“It is well to read everything of something, and something of everything.” -Joseph Brodsky

I hope you’re a reader.  There’s so much opportunity to learn and grow through reading.  But, as the above quote implies, it’s good to read a variety.  It’s good to know a little bit about a lot of things, even while we learn about one or two things in-depth.  It’s also good to read books from perspectives we disagree with.  They stretch us, for one thing, and challenge our thinking.  They can also help us to understand others better.  (Do be careful, though, to measure everything against the truth of Scripture.  And especially if someone is jumping around from translation to translation, look up the Scriptural quotes.  You might be surprised at who twists Scripture and how.)

Expand Your Repertoire

So one way we can grow in our reading is to expand our repertoire, reading things we might not otherwise read.  One way I’ve been working at this is to make use of the Challies reading challenge.  There are a number of ways you can use this.  The list comes with four different “levels,” depending on how many total books you want to read over the course of the year.  So you can start with any one of those.

I chose to take a slightly different tack.  I wanted to read the whole list, since the whole point was to expand the content of my reading material.  But I also knew it was not reasonable to think I’d get through the longest list in a year.  So instead, I decided to do the whole list, but take as long as it takes.  I’m still working my way through the 2016 list.

Jami at Young Wife’s Guide has a similar challenge list if you’d rather give that a look.  (That one’s for women, but her husband compiled one for men and it’s linked in that post.)

Finding the Time/Fitting it In

Some of you are reading this and thinking, “forget about reading more types of books; I don’t even know how to find time to read at all!”  So let’s talk about some ways to fit in reading.  (Everyone’s circumstances are different, so not all of these suggestions will work for everyone.)

• A little bit at a time — One of the biggest myths I see about reading is that it requires large chunks of time.  Except, perhaps, for those who read exceptionally slowly, it really doesn’t.  A little at a time adds up faster than you think.  So if you can set aside a particular time — maybe first thing in the morning, last thing at night, or lunchtime — to read a single chapter, you’ll surprise yourself with how much you read over time.  (You may need to adjust on a particularly packed day or if a given book has unusually long chapters.  But a chapter a day is a good average for most people to shoot for.)
• Grab snippets — This is another approach built on the same idea.  Keep a book places you commonly find yourself with bits of down time.  There’s a reason people keep books or magazines in the bathroom. 😉  Besides that, do you often find yourself twiddling your thumbs while you wait for the computer to boot up?  Or waiting for water to boil in the kitchen?  Sitting outside dance class or soccer practice waiting for the kids?  Keep books in these locations and read for a minutes when you have nothing else to do.  It may take you a long time to get through a book this way, but it’s one more book.
• Audio books — I’ll be honest, audio books don’t work for me.  I’m almost always at home with five noisy children, so I can’t hear anything on a recording.  But a lot of people I know really love audio books for listening while they’re in the car or doing chores.
• Ebooks — All else being equal, printed books will always be my preference, but I’m learning to love my Kindle, too.  It’s easy to hold with one hand and doesn’t require the turning of pages, which makes it easy to read from while lying down or while holding a baby.  And I don’t have to fumble with a bookmark to find my page.  (I understand you can also switch easily between reading and listening, but I haven’t tried the text-to-voice option.)  It also makes it easy to bring along multiple books on a single trip, without the bulk and weight multiple print books would bring.
• Trade — Are you spending time doing something else, that you could replace (at least in part) with reading?  Playing on your phone?  Browsing Facebook?  Watching television?  Some people truly don’t have a lot of margin, but others have simply not thought through everything they’re already using their time for.  If you watch 2 hours of television a week, you could repurpose just a quarter of that for reading, and half half an hour a week to read.

What about you?  Do you have any tips for finding more time to read or expanding your reading horizons?